Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark

"Mary Donaldson" redirects here. See also Mary Donaldson, Baroness Donaldson of Lymington.
Mary
Crown Princess of Denmark;
Countess of Monpezat

The Crown Princess in 2011
Spouse Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
 (m. 2004)
Issue Prince Christian
Princess Isabella
Prince Vincent
Princess Josephine
Full name
Mary Elizabeth
Father John Dalgleish Donaldson
Mother Henrietta Clark Horne
Born 5 February 1972
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Religion Church of Denmark
prev. Presbyterianism

Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat, RE, Lt.[1] (née Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, born 5 February 1972 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia) is the wife of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark. Frederik is the heir apparent to the throne of Denmark, which means that at the time Frederik inherits the throne, Mary will automatically become Queen consort of Denmark.

The couple met at the Slip Inn, a pub in Sydney, when the prince was visiting Australia during the 2000 Summer Olympics. Their official engagement in 2003 and their marriage the following year were the subject of extensive attention from Australian and European news media, which portrayed the marriage as a modern "fairytale" romance between a prince and a commoner.[2]

Early life

Mary Elizabeth Donaldson was born the youngest of the four children of mathematician and professor John Dalgleish Donaldson and his first wife, Henrietta (née Horne), both Scottish.[3] She was named after her grandmothers, Mary Dalgleish and Elizabeth Gibson Melrose. Henrietta Donaldson was executive assistant to the vice-chancellor of the University of Tasmania. In 2001, four years after her death, John Donaldson married the British author and novelist Susan Moody.[4]

Mary Donaldson was born and raised in Hobart. In childhood, she was involved in sports and other extracurricular activities both at school and elsewhere. She studied piano, flute and clarinet, and played basketball and hockey.[5]

Education

Mary began primary school in Clear Lake City, near Houston, Harris County, Texas, while her father was working there. On returning to Hobart, she attended Sandy Bay Infants School, then from 1978 to 1982 Waimea Heights Primary School. Her secondary education was at Taroona High School in Tasmania and Hobart Matriculation College.

She studied at the University of Tasmania from 1989 to 1994,[6][7] completing a combined degree in Commerce and Law and graduating on 27 May 1995. Between 1994 and 1996, she attended a graduate program and qualified with certificates in advertising from The Advertising Federation of Australia (AFA) and direct marketing from the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA).[6]

Languages

The crown princess's mother tongue is English. She studied French during her secondary education. In 2002, she briefly tutored in English in Paris.[6] After meeting Frederik she studied Danish as a foreign language at Studieskolen in 2003.[8]

Career

While studying in Tasmania, Donaldson reportedly had a joint business interest in a company called Kingcash, with Brent Annells, with whom she had a seven-year relationship in the 1990s.[9][10]

She worked for Australian and global advertising agencies after graduating in 1995.[6][11][12] Upon graduation Mary moved to Melbourne to work in advertising. She became a trainee in marketing and communications with the Melbourne office of DDB Needham, taking a position of account executive. In 1996, Mary was employed by Mojo Partners as an account manager. In 1998, six months after her mother's death, she resigned and travelled to America and Europe. In Edinburgh, she worked for three months as an account manager with Rapp Collins Worldwide; then, in early 1999, she was appointed as an account director with the international advertising agency Young & Rubicam in Sydney.[6]

In June 2000, she moved to a smaller Australian agency, Love Branding, working for a short time as the company's first account director. However, in the (Australian) spring of 2000 until December 2001, she became sales director and a member of the management team of Belle Property, a real estate firm specialising in luxury property. In the first half of 2002 Mary taught English at a business school in Paris but, on moving to Denmark permanently, she was employed by Microsoft Business Solutions (5 September 2002 – 24 September 2003) near Copenhagen as a project consultant for business development, communications and marketing.[6]

Courtship and engagement

Mary Donaldson met Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark at the Slip Inn[13] during the 2000 Summer Olympics on 16 September in Sydney. He was previously identified by her friends as the Crown Prince of Denmark.[14] They conducted a long-distance relationship by phone, email and letter and Frederik made a number of discreet visits to Australia. On 15 November 2001 the Danish weekly magazine Billed Bladet named Mary as Frederik's girlfriend. Mary moved from Hobart, Australia to Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2001, while she was working as an English tutor in Paris. On 24 September 2003 the Danish court announced that Queen Margrethe II intended to give her consent to the marriage at the State Council meeting scheduled for 8 October 2003.

