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Mary Elizabeth, Crown Princess of Denmark

Born February 5, 1972 (age 35)
Flag of TasmaniaHobart, Tasmania, Australia
Title Crown Princess of Denmark
Religious belief Converted to Lutheranism prior to marriage, Presbyterian beforehand
Spouse Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
Children Prince Christian of Denmark
Website *Official website

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark (Kronprinsesse Mary in Danish), née Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, born 5 February 1972 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, is the wife of Crown Prince Frederik, the heir apparent to the Danish throne.

Crown Princess Mary has taken on her royal life with apparent ease. With her marriage in May 2004 Mary has assumed the role of a crown princess in the oldest monarchy in Europe and has tackled the transition from commoner to a member of a royal family with an acknowledged grace and dignity. Since her marriage she has toured the whole of Denmark with Crown Prince Frederik as part of the process of meeting the Danish people. In 2004 the couple went on a so-called summer cruise of mainland Denmark on the royal yacht the Dannebrog, then to Greenland and to the 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2005 the 200th Anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen made it a busy year for all the Danish royal family. There were activities throughout Denmark year long and Frederik and Mary marked it in London, New York and in Australia, where Mary was made Honorary Hans Christian Andersen Ambassador to Australia in the Utzon Room of the Sydney Opera House. Also in 2005, Frederik and Mary visited Australia and toured the Faeroe Islands with Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik. In 2006 Frederik and Mary made an official visit to Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, visited the Danish island of Bornholm, where Prince Christian made an appearance on arrival, they went to St Petersburg to participate in the reburial of Empress Maria Feodorovna and Mary made a solo goodwill trip to Prague. So far, 2007 is dominated by Mary's second pregnancy while she at the same time continues her official duties. Mary has made a mark in Denmark by visiting the disadvantaged migrant areas of Vollsmose (2006) and Gellerup (2007). Mary also supports and participates in many other special events and conferences. Mary has played an active role in promoting an anti-bullying program tailored for Danish conditions based on The Alannah & Madeline Foundation and its schools project Better Buddies used in more than 700 Australian schools. She recently launched the Danish program based on Better Buddies. Mary is also involved in a new campaign to raise awareness and safe practices among Danes against skin cancer through The Danish Cancer Society. Mary has written the forward of a book for children by Swedish author Pernilla Stafeldt called A Book about the Sun. Skin cancer rates have tripled in Denmark during the past 30 years to become the seventh highest in the world (Australia has the highest).

As a native English-speaker Mary's big task from the time of her engagement was to master the Danish language, known to have a unique sound system which can be difficult to acquire. Mary has acknowledged this has been a challenge for her in several interviews at the time of her engagement and marriage. More recent video evidence from her many appearances indicates Mary's Danish skills have grown and Mary now appears very comfortable speaking conversational Danish.

Since 2004 Crown Princess Mary has steadily worked to establish her relationship as patron with various organisations, their issues and staff. Mary's patronages range across areas of culture, the fashion industry, humanitarian aid, support for research and science, social and health patronages and sport (golf and swimming). The organisations for which she is patron report excellent outcomes through their relationship with the Crown Princess and there are various reports in the Danish media and on some of the websites of the organisations themselves about Mary being quite involved in her working relationship with them. Mary is currently involved in supporting anti-obesity programs and vaccination for children in the European Union through the World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe.

Crown Princess Mary's current patronages are Cultural organistions:

Danish fashion industry:

Humanitarian aid:

Research and Science:

Social, health and humanitarian organisations:

Sporting organisations:

Crown Princess Mary is the Honorary Life Governor, The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute based at the Garvan Institute/St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, a member of the International Committee of Women Leaders for Mental Health and is also a member of various sporting clubs (riding, golf and yachting).


Contents

[edit] Family

Mary is the youngest of four children born to John and Henrietta Donaldson. Mary's mother was known as Etta. John and Etta migrated from Scotland to Tasmania in 1963.

The Crown Princess has three siblings:

The Crown Princess' father Professor John Dalgleish Donaldson is an applied mathematician with a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. He has had an academic career at the University of Tasmania, where he was head of the Department of Mathematics and later Academic Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology. In the 1970s he was senior fellow at the National Science Foundation in Houston, Texas and a visiting professor at the University of Houston. Other appointments have been at the University of Oxford, the Division of Applied Mathematics at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in South Korea and in the last few years he has had appointments at the University of Aarhus and the of Copenhagen.

Mary's mother was Henrietta Clark Donaldson (née Horne), who was the executive assistant to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tasmania. Etta died in 1997 following complications six weeks after a heart operation for a condition she had always had.

