FRED & MARY’S MARRIAGE BACK ON TRACK
After weeks apart, the royal couple put on a loving show of solidarity to save the Danish monarchy
For months or months now Princess M Mary and Prince Fre Frederik have spent chunkschun of time apart, leading royal watchers to question if a split was imminent. Happily, the pair seem to have their marriage back on track and are secretly planning to step up to be king and queen in a bid to restore Denmark’s faith in its monarchy.
Pictures of the couple holding hands and playing with their four children at the opening of Lego House in Billund show they’re even happier than ever – much to the relief of the entire royal family, who are dealing with a country in turmoil.
In fact, Denmark’s monarchy is in crisis, making it more important than ever for Mary and Fred to present a united front.
Prince Henrik, 83, started the problem – embarrassing the royal family with angry outbursts about his wife Queen Margrethe, 77, even stating he did not wish to be buried next to her.
However, when it was revealed he has dementia, the delay in the announcement of that illness only served to destroy the Danish royal family’s public image further. In fact, a survey shows that right now one in three Danes wants to change the royal house’s influence – with lower levels of trust in the monarchy than ever.
A worried Queen Margrethe has since called on Mary, 45, and Frederik, 49, to patch up their differences and bolster the royal family’s commitment to the Danish people – even taking the throne if needed.
In recent months, the crown couple looked to be drifting apart. The distance between them – both emotionally and physically – even had local media fearing they might be on the verge of a marriage split.
Just last month, Fred was in Peru as part of the International Olympic Committee, returning home just before his wife, who’d recently returned from Budapest, flew to New York. The following weekend, Mary and their kids – Christian, 11, Isabella, 10, and six-year-old twins Vincent and Josephine – said goodbye to Fred again as he headed to China.
A DIFFICULT YEAR
“It’s been clear that Mary is the one taking care of it all,” a palace source says.
“The work, events, the kids, trying to hold the family together and now also taking care of Margrethe and her problems. She could use a little support from her prince.”
This year has been a difficult one for the Danish royals. Not only is Henrik’s illness a growing concern, but the ongoing tension between Frederik and his brother Joachim, 48, had been making both official and informal engagements somewhat uneasy.
“With Joachim, Mary seemed to be the one who was always trying,” the source says.
“There’s a lot happening in the family at the moment, which can be hard on any relationship.”