Time may have flown, but actually it doesn’t seem like yesterday that Mary stood on the balcony in Amalienborg Palace and kissed her newly wed handsome Prince in front of record crowds. Instead it feels as if this was the role she was born for, so impeccably has our Mary become Crown Princess. The Danes immediately embraced this Aussie commoner with open arms and with four gorgeous children, no scandals and plenty of accolades, it’s impossible not to feel supremely proud of our Aussie export.
Whatever you think of the royal privilege and pomp, Crown Princess Mary continues to impress. As The Weekly’s Royal Correspondent, I have witnessed the royal world at close quarters and my overriding feeling is that this is a uniquely strange and ultimately difficult life path. Crown Princess Mary, like the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Cornwall, has married into a bizarre universe of endless handshaking, supreme and painful scrutiny and total lack of privacy – and yet right from the start she has embraced the challenge and quickly realised how she could use her position to be more than just a show pony.
Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik share a kiss on the balcony.
With money given to the couple by the Danish people on their wedding day, the Crown Princess set up the Mary Foundation, a charity to fight domestic violence, bullying in school and loneliness. Next Mary moved to the world stage to work for the United Nations Population Fund and she’s a powerful advocate for sexual and reproductive health rights for women and girls in the developing world, something she has worked with Chelsea Clinton on. In all these endeavours, the Crown Princess is putting Denmark on the world map, in the forefront of humanitarian issues, and she’s also happy to support her nation’s businesses at the same time.
The Danish journalists, who follow her every move, tell me Crown Princess Mary has not only brought out the best in Crown Prince Frederik, but that together they look ready for the road ahead which will see them step up to the highest seat in the land, with Frederik as King and Mary by his side as Queen Consort.
As for Australia, the Crown Princess has not forgotten us, she and Crown Prince Frederik were patrons for Sydney Opera House’s 40th birthday last year and Mary is involved in a clutch of Australian charities. Oh… and Prince Christian? He has a Tasmanian Devil in Copenhagen Zoo.
Here’s wishing a very happy 10th wedding anniversary to the royal couple. We can’t wait to see what you do next.
