I’ve just figured it out – when Denmark’s Queen Mary wears her glasses, she’s a dead ringer for Mary McDonnell, the American actress who appeared in Major Crimes and Dances with Wolves. Right?? Anyway, we haven’t talked about the Danish situation in a couple of months, not since the very sudden abdication of Queen Margrethe and the equally sudden civil-coronation of King Frederik and Queen Mary. All of that went down in January of this year, with the “coronation” event happening just a few days before Kensington Palace announced the Princess of Wales’s mysterious abdominal surgery. If anything, it feels like the cracked-out shenanigans of the Windsors have eased some of the pressure – in the European media, at least – on the Danish royals and their dramas.
From what I can see, Queen Mary and King Frederik really haven’t done many events together since Margrethe’s abdication. Frederik’s rumored mistress, Genoveva Casanova came out of hiding last month and returned to Instagram, and presumably returned to Spain as well. Reportedly, Casanova feels “crushed” that everyone was talking about her activities with the then-crown prince of Denmark. Meanwhile, Mary has never addressed the photos or rumors of an affair. But it definitely seems like all is not well in Fred and Mary’s marriage, even though they’re king and queen.
Queen Mary of Denmark looked typically stylish today as she attended the Freedom Museum in Copenhagen, amid rumours that she dropped out of a planned trip with her husband Prince Frederik. The Australian-born royal, 52, donned an elegant long trench coat which she tied at the waist as she headed out to the Museum to mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the National Guard.
The outing comes amid speculation that Mary may have spent the Easter break away from Prince Frederik as their flag remained raised over their mansion in Amalienborg Castle – meaning at least Frederik, Mary or their son Crown Prince Christian was in attendance.
The family often travel for Easter, with the palace telling Danish publication Her&Nul last week that Queen Margrethe, 83, will act as head of state as the whole family travel out of the country. However, it seems a last minute change took place, with Mary possibly staying behind in Copenhagen.
This has further heightened rumours over the state of the couple’s marriage, after Frederik was pictured with glamorous Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova. Today, Mary attended the event alone.
I really wish the Mail would do this kind of innuendo-heavy reporting on their own royal family, but we can’t have everything. As I said, Fred and Mary really haven’t been out and about together much since their accession. Going through the Getty photo archives, they’ve only done one event together (on March 21) since all of their January appearances around the accession. I really do believe that Margrethe’s abdication was – at least partially – a strategic move to keep Mary from leaving Frederik. It looks like separate holidays are now in the mix as well.
Here are some photos of Mary’s April 3rd event:
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty.
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- Koenigin Mary von Daenemark, Frankreich vs. Daenemark, Finale, Europameisterschaft, Laenderspiel, Handball, 28.01.2024 Koeln Nordrhein-Westfalen Deutschland *** Queen Mary of Denmark, France vs Denmark, final, European Championship, international match, handball, 28 01 2024 Cologne North Rhine-Westphalia Germany Copyright: xkolbert-,Image: 841541603, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/kolbert-press/Marc Niemeyer / Avalon
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- Koeln, Deutschland: Handball EM 2024 – Finale – Frankreich – Daenemark Königin Mary Elizabeth von Dänemark Köln Lanxess Arena Deutschland *** Cologne, Germany European Handball Championship 2024 Final France Denmark Queen Mary Elizabeth of Denmark Cologne Lanxess Arena Germany,Image: 841850692, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Marco Wolf / Avalon
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- Koenigin Mary Elizabeth von Daenemark, Frankreich FRA vs. Daenemark DEN 33:31, Finale, in Koeln am 28.01.2024 Handball Europameisterschaft der Maenner, vom 10.01 – 28.01.2024 in Deutschland/ Germany *** Queen Mary Elizabeth of Denmark, France FRA vs Denmark DEN 33 31, Final, in Cologne on 28 01 2024 European Mens Handball Championship, from 10 01 28 01 2024 in Germany Germany,Image: 841888445, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Anke Waelischmiller/Sven Simon / Avalon
I hope Mary got some concessions out of Margrethe and Frederik before agreeing to anything, as in, I’ll be your queen if I don’t have to pretend to like the King. And I’ll take some jewelry and a nice cash settlement too.
