Inauguration of Prince Frederik and Princess Mary: How a girl from Hobart met her prince and became a queen

It is difficult to imagine a true story that has more elements of a fairy tale than many fairy tales.

So take a moment to let this one sink in. An ordinary, middle-class young woman from Hobart meets a man in Sydney without knowing he happens to be the prince of an ancient European monarchy.

She then takes a chance on love and moves to literally the opposite end of the earth, marries her prince and becomes a princess. And, today she becomes a queen.

This is what happened after Fred met Mary.

Mary Elizabeth Donaldson was born on February 5, 1972, the youngest child of Scottish-born John Dalgleish Donaldson, who emigrated to Australia with his wife Henrietta in 1963.

Mary’s father was a maths professor and her mother worked as executive assistant to the vice-chancellor of The University of Tasmania, Mary grew up with siblings Jane, Patricia and John.

Mary’s early schooling was in Houston, Texas while her father worked at the Johnson Space Center. Back in Hobart, her education was nothing out of the ordinary as she went to Sandy Bay Infants School, Waimea Heights Primary School, Taroona High School and Hobart Matriculation College.

She was said to have been keen on sports, including basketball and — like another modern and popular young princess — hockey. Mary also took an interest in music and learnt piano, flute and clarinet.

A former principal told the ABC that Mary was an “engaging, very outgoing, very amiable” young woman, while a former teacher told the Sydney Morning Herald “she was a popular student and stood out from the crowd.”

Mary graduated from the University of Tasmania in 1994 with a degree in Commerce and Law, and then undertook a certificate in advertising from the Advertising Federation of Australia and later a certificate in direct marketing from the Australian Direct Marketing Association.

She also moved to Melbourne, took a graduate position with advertising agency DDB Needham, and then worked as an account manager with MOJO Partners, also in Melbourne.

Tragically, Mary’s mother died in 1997 and the following year Mary travelled in America, Europe and to see the land of her forebears, Scotland.

Back in Australia in 1999 she moved to Sydney and worked in advertising and then became a sales director with Belle Property.

And life was about to change as the 2000 Olympics came to Sydney. It was a heady time. Celebrities and dignitaries hit town, and one of the places to be was the Slip Inn.

The most accepted version of what happened next was that the 28-year-old headed to the inn to meet friends.

According to the SMH also there were Prince Frederik of Denmark, his brother, Prince Joachim, their cousin, Nikolaos, the son of Constantine II, the last king of Greece; and Princess Martha of Norway. Other reports said also there was the now King of Spain, Felipe VI.

It was a casual gathering, as the SMH said women in Mary’s group were at one point discussing whether they preferred men to have a hairy chest or not.

As the evening went on, Mary and Frederik — who had reportedly introduced himself just as “Fred” — hit it off, but she had no idea of his royal pedigree.

“Half an hour later someone came up to me and said, ‘Do you know who these people are?’” Mary told comedian Andrew Denton in 2005.

“I gave Frederik my telephone number and he rang me the next day, so you could say something clicked. It wasn’t fireworks in the sky or anything like that but there was a sense of excitement,” she said.

The pair kept in regular contact after Frederik returned to Denmark and in November 2001 Danish tabloids reported that Mary was Frederik’s girlfriend.

Mary was seemingly aware of where things might lead, in 2001 taking a course offering lessons on “building confidence, presence and magnetism” and “graceful posture”.

In 2004 she described how the couple gradually got to know each other by exchanging letters, emails and CDs. She sent him Powderfinger, and he responded with Sword Sol (Black Sun), a heavy Danish rock act.

“He’s very easy to be around with; he’s funny, he’s also curious,” she said. “He can be full of surprises.”

In the first half of 2002, Mary worked for a short period in Paris, teaching English, before taking the next step later in 2002 and moving to Denmark, taking a job at Microsoft Business Solutions as a project consultant for business development, communications and marketing.

Crucially, she threw herself into learning the challenging Danish language, which soon endeared her to the Danish population.

When the couple’s engagement was announced in 2003 the square in front of Copenhagen’s Christian IX’s Palace was a blanket of Danish and Australian flags.

One shop sold more than 12,000 Australian flags, tribute cakes were baked, restaurants prepared Australian dishes, T-shirts sold out and retirement homes and schools staged special parties.

Ahead of the wedding, Mary had to give up her Australian citizenship and join Denmark’s Lutheran Evangelical Church.

In the lead into the big day Denmark enjoyed a 10-day celebration, which included a Vikings versus Australians yacht race, with America’s Cup-winning skipper John Bertrand captaining Mary’s boat.

The couple was married in May 2004 in Copenhagen Cathedral.

Mary’s wedding gown, by Danish designer Uffe Frank, was accessorised with a veil first used by Crown Princess Margret of Sweden in 1905, and her bouquet included Australian eucalyptus.

Royalty from every monarchy in Europe, prime ministers and presidents, nobles and diplomats witnessed the ceremony, and in his sermon, Bishop Svendsen hailed Mary for her courage in leaving Australia to live a new life.

Afterwards, hundreds of thousands of Danes cheered the newlyweds as they rode a horse-drawn carriage through the cobbled streets. Around them, buildings were draped in Danish and Australian flags.

And so Mary Donaldson became Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary Elizabeth of Denmark.

Their children followed soon afterwards. Prince Christian in October 2005, Princess Isabella in 2007, and twins Vincent and Josephine in 2011.

Author and palace expert Thomas Larsen said last week that as well as admiring her commitment to learning Danish, her new country had also taken to Mary’s strong work ethic, sincerity, and commitment to social justice issues.

Mary told the Financial Times: “I’ve always had a strong sense of justice: that everyone should have the same opportunities, no matter where you come from.”

She has worked to promote equality and particularly the rights of girls and women, as well as supporting sustainability and conservation.

In 2007, she established The Mary Foundation, which aims to fight against social isolation in three priority areas: Bullying and well-being, domestic violence and loneliness.

Søren Ravn Jensen, the director of Denmark’s Christmas Stamp Foundation, a charity assisting vulnerable children, said Mary brimmed with empathy and kindness, had a gift for making others feel special and would “be a splendid Queen.”

But it has not all been plain sailing, with Mary and Frederik’s marriage under scrutiny recently after photographs were published in Spanish tabloids showing Frederik walking out of an exclusive Madrid restaurant with Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova.

Ms Casanova promptly dismissed any notion of anything untoward.

But through it all Mary has remained Mary, keeping her sense of Australianness, bringing her family back to Australia where they have been able to enjoy a more relaxed atmosphere and the joys of summer holidays.

Britain’s Daily Telegraph recently created a minor storm by using her family’s background to declare: “How a Scot became Queen of Denmark”.

However, in interviews she conducts in English her real background is clearly apparent. Her Aussie accent and tones peep through.

She really is the first Australian-born queen. Our very own Aussie Queen Mary.