CROWN PRINCESS MARY:
our exclusive interview
She’s a significant jewel in Denmark’s royal crown and increasingly an impressive leader on the world stage. Juliet Rieden heads to Copenhagen for an exclusive interview with Crown Princess Mary, as she joins the crusade to transform the global fashion industry.
It’s the eve of the start of the Copenhagen Fashion Summit and there’s a lot going on behind the ancient heavy wooden gates of Frederik VIII’s Palace. The event’s proud patron, Crown Princess Mary, is preparing to host a rather exclusive welcome dinner for the key players of this annual brainstorm, and after weeks of grey drizzle the sun has obligingly come out to present a backdrop of bright blue sky.
Queen Margrethe II’s Royal Life Guards are parading outside, Her Majesty’s golden curly M insignia emblazoned on their red painted wooden gatehouses and the mirror-shined black patent
bags that accessorise their dashing uniform. These young soldiers clutch rifles with sharp bayonets fixed, and beneath towering bearskin fur hats their expressions are suitably impenetrable.
It’s a wonderful permanent display of pomp as well as an important line of defence right outside Amalienborg Palace, a pertinent reminder that this is one of the oldest monarchies in the world, dating back more than a thousand years.
I am also standing guard in a way, with a couple of photographers from the local media. We’ve been invited to watch the arrivals for this special dinner but also find ourselves doubling as guides to early arrivals.
The thing is, it’s easy to get confused at Amalienborg Square. There are four palaces here, facing each other around an octagonal courtyard, and to the untrained eye they all look pretty much the same, at least from the outside.
Next to Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary’s residence is Christian IX’s Palace, where Her Majesty the Queen lives, alone since the death of her husband Prince Henrik last year. On the other side is Christian VIII’s Palace, where the monarch’s second son Prince Joachim and his wife Princess Marie have an office, and her sister Princess
Benedikte stays when she’s visiting. While diagonally opposite is Christian VII’s Palace, used for big events like the New Year’s Reception Banquet.
So, yes, for newcomers it’s all a bit baffling.
Inside the palace
At the appointed hour the gates open to reveal a cobbled courtyard with footmen eager to guide guests up into the palace. Unsurprisingly, the 47 arrivals from the world’s fashion industry are a pretty glamorous bunch, but not in the more obvious fashionista way. The Copenhagen Fashion Summit, celebrating its
10th anniversary this year, is not about catwalks and new-season frocks – this is a serious meeting of minds to bring sustainable practices to an industry that must change if it is to survive and stop destroying the world around us. This is a gathering of industry heavyweights, from
CEOs and decision makers to top creatives, designers and influential fashion media.
Over the next couple of days, issues of global warming, new technologies, depleting natural resources, human rights and slave labour are debated with fevered urgency, and I’m not surprised Crown Princess Mary is right at the heart of it. For 15 years, since she married Crown Prince Frederik and moved her life to Denmark, the girl from Tasmania, Australia, has carved out a unique role using her royal pedestal to back humanitarian initiatives. And while the 47-year-old royal may be known for her impeccable style, it’s the pointy end of this world – its business ethics and human and environmental fallout – that really drives her.
With the last guests gathered, we’re invited in to the Palace to take a photo of Crown Princess Mary with the Global Fashion Agenda CEO and Summit’s founder Eva Kruse, and its chairman Niels Eskildsen, before they head in for dinner. The Crown Princess is obviously in her element, pumped not just for tonight’s dinner, but for the coming days when hopefully solutions will be nutted out.
The royal world, especially for those not raised in it, can be a very strange and alienating place. But Crown Princess Mary has made it her own and is thriving in this Scandinavian powerhouse 16,000km from where she grew up in Hobart. Having watched her from the sidelines for many years, we’ve seen it is at these moments when Crown Princess Mary’s pragmatic intelligence shines through, and the Danish people couldn’t be prouder.
The monarchy is hugely popular in Denmark, with around 80 per cent of the population in full support, and Crown Princess Mary is unquestionably a key part of that appeal. Everywhere I turn there is praise for their Crown Princess and while words such as “grace” and “beauty” abound, much of the commentary is about her devotion to projects that really matter. “She’s just perfect,” one local journalist tells me, while my taxi driver coos, “She’s brilliant for Denmark. She really cares and we love her.”
Eva Kruse, the Chief Executive Officer of Global Fashion Agenda, says, “Crown Princess Mary is treasured by Danish people.” Eva has developed a professional bond with the royal over the 10 years they have
worked together, and adds that her support for the Fashion Summit is a major part of its continued success. “It is an honour to have her as our patron. It is clear it means a lot to her, and her input has helped to bring sustainable fashion to the forefront in Denmark, and across the world.”
Ten-year crusade
Eva says the Crown Princess’s work battling world issues, especially the human rights of women and girls working in the fashion industry, has made Danes sit up and take notice. “Her Royal Highness’s engagement in the issue has definitely helped to raise awareness of sustainable fashion and spark change among the industry and consumers – and she’s a strong advocate for women and girls’ rights. Her support helps to shine a light on the most pressing issues and she reinforces our message that we all have to work together.”
The 2019 Summit is its largest ever, at full capacity with 1300 attending and 800 more on a waiting list.
There are a jaw-dropping 450 companies, NGOs and organisations from 48 countries. Here Copenhagen and Crown Princess Mary are at the centre of a global movement, but as I soon discover, their rallying call is facing significant challenges.
A few days later, when we pull away from the Summit to sit down and talk privately, the Crown
Princess tells me what first attracted her to become part of the Global Fashion Agenda. “I said yes to being patron 10 years ago after becoming more aware and understanding much more about the impact the fashion industry has on our planet, and the consequences it has for people,” she explains. “I don’t think at that time people were as conscious of how resource intensive the industry is. It has a huge negative footprint environmentally, socially and ethically.”
