Sydney pub where Princess Mary met future King honours the coronation

With just days until Princess Mary becomes Queen, people are busy preparing for the occasion, including the Sydney pub where she first met her prince 24 years ago.

The Australian-born royal will become the Queen of Denmark when her husband Prince Frederik takes the throne on Sunday following the shock abdication of his mother, long-reigning monarch Queen Margrethe II on New Year’s Eve.

Slip Inn, the Merivale-owned pub where the royal couple met during the Sydney Olympic Games, have announced they will be honouring the occasion with a Danish themed menu and decorations ahead of a busy weekend expected to attract tourists and royal punters.

The pub is closed on Sunday, so there will be no live broadcast of the official proclamation ceremony, however the pub couldn’t let the day pass without paying tribute to the couple.

Danish flags will fly throughout the venue, Daisies, the national flower of Denmark, will adorn the venue and King and Queen thrones have been installed for people to pose on and take photos with.

A special menu will feature hotdogs and a Scandinavian inspired cocktail titled “There’s Something About Mary” made with Absolut Vodka, Aquavit, lychee and vanilla.

The new menu will run for the month of January to celebrate the King and Queen of Denmark.

How Mary met her prince at a Sydney pub

Tasmanian-born Mary Donaldson was 28 years old and working as a sales director at luxury real estate firm Belle Property on the day she met her prince.

Her boss, property developer Chris Meehan, invited her to the pub to meet up with some friends to celebrate the Danish women’s handball team winning gold earlier that day.

Little did she know, Mr Meehan counted Prince Frederik among his circle of friends, thanks to a shared love of sailing and the Sydney to Hobart race.

Now the chief operating officer at Laundy Hotels, which include Woolly Bay Hotel and Northies Cronulla, former manager Justin Tynan said the Sussex St pub was “the place to be” in Sydney’s thriving night-life scene of the time.

It wasn’t until years later during an interview where the royal couple revealed the Sydney pub had been the location of their first meeting that Mr Tynan became the centre of a media and tourism frenzy.

“I think I did about 50 live crosses around the world when the news broke,” he said of the time.

“The Danish flag still hangs out the front of the building but back in the day we put Carlsberg beer on, we put Danish food on the menu, we had buses turning up with Danish tourists just wanting to see exactly where they were.”

“It was absolutely crazy.”

Queen Margrethe of Denmark shocked the world when she announced she would be abdicating the throne on January 14 in favour of her oldest son Crown Prince Frederik and his Australian-born wife Princess Mary.