Frederik presented Mary with an engagement ring featuring an emerald-cut diamond and two emerald-cut ruby baguettes.[15] The couple became officially engaged on 8 October 2003.

Marriage and children

TRH The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark.

Mary Donaldson and Crown Prince Frederik married on 14 May 2004 in Copenhagen Cathedral, in Copenhagen.[16] Mary wore a wedding gown designed by Danish designer Uffe Frank and had a small bridal party which included her two sisters and her friend Amber Petty, a radio announcer on commercial radio in Australia. Frederik was supported by his brother Prince Joachim. Three of Mary's nieces, Erin and Kate Stephens and Madisson Woods, were flower girls; Frederik's nephew Prince Nikolai of Denmark and first cousin once removed, Count Richard von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth were pageboys. The wedding[17] was celebrated in Copenhagen and at Fredensborg Palace. The couple reportedly spent their honeymoon in Africa.

The couple has four children:

The Danish Folketing (parliament) passed a special law (Mary's Law)[18] giving Mary Donaldson Danish citizenship upon her marriage, a standard procedure for new foreign members of the royal family; she was previously a dual citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom. Formerly a Presbyterian, Mary converted to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark upon marriage. Shortly before entering the royal family, Mary signed a marriage agreement similar to those of her father-in-law and her former sister-in-law. The agreement was subsequently updated in late 2006. The details of these have never been made public, but it can be assumed that they concern financial matters, royal status and custodial rights to the children in the event of a divorce.

The Crown Princess and her family currently reside at Frederik VIII's Palace, one of the four palaces that make up the Amalienborg Palace complex. From May 2004 they have also resided at The Chancellery House, a building in the park at Fredensborg Palace.

Royal life

HRH the Crown Princess of Denmark attends the wedding of the Crown Princess of Sweden. She is pictured here surrounded by Queen Máxima of the Netherlands; Willem-Alexander, King of The Netherlands; Crown Princess of Norway; and Beatrix of the Netherlands, former queen regnant of The Netherlands. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark stands at the far left.

Following the wedding, the couple embarked upon a summer working tour of mainland Denmark aboard the royal yacht Dannebrog, and then to Greenland and later the 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2005, during the celebrations for the 200th anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen, the royal family was involved in related events throughout the year. Frederik and Mary marked the anniversary 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. In 2005 the royal family visited Faroe Islands.

Since becoming Crown Princess of Denmark, Mary has made a number of international visits[19] and Frederik and Mary participated in the reburial ceremonies for Empress Maria Feodorovna in Denmark and Saint Petersburg. In November 2009, Mary made a surprise visit to Danish soldiers in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. One of the Crown Princess's stops was FOB Armadillo.[20]

In the context of immigrant issues in Denmark, Mary has visited the disadvantaged migrant areas of Vollsmose (2006),[21] Gellerup (2007),[22] and Viborg (2010),[23] and has participated in integration projects and to teach the Danish language to refugees.[24][25][26] As patron of the Danish Refugee Council, Mary visited Uganda (2008)[27] and East Africa (2011)[28] and supports fundraising for the region. [29][30]

Mary has played an active role in promoting an anti-bullying program based on an Australian model through the auspices of Denmark's Save the Children.[31] Mary is also involved in a new campaign to raise awareness and safe practices among Danes about skin cancer through The Danish Cancer Society. In September 2007 Mary formally established the Mary Foundation, with capital from public and private donations, to advance cultural diversity and encourage a sense of the right to belong and contribute to society for those who are socially isolated or excluded.

