14 January 2024 , 14:00
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A new era has dawned on Denmark with the new King Frederik X taking the country's throne.
After more than 50 years as heir, Fred has succeeded his mother Queen Margrethe after she formally abdicated earlier today after shocking the world when out of the blue she announced her intention to step down on New Year's Eve.
Now the 55-year-old has become King, he will no doubt be supported by his wife, the now Queen Mary, who is the first Australian to become Queen of a European royal family. Mary and Fred's love story began more than 20 years ago when a chance meeting in a Sydney pub saw them struck up what was dubbed a modern fairytale. But their relationship seemingly hasn't always been plain sailing...
Modern fairytale
Although her husband was born and brought up as part of a royal house, Mary's upbringing couldn't have been different. She enjoyed a fairly normal childhood and was born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson in Hobart Tasmania, Australia to Scottish parents.
The couple on their wedding day in 2004 (Getty Images)She attended the University of Hobart and after graduating in 1995, she worked as an advertising executive in Melbourne, before moving to Edinburgh and then Sydney, where she worked for an international firm.
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Her first brush with royalty came in 2000 when she met her future husband in a bar called The Slip Inn in Sydney during the Olympic Games. Mary didn't recognise the handsome stranger who introduced himself as 'Fred' and she gave him her phone number. Fred later recalled feeling she was his 'soulmate' from that first encounter - and when news of their long-distance romance broke, Mary moved to Copenhagen, learned to speak Danish and got a job at Microsoft.
Fred and Mary finally tied the knot in May 2004 in a huge ceremony at Copenhagen Cathedral with the then Crown Prince declaring, "Mary is mine and I am hers". They now have four children, with their oldest Prince Christian, 18, now assuming the title of Crown Prince.
Their other children are Princess Isabella, who is 16, and twins Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent, who are 13.
Party prince
Before his marriage to Mary, Fred became known for his party prince image - and it seems it may have continued after they tied the knot, much to his wife's dismay. According to news.com.au in August 2008, Fred was booted out of a Beijing nightclub at 3am after a drunken night with pals got out of hand.
Mary and Fred met in 2000 (Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima)Following a wild session on the dancefloor' at a Playboy mansion-themed party, he was allegedly spotted taking a pair of bunny ears from a waitress. Unfortunately, the doormen weren't quite as amused as his friends and ended up showing him the door.
According to the same publication, just one month before this alleged incident, Mary reportedly sent Fred home from a nightclub in the Danish town of Skagen after becoming fed up with his boozed-up antics. In his youth, Frederik was often referred to as a 'party prince', with comparisons drawn with Britain's rebellious Prince Harry, but some experts say he's mellowed with age and responsibility.
Scandalous rumours
Meanwhile, in November alleged affair rumours about the Danish royal couple were sparked when Fred was seen attending a Pablo Picasso exhibition in Spain with former Mexican celebrity Masterchef contestant, Genoveva Casanova.
The couple pictured in the days after rumours emerged (2023 Getty Images)Casanova, 47, later slammed the rumours, saying the "photos prove nothing" and that the pair are just "friends". "I want to make it very clear that I have no relationship with him, as some suggest," she said. "Except for those who want to distort the images and see something where there is nothing. We have common friends and I am not going to tell who my friends are."
Fred had planned the trip to Spain to enjoy art and it is reported that he had planned to attend a Picasso exhibition with a mutual friend he shares with Casanova. However, at the last minute, the friend was unable to go and he reportedly asked her to attend in his place. After visiting the exhibition at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, the pair walked through El Retiro Park, before heading to El Corral de la Morería for dinner.
Weeks later, Mary, 51, was spotted looking tearful at New Zealand's Queenstown Airport while saying her goodbyes to friends, shortly before sharing a mysterious post to Instagram. In the days leading up to Christmas, Mary uploaded a personal message on her account for her Mary Foundation, a charity which aims to tackle social isolation. Leaving fans puzzling over whether there was a more personal meaning to her post, she wrote: "Time is a peculiar thing. The more years you have covered, the faster the next year seems to pass by. At the same time, you become more and more aware of how precious every moment - and every year - is."
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The cruel rumours have even prompted some experts to speculate that Queen Margrethe chose to abdicate in a 'shrewd' attempt to save her son's marriage. Royal expert Phil Dampier told MailOnline: "I think Margrethe may have worried that their marriage was in trouble and therefore she had to act.
"The Queen always thought Mary was a fantastic asset to the royal family and if she thought she might leave it would have been a disaster. She will now hope that Frederik and Mary patch up any differences and work together as the new King and Queen."