Queen Mary of Denmark

However, the greatest public attention was not only on the new king but seemed to be directed towards the woman beside the new king - Queen Mary Donaldson, the woman who has long been considered the figure holding the "power behind the throne".

From “Australian Cinderella”

For a long time, in the public and media's eyes, the life and love story of Queen Mary Donaldson of Denmark has been the story of a "modern-day Cinderella". Because before becoming Princess and then Queen of Denmark, the beautiful woman of the Danish Royal Family was just a girl born in Hobart, Australia, in an ordinary family.

The daughter of a mathematics professor with two sisters and a brother, who studied law and commerce at the University of Tasmania, worked in advertising and then real estate in Melbourne, Edinburgh and Sydney, Mary’s life could very well have taken a different, if not completely turned upside down, direction had it not been for a fateful meeting with a man named Frederik in a Sydney bar in 2000. Mary was 28 at the time. The Crown Prince of Denmark was 32.

Danish King Frederik X (left) and Queen Mary wave to the crowd after the coronation ceremony at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen on January 14, 2024. Photo: Bo Amstrup/AFP/Getty Images.

“The first time we met, we shook hands and chatted. I didn’t know he was a Danish prince. Half an hour later, a friend came up to me and said, ‘Do you know what those people are like?’” Mary later recalled of the meeting, which was “a lightning strike”, “a love arrow that hit both hearts” that day.

In the Danish Royal Family, as well as in the European Royal Family, it is not uncommon for royals to marry commoners, but it is not very common either. Therefore, the love affair between the Danish Crown Prince and a commoner girl from Australia surprised many people. The love affair happened unexpectedly and was even more surprising when it quickly bore fruit, without encountering too many obstacles or objections from the Royal Family as many people feared.

At the end of 2021, the Australian girl resolutely followed her heart's call, packing her bags and moving to a "foreign land" alone just to be with the person she loved. At the end of 2022, their love story became public when images of them together were constantly discovered by the media. However, at that time, those who understood the "love history" of Prince Frederik did not believe much in the longevity of the "Prince - Cinderella" love. However, all the speculations were not accurate.

In April 2003, the couple received the consent and blessing of Queen Margrethe - Frederik's mother. In October 2023, that is, just under 3 years after their first meeting, the couple got engaged. On May 14, 2004, the couple's fairytale wedding was held at the Copenhagen Cathedral. Mary had to renounce her Australian citizenship and convert to another religion to officially become a royal bride.

Up to today, the couple has been together for nearly 2 decades. Their happy boat has been rocking many times, even encountering many " tough waves" but until now it is still intact with 4 children: Prince Christian (17 years old) - the next heir to the throne, Princess Isabella (15 years old), twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine (12 years old). The emotional kiss of the new King and Queen of Denmark on the balcony of Christiansborg Castle on January 14, amidst the resounding applause of hundreds of thousands of cheering people below - was proof of that marriage. It is also because of the bold fairy tale color that this famous love story has been the inspiration for many Hollywood movies such as The Prince and Me (2004) or Mary: The Making of a Princess (2015).

Crown Prince Frederik and Mary were married on 14 May 2004 at Copenhagen Cathedral.

To the “Power behind the Throne” or the position of “one of the most popular royal members”

The greatest reward for the Australian Tasmanian woman after nearly two decades as the daughter-in-law of the Danish Royal Family, besides her four children and the position of Queen, is perhaps that she has become one of the most popular members of the royal family.

A poll published by Danish television station TV2 in December 2023 showed that Princess Mary is the third most popular member of the royal family in Denmark, after the Queen and her husband. Recently, the Danish news agency Ritzau conducted a public opinion survey on the level of support for King Frederik and Queen Mary. The results showed that 82% of people believe that Frederik is suitable for the role of head of state, while the favorability rate for Mary is 86%. Author Trine Villemann even said that Mary is considered the "power behind the throne". Decades ago, Mary, then a princess, gradually took on the responsibility of representing the Queen on diplomatic visits to other countries. In September 2006, the princess made an official visit to the Czech Republic alone.

There are many explanations for Queen Mary’s popularity. The new Queen’s ability to communicate and speak in public is her first plus point, and some even say that Mary’s speaking ability is much better than her husband’s. The fact that she devoted herself to taking care of her family and raising her four children to adulthood also made the Queen highly regarded.

Queen Mary was beautiful in many activities.

Queen Mary is known and highly regarded for her efforts to combat bullying, domestic violence and social exclusion, as well as promoting mental health and women’s rights. “She is a passionate advocate for the gender rights of women and girls. She has always supported refugees and has thus proven her worth as a role model for leadership in Denmark,” said Juliet Rieden, Editor-in-Chief of Australian Women’s Weekly. Her charitable work through the establishment of the Mary Foundation in 2007 has also been consistently highly regarded.

One thing that cannot be ignored when talking about the reasons why Mary became so loved is her impressive and extremely sophisticated figure and fashion sense. Whether at grand ceremonies or in everyday moments, she always makes people admire her elegance and her trendy and appropriate dressing style for each event she attends. Mary even once surpassed Princess Kate in England in the polls for the best-dressed royal.

“Every word Mary said was news. Her face was in the magazines. Her style of dress was enthusiastically received by women” – for decades, this is what the public has always said about the new Queen of Denmark. That is why her influence is so widespread.

Ha Anh

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/hoang-hau-dan-mach-mary--quyen-luc-dang-sau-ngai-vang-post281404.html