Mary Donaldson: Tassie Princess
Young girls only dream about a handsome prince riding into their lives to sweep them off their feet. But for Tasmanian real estate agent Mary Donaldson, that fantasy will become a reality this month when she weds Prince Frederik of Denmark and—as the fairytales have it—lives happily ever after.
Mary now lives in the Royal Apartments in Denmark as she awaits her May nuptials, but life wasn’t always so sweet for the young Australian. She was born in February 1972, in Hobart, to her university professor father, John, and secretary mother, Henrietta.
Along with her two older sisters and an older brother, she lived an ordinary suburban life in the island state. Mary was a bright student, excelling in music and sports, especially hockey, horse-riding, basketball and swimming. But she was an awkward-looking teenager, with frizzy hair and a chunky figure—hardly the vision of beauty likely to attract the ardour of a globetrotting prince.
But Frederik is not just any prince. The Crown Prince of Denmark harks from the land of Hans Christian Andersen, where mermaids capture the hearts of humans and ugly ducklings turn into beautiful swans. If anyone was equipped to spot Mary’s charm, it was he.
And he did. The two were introduced by the Crown Prince of Spain at a party on a warm night in Sydney, where the Danish Prince was visiting to watch his country perform in the 2000 Olympic Games. A keen sailor and former Olympic yachtsman himself, he’d come along to support the Danish sailing team. Prince Frederik was immediately struck by the brunette with warm, brown eyes. But he was won over by Mary’s natural friendliness and down-to-earth manner.
Frederik had dated a string of beautiful and famous Danish women before meeting the Australian “commoner.” His ex-girlfriends include Katja Storkholm, a former underwear model; Maria Montell, a Danish pop singer; and Bettine Oedum, a fashion designer. All were glamourous and outspoken. Quiet Mary with her classic good looks was a fresh change for the adventure-seeking prince, who was renowned for his love of fast cars and thrill-seeking hobbies, such as polar sledding and jungle trekking.
Mary, while spirited and fun to be around, is also eminently sensible. She’d been prefect in high school, then graduated with degrees in commerce and law from the University of Tasmania.
The death of her mother in 1997 deeply affected her and perhaps contributed to her belief that life is for living and opportunities should be embraced as they present. Certainly this young woman has never shied away from change or taking risks. After university, she took up a career in advertising before moving into publishing and, finally, real estate. She has worked in Australia, the UK and Europe and now works for Microsoft in Copenhagen.
But while the prince may have fallen for the intelligent and sociable Australian, his mother, Queen Margrethe was reportedly less enthusiastic. And in a country where public support for the monarchy runs at 80 per cent, the popular queen’s approval was vital to the future of the relationship. Initially, the 63-year-old monarch viewed her son’s new affair as a passing fancy and neither met Mary in public nor invited her to official engagements.
The media began to speculate as to whether Mary was suitable royalty material and whether she would be able to master the difficult Danish language—an unstated prerequisite for becoming queen. (Interestingly, it was Mary’s stepmother, crime writer Susan Moody, who came to her rescue to assure the Danes that Mary was strong enough to handle pressure.)
Certainly the Danes are no strangers to foreigners in the Royal family. Queen Margrethe herself is married to a Frenchman and her younger son, Joachim, married a Chinese-European from Hong Kong. But to the Danes, Mary was a mystery. Knowing little about her far-off homeland and even less about her, they could only watch as she grew ever more glamourous by the day and appeared more and more frequently in the media, smiling but saying nothing.
One Danish journalist said that Mary’s first words to the media had been “No comment,” and since then she’d done nothing but smile enigmatically by the Prince’s side. But this came to be considered a positive attribute. Royal reporter Anna Johannesen said she didn’t mind Mary’s taciturn approach. “All the other girls talked a little too much,” she said, hinting at the embarrassment some of the prince’s previous girlfriends had caused him.
As Frederik’s affection for Mary grew, so did the public’s appreciation of her. Finally their favourite prince appeared to be settling down and the people were hungering for a fairytale wedding and children. But the Queen seemed unmoved. Two years into the relationship, she admitted she had not met Mary and said she did not wish to discuss her son’s private life.
Public pressure was mounting. A national newspaper ran the headline “Meet her!” in response to demands from its readers. There were signs of acceptance as Mary joined the Royal family at a screening of The Lord of the Rings in 2003. She also accompanied Frederik to a wedding and on a holiday to Tasmania, raising the profile of their relationship.
But after almost three years, the queen had still not officially approved the match and her subjects were restless. Finally, the people took matters into their own hands. Some picketed the palace, urging the Queen to “Let Frederik marry Mary” while the media ran article after article on the blossoming but silent Aussie. In September 2003, Queen Margrethe conceded that Mary would make “a very nice daughter-in-law,” and by the end of the month she’d relented and agreed to officially accept Mary into the Royal fold. The engagement was announced on October 8, with a May 2004 wedding planned. The Danes were ecstatic.
Mary is now in line to become Queen of Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, making her the first Australian-born person to become part of a royal family.
Following their official engagement, Mary was immediately thrust into the first of what promises to be many “official engagements” on behalf of the Royal Family. The couple was given less than two hours to celebrate the happy event privately in the Christian IX Palace—one of four Renaissance-style mansions that make up the Amalienborg Palace. They then endured a photo shoot for the production of an official portrait for the press and posterity.
Their first formally sanctioned public appearance followed close on the heels of the photo shoot: they appeared on the palace balcony to greet the hundreds of onlookers waving red and white Danish flags in the plaza below. The newly engaged couple then travelled to Fredensborg Castle, some 35 kilometres north of Copenhagen, to give their first press conference together.
If Mary suffered the invasion of the press on her privacy before the engagement, she’s likely to feel it even more keenly now that she’s officially in line to become queen of the 5.3 million people of Denmark. Public interest in her life has never run higher, both in Denmark and her home country.
In January this year, her presence at a tiny garden wedding in Hobart was enough to transform it into an international media spectacle, attracting journalists from both mainland Australia and Denmark. But her sister’s simple wedding service gave Mary the opportunity to practise for her big day. She carried herself with aplomb, smiling patiently at the press and keeping to her usual habit of pleasant silence. And the press raved about her elegant dress, svelte figure and all-round suitability to be queen.
This month, Mary finally takes centre stage in her own wedding at Copenhagen’s Lutheran Cathedral and reception at Fredensborg Palace, the site of several other Royal wedding receptions, including the 1967 marriage of the Queen to Prince Henrik.
Following her nuptials, plain Mary will become Crown Princess Mary, wife of the man who will eventually become King Frederik X and sixth Danish monarch of the Glucksburg house.
Mary’s ascension isn’t likely just yet, as Queen Margrethe has stated that she has no plans to abdicate in favour of her son. But it has nevertheless been a swift journey to society’s upper echelons for a humble Tassie girl. Only time will tell how well she can fill the role of queen.
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