For Princess Mary, the past 12 months have been the most difficult time for her since she joined the Danish royal family on the arm of Crown Prince Frederik in 2004 – and friends fear it’s taking a dramatic toll on her marriage.
The future king and queen have not only been forced to reckon with the global pandemic just like the rest of us, but there’s also been family in-fighting that’s almost driven Fred, 52, and Mary, who turns 49 this week, to the brink.
And now, with images surfacing of Mary dabbling in a new hobby with a mystery man by her side, driving speculation that all is not well on the home front for the Tassie-born royal.
“She’s loving horseriding and finds it is an excellent way to blow off steam,” says a source.
“I’m sure it helps that the guy she’s hanging out with there, who seems to be her instructor, is easy on the eyes!”
While there’s no suggestion there’s anything romantic going on between Mary and her stablemate, the source says she’s “finding a lot of joy escaping to the barn, hanging out with her horse, Edelmann, and learning the art of dressage.”
It’s been a difficult 12 months for Mary.
(Getty)As Mary’s relationship with Fred becomes more chaotic, her time at the stables goes up, according to insiders.
The couple have been faced with homeschooling their kids after yanking them from their Swiss boarding school at the start of the pandemic – with eldest son Christian, 15, even suffering from the deadly virus – along with a bizarre family feud going on between Mary and Fred’s brother Prince Joachim’s second wife, Princess Marie.
Such is the tension between the lookalike women that Mary did not join her husband when he visited Joachim and Marie last year after the younger prince’s shock hospitalisation from a brain aneurysm.
“This feud has driven a wedge into the family, and Fred feels torn between his wife and his brother,” says the source.
“It’s terrible timing given that Mary and Fred are supposed to be preparing together for the formidable task of becoming king and queen of Denmark, but instead they are leading increasingly separate lives.”
the pair have been married for 15 years.
(Getty)“Mary, who is missing Australia and her family terribly and not always feeling particularly comfortable in the family she married into, is growing more determined to do things that bring her joy, hence the horseriding,” the source adds.
“At Amalienborg Palace, they hole up in their separate offices to do Zoom meetings and appearances with their respective charities and causes, which they keep quite separate. I believe they’re growing very frustrated with not being able to attend in-person events, which can result in some tensions in the household.”
“I’m not sure why, given they haven’t done a lot of joint appearances lately anyway. Things have changed so much for them both and Mary can sometimes be quite withdrawn from her husband – it’s like they’re living separate lives, which is so strange given how in love and warm they usually are with each other.”