Mary was voted Woman of the Year 2008 by a Danish magazine, Alt for damerne. The Princess donated her cash reward to charity.[32] She was interviewed by Parade Magazine (US)[33] and television programs of Andrew Denton (Australia)[34] and USA Today (USA).[25]

As a native English-speaker, Mary's main priority from the time of her engagement was to become fluent in the Danish language. Mary has acknowledged that this was a challenge for her in several interviews at the time of her engagement and marriage.[34][35] If Frederik ascends the throne, Mary will be the first Australian-born woman to be a queen consort.[36]

Godchildren

Mary is a godmother to:

Fashion

Mary is an active patron of Denmark's third-highest-earning export industry, the fashion industry and is Patron of the Copenhagen Fashion Summit.[37]

She has been named one of the world's most fashionable people in Vanity Fair's annual International Best-Dressed List[38] and has posed and given interviews for magazines including Vogue Australia (where she used pieces of foreign designers, such as Hugo Boss, Prada, Louis Vuitton or Gaultier, and Danish designers, as Malene Birger and Georg Jensen), Dansk (Danish Magazine, dedicated to Danish fashion), German Vogue (where she was photographed between pieces of Danish modern art in Amalienborg Palace).[39][40][41] Mary also posed for other magazines during her life as a royal, such as Women's Weekly Australia magazine (to which she spoke in several occasions about her life as a royal and her family) and Parade Magazine.

Her elegance was praised by designer Tommy Hilfiger.[42]

Patronages

Since 2004 Crown Princess Mary has steadily worked to establish her relationships with various organisations, their issues, missions, programmes 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 have reported positive outcomes through their relationship with Mary 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 through the World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe.[43]

Mary's current patronages include cultural organisations,[44][45] the Danish fashion industry[46] humanitarian aid,[47] research and science,[48] social, health and humanitarian organisations[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] and sporting organisations.[59][60]

Crown Princess Mary is also an Honorary Life Governor of 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 a member of various sporting clubs (riding, golf and yachting). In June 2010, it was announced that Crown Princess Mary has become Patron of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, "to support the agency's work to promote maternal health and safer motherhood in more than 150 developing nations".[61] Mary lends her support to a number of other 'one-off' Danish causes, industry events and international conferences. In 2011, the Westmead Cancer Centre at Westmead Hospital in Sydney was renamed the Crown Princess Mary Cancer Care Centre Westmead.[62]

Mary Foundation

On 11 September 2007 Crown Princess Mary announced the establishment of the Mary Foundation[63] at the inaugural meeting at Amalienborg Palace. The initial funds of DKK 1.1 million were collected in Denmark and Greenland and donated to Frederik and Mary as a wedding gift in 2004. Crown Princess Mary is the chairwoman of eight trustees. The Mary Foundation aims to improve lives compromised by environment, heredity, illness or other circumstances which can isolate or exclude people socially.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Mary's monogram

Titles and styles

Mary is styled as "Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat". She has been Crown Princess of Denmark since her marriage and Countess of Monpezat by marriage since 29 April 2008, when Queen Margrethe II granted the title to her male-line descendants.[64] She is also a lieutenant.[1]

Danish honours and decorations

See also : List of honours of the Danish Royal Family by country

Foreign honours and decorations

She was awarded:[65]

Arms

Coat of arms of Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.

With the marriage in 2004, the Crown Princess Mary was honoured with the Order of the Elephant, and her father John Dalgleish Donaldson with the Order of the Dannebrog. In accordance with the statutes of the Danish Royal Orders, both the Crown Princess and her father were granted a personal coat of arms, this for display in the Chapel of the Royal Orders at Frederiksborg Castle. The main field of the Crown Princess' coat of arms is or tinctured and shows a gules MacDonald eagle and a Sable tinctured boat both symbolising her Scottish ancestry. The chief field is azure tinctured and shows two gold Commonwealth Stars from the Coat of arms of Australia, and a gold rose in between, depicted as her personal symbol. Above the shield is placed the heraldic crown of a Crown Prince of Denmark.[73]

The coat of arms of her father is almost identical to that of the Crown Princess, but a gold infinity symbol is depicted (symbolising his career as an Australian mathematician), instead of the gold Rose. Above his shield is instead placed a barred helmet topped with a gules rampant lion, which is turned outward. The lion is derived from the Scottish coat of arms and also from the arms of Tasmania and Hobart. Both coats of arms were approved in 2006 and placed in the Chapel of the Royal Orders in 2007.[73]

The Crown Princess' coat of arms and its details have yet to be published on the Crown Princely couple's official website.