She HAD to have, right?! I hope so too.
She probably wouldn’t be doing all these events if she didn’t get anything in return.
Also they are telling that it might just be their son who was in the palace at that time. Anyway it’s just the DM trying to cover for the British royal family “look ! they also have family problems in Denmark !”
There are obvious reasons why either Fred or Mary might have skipped out, but Christian has missed family holidays before because of school, so I think that’s more likely (but also more boring for the tabloids).
Yeah. He’s 18. At that age my younger brother and I had quite a few partys at home while our parents were on easter holiday. He is the age were hanging out with friends are more interesting. There’s two flags used for them. One used if the king and queen are in residence and another for the heir. The reports don’t say which one was flagged. Probably on purpose to make a headline.
Mary was never leaving Frederick. If she did she would lose custody of her children.
Do you know any specific law in Denmark or the UK that says that specifically? That married in royals are nor allowed to have custody of their minor children? I’m asking because it is implied a lot in W and K related comments too. In this day and age, it sounds improbable to me. And also why would they do that?
I hate to say it but she does look unhappy. My guess is they will stay together until the younger children are in university, then decide either go on as they are to separate. By that time Mary may forgive Fred and want to continue their marriage, they might become more friends and stay married in that capacity. I hope they have someone such as a therapist, who can help them sort through it all.
Mary and Fred are one of the royal couples I’ve always liked the most. It’s just a shame that she’s finally queen and it all seems to be falling apart inside their marriage.
I’m not seeing that the spent it separately but if they did maybe she went home to Australia to visit her family. If she stayed in Denmark then the kids are with her and Fred was alone. Not likely.
No she went to Oz in Nov or Dec. I’d have to check and I don’t have that much energy. It was supposed Daisy’s announcement was partly because of Mary ‘running away’.
Mary’s father is elderly and no longer travels to Denmark. She’s been married for 20 years and being away from your family for that many years eventually takes a toll. I could see her wanting to take trips to visit him even if people think it’s too much.
Or take a trip/spend some alone time without your spouse sounds OK to me. With that said, I don’t doubt that they have marriage problems, and I think it was caused by Fred being indiscreet. Not because he cheated.
“Queen Mary…her husband Prince Frederick.”
The Daily Fail is failing to understand the general basics of royal titles.
The skill level at the fail seems to be just shy of 5th grade
Guessing, Mostly interns, no proofreaders.
Yeah, the DF also misspelled the Danish magazine Her&Nu, meaning Here&Now, as Her&Nul, meaning Here&Zero. F&M might not be as rocky as reported—I’ll wait for the Danes/ people with knowledge of the DRF to find out what’s going on there.
Good catch!
At this point I believe the Fail’s editorial blunders are intentional. Prompt readers to post the correction &/or admonishing them in the comments section (artificially) improves their web page performance metrics.
The editorial meeting: “Anyone want to place a wager on the CommentCount we’ll get this time?”
I always thought it was intentional, the corrections are about 40% of the comments 😏😏
This just reminded me of a podcast I somehow stumbled upon recently! The premise was that the hosts would have a celebrity guest on each episode, and the audience (I think?) had to guess who it was based solely on the comments left on a DF article that the hosts would read? Something like that.
It sounded like it could actually be funny, but then I noticed a small DM logo in the bottom corner, and obviously I’m not going to subscribe to a podcast that they actually produce and profit from.
Too bad, since if done well, it could be good, as the comments on there are so unfreakingbelievably unhinged. (Kristen Meinzer’s “Daily Fail’ podcast is still the best anyway.)
ETA I looked and it’s called “Straight to the Comments” — idk if the hosts are Fail writers or what…I’ve stayed away from it. But I highly recommend Daily Fail! Especially for sane Sussex coverage.
I can’t unsee Mary McConnell now! And I literally thought to myself this morning: haven’t heard anything about Fred and Mary. Lol
Queen Mary and Mary McDonnell can be sisters. I admire Mary McDonnell. Major Crimes was my show. Queen Mary and I share the same birthday.
