Prince Frederik’s slip-up nearly sent Princess Mary’s fairytale crashing down around her.
Princess Mary then known as Mary Donaldson, could barely contain her excitement as she accompanied Prince Frederik to one of her first gala occasions as his official partner. The Tasmanian who would one day be future queen, and her regal boyfriend headed to Paris for a friend’s glam 40th birthday celebration.
Mary, who was then 31, spent the evening at Paris’s Hotel Ritz meeting many of Fred’s oldest friends for the first time, but she wasn’t aware she’d come face to face with his past.
According to former Danish royal reporter Trine Villemann – who wrote the book 1015 Copenhagen K – Frederik, widely reported at the time to be a “playboy” and a “ladies’ man”, was busted kissing another girl at the party. And not just any other girl – the woman in question was his ex Bettina Odum.
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Witnesses report that while Mary attempted to remain emotionless despite her pain at the discovery, those around her knew something was up.
“At first, we thought she was a little bit drunk, but then a guest told us it was because Frederik had kissed another girl.”
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Gossip began to fly that Fred had been seeing Bettina in Denmark in 2001, a year after he famously met his future Aussie bride at a Sydney pub during the 2000 Olympics.
During this time, Fred famously wooed Mary by secretly visiting Australia several times and writing her love letters from Copenhagen.
“The Crown Prince was involved with Bettina when he met Mary. They didn’t break up until spring 2001,” insists Trine.
Read all about the explosive reports only in Woman’s Day, on sale 16th March.
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