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Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark (Danish: Mary Elizabeth, Kronprinsesse af Danmark; née: Mary Elizabeth Donaldson; born 5 February 1972) is the wife of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark.
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Mary was born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. She attended Waimea Heights Primary School from 1978 to 1982. She completed her secondary education at Taroona High School and Hobart Matriculation College before studying at the University of Tasmania for five years.[1] Upon graduation Mary moved to Melbourne to work in advertising. Some months after the death of her mother, in 1997, Mary travelled extensively through Europe and the United States. Upon her return to Australia, she moved to live and work in Sydney.
As a girl, Mary was heavily involved in sports and other extracurricular activities both at school and elsewhere. Her early love of horses led her to ride competitively as a teenager, on her horse, Diana.
Mary is the youngest of four children born to John and Henrietta Donaldson. Her parents emigrated from Scotland to Australia in 1963.
Mary has three older siblings:
Mary's father is Professor John Dalgleish Donaldson, born in Port Seton, near Edinburgh, Scotland, on 5 September 1941, an applied mathematician with a PhD from the University of Tasmania. His Bachelor of Science (BSc) was completed at the University of Edinburgh in 1963. He 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. He has also taught and conducted researched Houston, at Oxford,[2], in South Korea, and most recently in Denmark at the University of Copenhagen and the University of Aarhus.[3]
Professor Donaldson married at Chalmers Memorial Church, in Port Seton, near Edinburgh, Scotland, on 31 August 1963, and emigrated with his wife and parents to Tasmania in November 1963. He and his wife were both naturalized in Australia. Mary's mother was Henrietta Clark Donaldson (née Horne), known as Etta, also born in Port Seton, near Edinburgh, Scotland, on 12 May 1942. She worked for many years at the University of Tasmania and before she retired she was the Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor.[4] Etta died on 20 November, 1997, of complications six weeks after a heart operation for a long-term condition.
In Oxford, on 5 September, 2001, John Donaldson remarried. His second wife is English author and novelist Susan Elizabeth Donaldson, née Horwood, born in Oxford. She writes novels under several pseudonyms, including Susan Moody.[5] In 2006, she taught creative writing at the University of Copenhagen. The couple currently live in Aarhus, where Professor Donaldson teaches at the University. According to recent reports, he will return to teaching at the University of Copenhagen next year, before retiring to France.
Mary's siblings live in Australia with their families. Jane (a pharmacist) and Patricia (an intensive care nurse) each have three children and John Stuart (a geologist) has two.[6]
Her paternal grandparents, who also emigrated to Australia, were Peter Donaldson, born ca. 1911, who died during an airplane flight from Scotland to Tasmania, ca. 1978, age estimated 67, and wife, married in Edinburgh on 3 August 1938, Mary Dalgleish, known as May, born in 1914 and deceased in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, on 28 June 2002. Her maternal grandparents were Archibald Horne, born in 1911 and died on 14 December 1974, and wife, married in Gladsmuir, East Lothian, on 14 June 1941, Elizabeth Gibson Melrose, born in 1917 and died on 25 October 1958.
Mary began elementary school in Clear Lake City, now Houston, Harris County, Texas, while her father was working there. On returning to Hobart she attended Sandy Bay Infants School, Waimea Heights Primary School and then Taroona High School in Tasmania. For the last two years of her secondary education Mary attended Hobart College from which she graduated. From 1989 to 1994 Mary did a combined degree in Commerce and Law (BCom.LLB) at the University of Tasmania. From heir combined degree, she followed a career in their studies of Commerce. Between 1994 and 1996 , Mary qualified for professional certificates in advertising from The Advertising Federation of Australia (AFA) and direct marketing from the Australian Direct Marketing Association. Mary worked for Australian and global advertising agencies after graduation: in 1995, she became a traine with the international advertising bureau chain DDB Needham working in various sections in order to learn the basic elements of marketing and communication. Mary was quickly promoted to accounts executive in customer management at DDB Needham. Eighteen months later, in 1996, Mary was employed by MOJO Partners as accounts manager and remained there for two years. In 1998, six months after her mother's death, Mary Donaldson left MOJO Partners and travelled in America and extensively in Europe. In the beginning of 1999, where she took a position as Account Director with the international advertising agency Young & Rubicam, in Sydney. In June 2000, Mary moved to a smaller Australian company, Love, where he worked for a short time. Mary was made an offer and accepted a position as the company's first account director. Mary took later, in the fall of 2000, the position as Sales Director and a member of the Management Team with Belle Property, a real estate firm specialising in luxury property, until the end of 2001. On moving to Denmark permanently she worked at Navision/Microsoft Business Solutions outside of Copenhagen, for an year until her engagement. Mary also had temporary work while studying or traveling. She was secretary of company Kingcash while Brent Annells was a director between 1993 and 1995. Mary and Brent had a relationship of seven years in the 1990s. In Scotland, in the second half of 1998, where she accepted a three-month contract as Account Manager with Rapp Collins Worldwide of Edinburgh. In the first half of 2002, after taking the decision to move to Europe, Crown Princess Mary taught business English in Paris. [7] [8] [9] [10]