I follow them on insta. They’ve not done a lot of engagements since the big promotion.. Also daisy is still doing a lot as queen which I suspect could be causing friction.
I was going to say, my impression is that they’ve been laying low in general. Not sure what their usual winter work schedule is like, but I I don’t get the impression that Frederik is out there 20 times a week and Mary isn’t.
TBH I’d forgotten about this entire thing, since the batsh!t Wales coverage took over in January.
Fredrik should send William a fruit basket or something for taking the heat off of him and redirecting royal gossip squarely onto the BRF.
If it is in fact the case that this has all been about Kate negotiating with William this entire time, I hope she called Mary for tips.
Daisy’s abdication was sudden and royal diaries are blocked out months in advance, there was always going to be a transitional phase as she winds down and he takes over.
The DF using any tactic to deflect from the BRF debacle I see.
Mary and Frederik are just fine. They spent Easter holiday in Switzerland. It could be that Christian stayed behind due to school. The whole Mary stayed behind was pure speculation that is now being reported as fact with zero evidence. But hey that angle gets more clicks, right? And more blogs written.
And as the transition continues, I will look forward to the upcoming back-to-back state visits, the Royal Run, the official boarding of the royal yacht for the first time as regent couple. And during summer big trips to the Faroe Islands and Greenland which are part of the Danish realm.
Thank you, Danish CBer!
I’m so excited for all the trips they have planned later this year. Really hope Mary starts using the royal jewel collection
In my mind, Margrethe saw the writing on the wall regarding her health and her Heir. Her abdication gives her less responsabilities, yes, but it also ensures Mary is locked in as Queen Consort, which would make a divorce much harder. I imagine she contemplated a scenario in which Mary, a true asset to their Family, walked away and was replaced by someone not as… useful.
I know not everyone’s a Mary fan but she has my sympathy. She gave up everything in Australia, moved to a new country, learned a new language, and assimilated to a new culture. If the rumors about Fred are true (and I think they are), being Queen is more of a consolation prize. Even if they did get divorced, she would want to stay in Denmark to be near her kids. But I’m reading in the comments above that they didn’t spend the Easter holidays separately so who knows, maybe they have an understanding. Frederik cheating on Mary is a juicy story but the double whammy of Kate’s disappearance from public life and cancer diagnosis revelation and Charles’s mystery cancer diagnosis dominated social media in a way the Frederik/Genoveva Casanova story did not.
Wow, I love that coat, hat and gloves combo. Those shades of blue are exquisite! I could see how some people might not like the gloves standing out a bit with a more “electric” shade of blue but I love it.
I hope Kate is well enough to tack it on her Mary pinterest board.
It started again with the nonsense. It’s perfectly logical for an 18 year old teenager not to join his parents right away and want to be alone with friends but not work.
Besides, a king and a heir to the throne should not travel on the same plane.
Pictures from their vacation are coming out. And Mary and Fred are there.
It’s obvious that Chris wanted some privacy before following them.
I’m glad karma exists and it’s obvious that it brings everything back. Let the lies continue…May there be more sick ones from that family.
Several events have together. Two dinners for the military and for the government. A visit to a cathedral. A visit to the theatre and the exhibition.
That’s the way it’s always been for all couples.
After the change of throne, patronages were discontinued and had to be divided among the working classes.
They said they would work more behind the scenes while they distributed them.
One month was nothing.
Why is no one saying anything about the Elizabethan ones who are still waiting for allocation ?
“when Denmark’s Queen Mary wears her glasses, she’s a dead ringer for Mary McDonnell”
^^ Given their Scottish origins it would be absolutely hilarious to find out they have common ancestors !
Did you see the pictures. Mary and Frederic are together in Verbier. Chris is not visible in them. So it’s clear who was home.
Yeah, how do you divorce a guy if it means you have to hand a crown back?
Or do you have to hand it back? The coronation crowned you, after all, even if that only happened due to the marriage existing.
There’s precedent for divorcing a prince and his titles, of course, but I don’t think there’s any for divorcing a king, at least not one that doesn’t involve getting your head chopped off.