In 2001 John Donaldson re-married English author Susan Elizabeth, née Horwood. As Susan Moody she writes popular crime novels. Susan also writes under the names Susannah James and Susan Madison. In 2006 she taught Crime Fiction at the University of Copenhagen (Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies). The couple currently live in Aarhus, Denmark's second largest city, where Professor Donaldson is teaching at the University of Aarhus.

Mary's tertiary educated siblings all live in Australia with their families. Jane and Patricia each have three children and John (Stuart) has two.

[edit] Education and career

Danish Royal Family

Mary began elementary school in Clearwater, Texas, while her father was working there. On returning to Tasmania she attended Sandy Bay Public School and then Taroona High School in Tasmania, Australia. For the last two years of her secondary education Crown Princess Mary attended Hobart College and matriculated for admission to university. From 1989 to 1994 Mary studied for a combined Bachelors of Commerce and Laws (BCom.LLB) at the University of Tasmania. Mary later qualified for professional certificates in advertising and direct marketing. Mary worked for global advertising agencies after graduation, DDB Needham and also Mojo Partners in Melbourne and then Young & Rubicam in Sydney. Mary worked for Love Branding and as the sales director at Belle Property, also in Sydney (Mary was not a real estate agent). After leaving Australia Crown Princess Mary worked briefly in Paris and then at Navison/Microsoft Business Solutions in Copenhagen.

[edit] Courtship

Mary Donaldson met Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark during the 2000 Summer Olympics on 16 September at the Slip Inn, Sydney. In a later interview Mary recounted that her first meeting with Frederik was serendipitous as it was only at the last moment she had decided to take up an invitiation from her flatmate to meet some Spaniards participating in the Games. "It was a party of some Australians and two nephews of the Spanish King, plus Crown Prince Frederik, Prince Joachim, Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Princess Märtha Louise. "I didn't know who they were," she told Danish journalist Anne Wolden-Raethinge (Ninka) in a series of interviews in 2004 which became the basis for a book called Kronprinsesse Mary, a bestseller in Denmark. "Half an hour later one of my flatmates came up to me and asked, 'Do you know who these people are?' Of course we have Queen Elizabeth as the head of state, but in many ways we are a kind of republic, we don't have royals in Australia, so it was unusual to run into those kind of people. But there was nothing more to it than that." Frederik and Mary conducted a secret relationship for two years before it was discovered by the Danish media. Just a small circle of Mary's and Frederik's family and friends knew of their growing relationship and kept their confidence, and still do.

[edit] Engagement

Mary Donaldson and Crown Prince Frederik were engaged on 8 October 2003. The day was marked by a formal press conference at Fredensborg Palace with Frederik and Mary, an appearance on the balcony at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen with Queen Margrethe, Prince Henrik and John and Susan Donaldson as well as thousands of Danes waving Danish and Australian flags. Later in the evening there was a formal reception at Christiansborg Palace, the home of the Danish Parliament.

[edit] Marriage

Mary Donaldson and Crown Prince Frederik married on 14 May 2004 in Copenhagen Cathedral (for wedding details see following individual links: floral decorations, guest list, music, the ceremony, bridal bouquet, the sermon, wedding photos). Mary's bridal party included sisters Jane Stephens and Patricia Bailey and best friend Amber Petty. The flower girls were three of Mary's nieces: Erin, Madisson and Kate. She was also attended by HH Prince Nikolai of Denmark, nephew to the groom, and Count Richard von Pfeil, a cousin to the groom. Mary wore a wedding gown designed by the Milan based Danish designer Uffe Frank. Crown Prince Frederik was supported by his brother Prince Joachim. The newly married Crown Prince Couple went on a carriage procession back to Amalienborg Palace. Everywhere thousands of wellwishers were able to share in the happy occasion, in the streets of Copenhagen and also on national television in what was widely regarded as a beautiful wedding. The wedding was also telecast live in Australia to very high ratings on two networks. The couple appeared on the balcony at Amalienborg and were greeted by a sea of waving Danish and Australian flags.

A wedding banquet (guest list) followed at Fredensborg Palace where speeches were given by Prince Henrik,Queen Margrethe, John Donaldson and Crown Prince Frederik. The Crown Prince Couple reportedly spent their honeymoon in Africa.

See the monograms of Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mary (worn in gold on a blue chiffre by Mary's lady-in-waiting Caroline Heering), Frederik's and Mary's combined monogram and Prince Christian's, all designed by Queen Margrethe.