Ancestry

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess turns 40". Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  2. ↑ e.g., Anthony Dennis So, this princess walks into a bar . . . Sydney Morning Herald 15 May 2004
  3. ↑ Unitas No 256, p 5, 4 March 2004
  4. ↑ "Susan Moody – British Council Arts".
  5. ↑ "Crown Princess Mary of Denmark". Hello magazine. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "HRH the Crown Princess". Government of Denmark. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
  7. ↑ Fray, Peter (8 March 2003). "Quite contrary about princess Mary". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  8. ↑ Mary taler perfekt dansk
  9. ↑ Healey, Kelvin: "Old flame ends his long silence", Sunday Tasmanian 23 May 2004. A purported quotation was republished the next day on a Danish forum, as was a similar article in May 2007 Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark at Scribd.com
  10. ↑ In 2009 Brent Annells was a director of DDB social marketing subsidiary DDB Radar. He is interviewed in Qantas Talking Business, September 2009
  11. ↑ Karin Palshoj & Gitte Redder Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, Allen & Unwin, Australia (2006) ISBN 1-74114-749-2
  12. ↑ Emma Tom Something About Mary: From Girl About Town to Crown Princess Pluto Press Australia, North Melbourne (2005), ISBN 1-86403-273-1
  13. ↑ Magnay J Sydney lass plays lady in waiting The Age, Melbourne, 5 November 2002. The Slip Inn is the renamed former Royal George hotel.
  14. ↑ "Crown Princess Mary of Denmark". HELLO! magazine (UK).
  15. ↑ "Crown jewels: The fabulous rings which sealed the love of Europe's royal couples". HELLO! magazine (UK).
  16. ↑ Browne, Anthony; Follett, Christopher (15 May 2004). "Danes cheer as estate agent marries into royal house". London: TimesOnline. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  17. ↑ "Wedding, 14 May 2004—at official Danish site".
  18. ↑ "Lov om meddelelse af dansk indfødsret til Mary Elizabeth Donaldson" [Act on granting Danish nationality to Mary Elizabeth Donaldson] (in Danish). Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  19. ↑ D.K.H.Kronprinsparret – Andre aktiviteter. Kronprinsparret.dk. Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  20. ↑ "Princess Mary makes surprise Afghan visit to meet with Danish troops". Herald Sun. 2 December 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  21. ↑ James Wray and Ulf Stabe (1 September 2006). "Princess Mary's solidarity visit". Monstersandcritics.com. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  22. ↑ "Mary visits Gellerup in Århus". Danish Royal Watchers. 6 March 2007. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  23. ↑ Mary i Viborg – dr.dk/Regioner/Midt & Vest/Nyheder/Viborg. Dr.dk. Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  24. ↑ Billed-Bladet – Kronprinsesse Mary på skolebænken. Billedbladet.dk (4 November 2010). Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Mary fik frøen tilbage i Vollsmose – fyens.dk – Odense. fyens.dk. Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  26. ↑ Ny i Danmark – Årets integrationsprisvindere er kåret. Nyidanmark.dk (25 October 2007). Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  27. ↑ Cuddles for mum Princess Mary as she pays goodwill visit to Uganda. Hellomagazine.com (30 September 2008). Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  28. ↑
  29. ↑ 72 millioner til Afrikas fattige – Nyheder. BT.dk. Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  30. ↑ Billed-Bladet – Frederik og Mary støtter indsamling til Haiti. Billedbladet.dk (20 January 2010). Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  31. ↑ 3/31/08 by. "Princess Mary of Denmark promotes anti-bullying program at The Insider". Theinsider.com. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  32. ↑ Mavis FraserJan 17th, 2009 – 04:53:19 (17 January 2009). "Popular Princess Mary". Monsters and Critics. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
  33. ↑ What Is Royalty In The 21st Century. Parade.com (19 April 2009). Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 ENOUGH ROPE with Andrew Denton – episode 66: Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark (28/02/2005). Abc.net.au (28 February 2005). Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  35. ↑