It’s true the statistics are shocking. For example, “it takes up to 2700 litres of water to grow enough cotton to make a T-shirt; it’s a lot of water,” says the Crown Princess. “I wanted to be part of that call to action
“Crown Princess Mary is treasured by Danish people.”
that the Summit has become, and that industry-driven change that’s required to transform the way we produce and market and consume fashion. The Summit is a way to bring all players across sectors and throughout the industry together, as they acknowledge that it will require everyone’s involvement across the entire supply chain to create a sustainable future and reduce the impact the industry has on our planet.”
From Tasmania to Copenhagen
As a little girl running around Tasmania’s Sandy Bay, Mary Donaldson was more into sports than fashion and she laughs when I ask her to cast her mind back to those carefree days. “If I’m honest I really didn’t have that much interest in fashion as a little girl. I of course wanted to feel comfortable, feel like myself and feel like I fitted in, but it wasn’t anything that interested me that I recall.
“You know, obviously it plays a bigger role in my life today, but it’s still more about what I feel comfortable in and what fits the circumstances I’m in and that I feel like myself [in]. But in terms of sustainability in fashion, that’s what really interests me and has my full engagement.” This year, the report produced by the Global Fashion Agenda has shown that targets are not being met and the move towards sustainability has slowed by a third. Working conditions in the poorest countries in the world are at the ugly heart of fashion production and it’s an issue the Crown Princess is keen to discuss. “It is a huge industry, it employs 75 million people and two-thirds of those are women, and there are specific challenges that women face. They’re at a higher risk of chicanery and sexual harassment, both in the workplace and moving to and from work. And a really good example of inequality in the industry is in Pakistan where 73 per cent of men receive a minimum wage as opposed to 13 per cent of women...
“But I have visited production facilities in Bangladesh that are not what you call sweat shops. They were well-organised, well-functioning factories. There the women are happy to be employed, they felt more empowered, they suddenly have a voice and because they are economically independent, they can ensure the health and education of their children.”
I ask the Crown Princess what she feels is the single most important thing those at the summit need to address now. “No one brand, no one person, no one group within the industry can do it alone,” she replies. “It is such a complex production network and the supply chain is so fragmented it’s difficult to know where and how clothes move from one end to the other. So, if there’s one thing, then it is working together to really move the agenda. That’s what this summit is all about. It’s saying this is in an industry that has said we want to take responsibility, but we also see that it has to be a collective movement.
“But then I would also say another fantastic opportunity and a big problem is what we do with all the clothes that don’t get used. Seventythree per cent of clothes end up in landfills, 15 per cent of clothes are recycled to something else and less than one per cent are recycled to other garments and that’s a huge challenge, but it also is an enormous opportunity because imagine the impact if we can create a new primary resource right there, instead of having to go back and plunder more natural resources.”
At the summit, earnest discussions have been circulating about textile production, waste, water and energy sources, but the elephant in the room is consumption and with fast fashion flooding our high streets, the problem is only getting worse.
“It’s great to see the sorts of trends that are happening with pre-owned fashion, wardrobe renting, swapping
and sharing of clothes, and I think we are beginning to start to see the conscious consumer stand up and make more demands. But we also need to be aware that with consumption of clothes, it’s difficult to see that it will reduce,” muses the Crown Princess. “We have a growing population, we have a growing middle class, so we have to be smarter... the current insatiable appetite for fashion and the increased rate at which clothing is being discarded means that we must better understand the demands and behaviours of fashion consumers.”
Family values
I wonder if this is something the mother of four discusses with her children, especially Princess Isabella, 12, and Princess Josephine, eight, both girls at impressionable ages, and the Crown Princess says yes, of course she does, but she’s not worried, they’re already onto it.
“In terms of the youth I think we are seeing a generation with another type of ideology. It’s less is more and quality over quantity. They look to brands that give meaning, can potentially meet their aspirations and match with their own values. So they are going to put pressure on the fashion industry... if brands want to stay in business they probably will need to be sustainable.”
The issue is more with this generation’s parents, and in an interview with Denmark’s IN magazine the royal confessed: “I fully agree that my clothing consumption is great, which is related to my life, role and work... but I can do better – and I’m working towards it.”
I ask if in her position Crown Princess Mary feels a pressure to showcase new gowns every time she goes out, hosts an event or has photos taken. “Actually no, I think we’re moving more away from that,” she replies. “I think it’s great to say, ‘This old thing, I’ve had it for ages, I love it, I love it every time I wear it.’ And I think that’s liberating.
“Sustainability is many things – reusing, giving it to other people who can use it, changing what it looks like, making it long or short, making it whatever it can be, holding it for your own children. And when we’re seeing these trends happening in the marketplace with the vintage sites, it’s creating this circular network for consumers and that’s a great addition to the whole sustainability journey.”
The Crown Princess says her own children “are much more conscious of what is happening in the world than I was at their age. It is absolutely important to our children. They also have a lot of questions. They see on TV programmes and on the internet what’s happening in the environment, so they are much more aware and thoughtful and act accordingly. Whether it’s about energy or water use or plastics... we talk about it.
“I am often very proud of some of the statements they come out with and the way they act because they are conscious of what’s going on. We are walking along the beach and suddenly one of them comes up with a handful of plastic. It’s just that automatic reaction to take it with you and find a place to responsibly get rid of it. I think the next generation is very promising.”
And will the Crown Princess be handing down her fabulous wardrobe of gowns and bespoke outfits to Princesses Isabella and Josephine?
“Oh yes, I’d love to pass my clothes on to my children,” she says. “I just hope that they want to wear them.”
“I’d love to pass my clothes on to my children. I just hope that they want to wear them.”