[edit] Citizenship and marriage agreement

Styles of
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark
Reference style Her Royal Highness
Spoken style Your Royal Highness
Alternative style Ma'am

The Danish Folketing (parliament) passed a special law (Mary's Law) giving Mary Donaldson Danish citizenship upon her wedding, a standard procedure for new foreign members of the royal family. Mary was previously a dual citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom. A Presbyterian, Mary undertook to become a Lutheran prior to her wedding. Mary signed a marriage settlement similar to those of her father-in-law and her commoner ex sister-in-law on entering the royal family. The agreement has two objectives: limit loss of royal assets (many of which belong to the state and the crown) and ensure a fair outcome for the non-royal partner of the marriage in the case of divorce. The earlier document was considered to be poorly drafted and legally untenable according to reports in the Danish media in November 2006. A new agreement between Frederik and Mary was signed in late 2006 which, contrary to some media reports (especially in Aistralia) does not materially disadvantage Mary in the case of divorce. There are other possibilities about why the royal court re-organised the marriage agreement between Frederik and Mary (and possibly also the Queen and Prince Henrik), however there is insufficient evidence in the public domain at this time.

[edit] Children

It was widely expected that the Crown Prince Couple would soon have children. Crown Princess Mary told Andrew Denton in an interview for Australian television in February 2005[1] that it was no secret they were planning to start a family. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens Crown Prince Frederik jokingly told Danish reporters that he hoped there would be "kænguruer i pungen" or "kangaroos in the pouch" by the 2008 Summer Olympics.

On 25 April 2005 the Danish royal court announced that the Crown Princess was pregnant with her first child, due to be born in October[2].

At 01:57 local time on 15 October 2005 Crown Princess Mary gave birth to a boy at Copenhagen University Hospital. The last 10 hours of Mary's labour were spent at the hospital and Crown Prince Frederik was present for the delivery. The little prince was healthy and weighed 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) and measured 51 cm (20 ins).

The name of the prince was announced as Prince Christian of Denmark at the baptism, held on 21 January 2006 at Christiansborg Palace Chapel in Copenhagen. His full name is Christian Valdemar Henri John. He will be Christian XI on ascension to the throne after his father. Valdemar is a historically significant name in Denmark associated with both the Danish royal family and the national flag the Dannebrog. Henri and John are the names of his two grandfathers.

On 26 October 2006 the Danish court announced Crown Princess Mary is pregnant with her second child, due to be born at Copenhagen University Hospital in early May 2007[3]. If the Crown Princess gives birth to a girl, it will be the first Danish princess to be born since 1946.

[edit] Residences

The official residence of the Crown Prince and his family is The Chancellery House, an early 18th-century house within Fredensborg Palace, 40 km (25 miles) north of Copenhagen. It was previously the home of the Crown Prince's maternal grandmother, Queen Ingrid. They also have a temporary apartment in Copenhagen at Amalienborg while renovations are completed on their permanent city residence, Amalienborg's Federik VIIIs Palace. Frederik VIII (or Brockdorff's Palace) was also the home of the Crown Prince's maternal grandparents, King Frederik IX of Denmark and Queen Ingrid, formerly Princess Ingrid of Sweden.

[edit] Trivia

  • The couple has visited Australia twice since they married, in February 2005 for an official visit, and in November 2006 for a private visit. Frederik and Mary gave an interview to the Australian television show Enough Rope with Andrew Denton prior to the 2005 visit. They expressed some apprehension about how they would be received because an Australian who is now a Danish princess was uncharted territory.
  • Mary is an animal lover. The couple has a dog named Ziggy, a wedding present, and Mary and Frederik both enjoy horse riding.
  • Mary has had two official portraits painted of her. The Australian portrait was commissioned in Australia to hang in the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra. It was painted by Jiawei Shen and unveiled in 2005. A portrait was commissioned by the National Museum in Denmark and Australian artist Ralph Heimans, based in Paris, was given the job. It was unveiled in 2006 and exhibited in Denmark together with the Jiawei Shen portrait in an exhibition of Australian portraits.
  • Mary is keen on fitness and apart from horse riding (when not pregnant), she is known to walk, swim and do yoga and pilates.
  • Mary likes Fruit Tingles and on her 2005 trip to Australia she was inundated with the lollies by wellwishers, including some very creative Fruit Tingle bouquets.
  • Mary has had three new plants named after her.
  • Mary is the patron for the Danish fashion industry. Among her favourite Danish brands are Malene Birger and Heartmade designed by Julie Fagerholt.
  • Mary was featured in Vogue Australia(see see The Sydney Morning Herald story) shortly after her wedding. The interview was about her new situation in life and her relationship with Frederik. Photos were taken at Amalienborg Palace and Fredensborg Palace by New York-based photographer Regan Cameron.

[edit] References

  1. ^ www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s1313163.htm
  2. ^ www.smh.com.au/news/World/Mary-expecting-new-heir-to-Danish-thrones/2005/04/25/1114281505468.html
  3. ^ www.kronprinsparret.dk/46c2774

[edit] External links

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