MARY & FRED: 15 YEARS IN LOVE
Inside the Danish royals’ fairytale romance
It wasn’t the fireworks in the sky or anything like that but there was a sense of excitement,” Princess Mary told Andrew Denton’s Enough Rope in 2005 about the moment when “something clicked” in her romance with Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik. The first year of their romance was a longdistance relationship, with Frederik making secret trips to Australia and Mary to her new beau’s home city of Copenhagen. It was then she saw for the first time just how much her life was set to change, now that she had fallen head-over-heels in love with a prince.
“It was during my first visit to Denmark where we had celebrated our first New Year’s together,” she said in a heartfelt speech at Fred’s 50th birthday celebrations at Christiansborg Palace.
“I was sitting on the couch in your living room when you said that you should get ready for dinner … You left the room, as the man I knew, and came back in full gala uniform. And if I had known Danish at the time, I would probably have thought to myself, ‘Aij, hvor har jeg scoret over evne’ (Wow, I’ve really scored above my league). It was suddenly a very different image of you that was new to me. Deeply impressive and daunting at the same time. But your eyes and your smile were the same. Gala or not.
“You invited me into your world and the world of the Danes, after we
“Getting married and having children was something I could only dream of”
—Prince Frederik
had only known each other for a short time,” Mary lovingly told Fred and the crowd of guests at his party. “And there were, indeed, many unsure steps when we started our common journey, side-by-side and separated at one and the same time. We dared to lose that part of our heart, which we allowed the other to hold in their hands.”
Their wedding, on May 14, 2004, at Copenhagen Cathedral, was a fairytale event witnessed around the world. The humble girl from Tassie was marrying her dashing prince. “From today, Mary is mine and I am hers,” a tearful Fred said at the altar. “I love her and I will protect her with all my love.”
Now, as they celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary, the couple are still as in love as ever, and devoted parents to their children, Prince Christian, 13, Princess Isabella, 12, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, 8.
“Finding the right woman and getting married and having the children that I have now, it was something I could only dream of,” Fred told the Danish magazine Billed-Bladet. “For that dream to come true is what I appreciate the very most.”
For Mary, the partnership has been just as much of a dream come true. “I am so happy that you swept me off my feet and that we dared to fall for each other – not for a moment, but for life,” she said during the birthday tribute.
“We have become so close by giving each other space. And you, in particular, have supported me in finding a foothold and my way in the world that was yours and is now ours. Although I’m at home here, I belong here, I was not born here … My own explanation is that our roots continue to grow throughout our lives. We can always find our home. Life with you is never boring.”
“He’s the most wonderful man” —Princess Mary
In the interview with Billed-Bladet,
Fred also opened up about what makes his marriage so strong even after all these years.
“The love and the freedom to dare be yourself in the relationship is important all through your life,” he says. “It will then be filled with good moments and times during which you surprise one another and add to all the good you have created together. Doing something unexpected from time to time can create joy in the relationship.”
In the same article, Mary, 47, professed her love for her husband: “[He is] the most wonderful man in the world.”
Mary’s tribute to Frederik for his birthday – in which she called him “my man” – also showed the couple don’t take life too seriously. And like many dads, Fred tells the same jokes, over and over again.
“Those who have had the pleasure of eating out with you will know, for example, that if a waiter asks, ‘Are you finished?’ you can be dead certain that you will answer, ‘No, I’m Danish.’ Every time. And laugh. Every time.”
She also joked that Fred was a “chronic MAMIL” – and that she loved him for it.
“MAMIL stands for a middle-aged man in lycra who rides expensive racing bicycles wearing professional-style, body-hugging jerseys and shorts,” she said. “Opinions vary over whether lycra and men in their 40s go together. But darling, you still look rather sharp in lycra.”
The future Queen Consort has left no doubt she will be beside her prince forever – whatever his clothing may be. Quoting a beloved song during her tribute, she professed to her soulmate: “When I look into your eyes, I see a new day rising.
“Of all the things she said, She said, this is our time, she said, this is our place.”