  36. ↑ Thompson, Wayne C. (2008). The World Today Series: Nordic, Central and Southeastern Europe 2008. Harpers Ferry, West Virginia: Stryker-Post Publications. ISBN 978-1-887985-95-6.
  37. ↑ "Copenhagen fashion summit: seven things we learned". The Guardian.
  38. ↑ The 2010 International Best-Dressed List. Vanityfair.com (1 August 2011). Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  39. ↑ Mary shows how love is always in fashion – National. www.smh.com.au. Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  40. ↑ Crown Princess Mary of Denmark and Georg Jensen / Coolspotters. Coolspotters.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  41. ↑ (German) Royal Style – VOGUE. Vogue.de. Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  42. ↑ Mary von Dänemark: Tommy Hilfiger ist ihr größter Fan – BUNTE. Bunte.de. Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  43. ↑ "TRH The Crown Prince Couple – Statement of support by HRH Crown Princess Mary". Kronprinsparret.dk. 20 February 2007. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
  44. ↑ "Children's Choir of the Royal Danish Academy of Music". Boernekor.dk. 23 December 2000. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  45. ↑ "TRH The Crown Prince Couple – The Danish Arts and Crafts Association". Kronprinsparret.dk. 20 May 2005. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  46. ↑ "Copenhagen International Fashion Fair". Ciff.dk. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  47. ↑ "Facts about the Danish Refugee Council". DRC.dk. 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  48. ↑ "UNF Danmark (click 'protektor' at left)". Unf.dk. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  49. ↑ "H.K.H. KRONPRINSESSEN PROTEKTOR FOR HEALTHCARE DENMARK". kongehuset.dk. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  50. ↑ "Danish Association for Mental Health". Sind.dk. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  51. ↑ Sekretariatet. "Rare Disorders Denmark". Sjaeldnediagnoser.dk. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  52. ↑ "The Alannah and Madeline Foundation – Our Patrons and Ambassadors". Amf.org.au. 28 April 1996. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  53. ↑ "Danish Brain Injury Association". Hjerneskadeforeningen.dk. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  54. ↑ "Danish Heart Association". Hjerteforeningen.inforce.dk. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  55. ↑ Organ donation
  56. ↑ "Organisation for Mental Illness". Psykiatrifonden.dk. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  57. ↑ "World Health Organization". Euro.who.int. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  58. ↑ see Crown Princess Mary's inaugural speech for WHO Europe. Kronprinsparret.dk (15 November 2006). Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
  59. ↑ "Danish Golf Union". DGU.org. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  60. ↑ info at webtool.dk. "Danish Swimming Union". Svoem.dk. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  61. ↑ H.R.H. The Crown Princess of Denmark becomes patron of UNFPA to support women’s health UNFPA Nordic Office, Copenhagen [June 2010]
  62. ↑ "Sydney's Westmead cancer centre honours Princess Mary". Herald Sun. AAP. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  63. ↑ "TRH The Crown Prince Couple – The Mary Foundation (Mary Fonden)". Kronprinsparret.dk. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  64. ↑ "Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess". Danish Royal Court. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  65. ↑ "Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary" (in Danish). kongehuset.dk. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  66. ↑ DECRETO DE 5 DE SETEMBRO DE 2007 – website JusBrasil
  67. ↑ Frederik and Mary
  68. ↑ http://cache3.asset-cache.net/gc/466614032-crown-princess-mary-of-denmark-attends-a-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=GkZZ8bf5zL1ZiijUmxa7QVBuabDOlSRkVv0nAJkFTwMUUt3UeFjP8z8HPkaLe15uPChULVUVXR4kjQ7lHkcy2g%3D%3D
  69. ↑ "HENDES KONGELIGE HØJHED KRONPRINSESSEN".
  70. ↑ Kongehuset
  71. ↑ Mad Hattery, pictures during Princess Victoria of Sweden's wedding
  72. ↑ "Noblesse et Royautés", Guests to Victoria of Sweden's wedding, Photo
  73. ↑ 73.0 73.1 Australian Heraldry Society: New arms for Crown Princess Mary of Denmark – website of the Australian Heraldry Society (Accessed 5 May 2011)

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