Mary Donaldson met Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark at the Slip Inn[11] during the 2000 Summer Olympics on 16 September in Sydney. 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 Anna Johannesen[12] of the Danish weekly magazine Billed Bladet named Mary as Frederik's girlfriend. Mary moved to Europe in December 2001 and while working as an English tutor in Paris she visited Denmark privately and was photographed attending weddings and christenings of friends with Frederik. She moved to Denmark in August 2002 and on 4 September 2002 Mary began working at Navision/Microsoft[13] in Vedbæk. Mary and Frederik were photographed during 2003 at various private outings in Denmark. On 24 September 2003 the Danish court announced Queen Margrethe intended to give her consent to the marriage at the State Council meeting scheduled for 8 October 2003.
Mary Donaldson and Crown Prince Frederik were officially engaged on 8 October 2003.
Mary Donaldson and Crown Prince Frederik married on 14 May 2004 in Copenhagen Cathedral, in Copenhagen.[14] 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 [15] was celebrated in Copenhagen and at Fredensborg Palace. The couple reportedly spent their honeymoon in Africa.
The monograms of Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mary, Frederik's and Mary's combined monogram and Prince Christian's are all designed by Queen Margrethe.[16]
The Danish Folketing (parliament) passed a special law (Mary's Law) giving Mary Donaldson Danish citizenship upon her marriage, a standard procedure for new foreign members of the royal family.[17] Mary was previously a dual citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom. Formerly a Presbyterian, Mary became Lutheran. On entering the royal family, Mary signed a marriage agreement similar to those of her father-in-law and her commoner ex-sister-in-law. The agreement was subsequently updated in late 2006. The details of the first and second agreements have never been made public.
At 1:57 Am local time on 15 October 2005 Mary gave birth to a boy at Copenhagen University Hospital. Frederik was present for the delivery and the infant was healthy, weighed 3.5 kg (7.7 lbs) and measured 51 cm (20 ins). His name, Prince Christian Valdemar Henri John, was announced at his christening on 21 January 2006 at Christiansborg Palace Chapel in Copenhagen. He will be Christian XI on ascension to the throne after his father. Kings in Denmark are traditionally called either Frederik or Christian. 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 21 April 2007 Mary gave birth for the second time, again at Copenhagen University Hospital, at 16.02 local time. The newborn girl weighed 3.350 kg and was 50 cm long.[18] The new princess is third in line to the throne after her father Crown Prince Frederik and her brother Prince Christian. The infant was christened at Fredensborg Palace chapel on 1 July 2007.[19] The name of the new princess is Princess Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe. Henrietta and Margrethe are the names of her two grandmothers. Ingrid is the name of her great-grandmother, Ingrid of Sweden, who died in November 2000, aged 90.
After the wedding, in 2004, the couple went on a summer cruise of mainland Denmark on the royal yacht the Dannebrog, then to Greenland and to 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 it in London, New York and in Australia, where Mary was made Honorary HCA Ambassador to Australia in the Utzon Room of the Sydney Opera House. Since becoming Crown Princess of Denmark, Mary has made a number of international visits[citation needed] and Frederik and Mary participated in the reburial ceremonies for Empress Maria Feodorovna in Denmark and Saint Petersburg. In the context of immigrant issues in Denmark, Mary has visited the disadvantaged migrant areas of Vollsmose (2006)[20] and Gellerup (2007).[21] 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.[22] Mary is also involved in a new campaign to raise awareness and safe practices among Danes about skin cancer through The Danish Cancer Society.[23] Mary is also an active patron of Denmark's third highest earning export industry, the fashion industry. 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. On March 14 2010, a member of the Mary Fonden board resigned in the midst of a scandal. As a native English-speaker[24] Mary's main priority from the time of her engagement was to master the Danish language. Mary has acknowledged this has been a challenge for her in several interviews at the time of her engagement and marriage.[citation needed].
The princess, who has been compared to Diana, Princess of Wales,[25] [26] [27][28] and Jackie Kennedy[29] [30] [31][32][33], is often pictured wearing Danish fashion but is also adept to international design with designers such as Hugo Boss, Prada and Chanel, whose designs she uses often. She has attended fashion shows both as a way to promote Danish fashion and as a personal interest. She also has a personal style advisor since her engagement. Mary has also posed and given interviews for several international and Danish magazines such as Vogue, Women's Weekly (Australia), Parade Magazine (United States) or Dansk magazine. Mary has given an interview to the Australian TV to Andrew Denton ("Enough rope", Australia). On March 14, 2010, Queen Margrethe of Denmark released an official dressing-down of Mary, who had dined with convicted cocaine dealer Rigmor Zobel while Crown Prince Frederik was attending to IOC duties in the United States. This was reported extensively in the Danish [12] and Australian press. [13]
| Styles of Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark |
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| Reference style | Her Royal Highness |
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| Spoken style | Your Royal Highness |
| Alternative style | Ma'am |
Her official title in Danish is Hendes Kongelige Højhed Kronprinsesse Mary af Danmark, Grevinde af Monpezat. The title of Countess of Monpezat is not a substantive title, which means that Mary is not the Countess of Monpezat, but rather Countess Mary of Monpezat, a Count's wife.
Foreign Decorations:
A new coat of arms has been designed for the Crown Princess. In accordance with the statutes of the Danish Royal Orders, conferring the Order of the Elephant upon Mary necessitated the design of a new coat of arms to be hung in the Chapel of the Royal Orders at Frederiksborg Castle. The coat of arms and its details are as of yet to be published on the Crown Prince Couple's official website.
The official residence of the Crown Prince 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 Frederik'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 Frederik VIIIs Palace which was also the home of the Crown Prince's maternal grandparents, Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid, formerly Princess Ingrid of Sweden.
Since 2004 Crown Princess Mary has steadily worked to establish her relationships with various organisations, their issues, missions, programs 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 and vaccination for children in the European Union through the World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe.
Mary's current patronages include cultural organisations,[35][36][37] the Danish fashion industry [38][39] humanitarian aid,[40] research and science,[41][42] social, health and humanitarian organisations [43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53] and sporting organisations.[54][55]
Crown Princess Mary is also the 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). Mary lends her support to a number of other 'one off' Danish causes, industry events and international conferences convened in Denmark.
On 11 September 2007 Crown Princess Mary announced the establishment of the Mary Foundation[56] at the inaugural meeting at Amalienborg Palace. The Foundation's aim is to focus on co-operative community initiatives to advance the understanding of cultural diversity and the principle of the right to belong. The intitial funds of DKK 1.1 million were collected in Denmark and Greenland and donated to Frederik and Mary as a wedding gift in 2004. In addition the Mary Foundation has a capital base of DKK 73.6 million comprising donations from eight co-founders. Crown Princess Mary is the chairman of eight trustees. See the press release announcing objectives, participants and other details about how the Foundation will function. The Mary Foundation aims to improve lives compromised by environment, heredity, illness or other circumstances which can isolate or exclude people socially. By creating opportunity and giving a sense of affiliation and belonging to community, the Foundation intends to improve individual lives and those of families.
After almost four years as Crown Princess, in 2008 Mary is the most popular member of the Danish royal family, according to a poll of over 23,000 respondents,[57][58] and was voted Woman of the Year by a Danish magazine, Alt for damerne[59]. In 2009, her popularity was confirmed in Gallup's survey for the daily Jyllands-Posten.[60]
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Mary Donaldson, Crown Princess of Denmark was born on 5 February 1972 in Hobart, Tasmania. She attended Taroona High school and then continued her education at Hobart Matriculation College. She then finished her studies at the University of Tasmania from which she graduated in 1994 with a Bachelors degree in Commerce and Law.
Mary Donaldson’s life was to change forever when she met Prince Frederik of Denmark in a Sydney hotel pub in October 2000. “The first time we met, we shook hands,” she recalled. “I didn't know he was the prince of Denmark.”
Their relationship was made official in April 2003 when Queen Margrethe publicly acknowledged their relationship. Six months later a royal wedding was announced.
On May 14th, 2004, Princess Mary walked down the aisle and married Prince Frederik of Denmark. They now have two children, Prince Christian Valdemar Henri John, who was born on October 15th 2005, and Princess Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe, who was born on April 21st 2007.
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