Mary & Marie At war
Once the best of friends, Princesses Mary and Marie are now at loggerheads
When Mary Donaldson left Australia to marry Crown Prince Frederik in 2004, she was entering a new and unfamiliar world. So she was quick to extend the hand of friendship to her new French sister-in-law Marie, who married Frederik’s brother Joachim in 2008 and found herself in a similarly strange situation.
But with Queen Margrethe relying more and more on Mary in the lead-up to her taking the throne alongside Frederik, 49, the crown princess’s friendship with Marie has gradually fallen away. Now palace insiders tell Woman’s Day the two women are living completely separate lives.
While Mary, 45, and Marie used to enjoy a joint summer getaway with their husbands, their decision to holiday separately this year speaks volumes.
Last week, while Marie, 41, and Joachim, 48, were sunning themselves in the star-studded south of France, Frederik and Mary were planning a far more conservative – and in the eyes of the queen, appropriate – time out. Along with their children Christian, 11, Isabella, 10 and six-year-old twins Vincent and Josephine, they will visit Grasten in southern Denmark over the coming weeks. “It’s where Joachim and Marie used to live and now the south seems to have been completely forgotten by them,” the palace insider says. “Whereas Frederik and Mary are serious about their royal roles and are going to rule the country, since selling their home Joachim and Marie have had less and less to do with the Danes. It hasn’t been received well by the people of Denmark.” Royal watchers are hardly surprised by this development in the princesses’ relationship – they say Mary and Marie’s friendship was doomed from the start. Not only have their husbands been at odds for years – they can barely look at each other when they’re forced to be in the same room – but the queen’s obvious
‘Joachim and Marie have had less and less to do with the Danes’
preference for Mary is also said to be a sore point for Marie.
“There is no doubt that Mary is the queen’s favourite and she’s left Marie completely behind,” tells our source. The queen is always talking glowingly about how much Mary is able to do – saying she’s even taking on things she herself wasn’t able to do at such a young age. But she’s never got a good word to say about Marie.”
According to insiders, Queen Margrethe, 77, believes Marie is more interested in a glamorous life than performing royal duties.
Mary, on the other hand, has taken to palace life like a duck to water. With Frederik reluctant to take on the more serious duties associated with the role, Mary has happily stepped up to be the face the monarchy needed.
Our source says Margrethe just doesn’t believe Marie is cut out for leadership. “While Mary is accepting awards and receiving other royals visiting Denmark, Marie’s daily life is very different,” our insider explains.
To add insult to injury, the queen recently decided to send Joachim’s first wife, Alexandra, to an event instead of Marie!
It’s left Marie feeling jealous and left out and, say those close to the princess, she’s taking her hurt feelings out on Mary.
“The friendship between the two princesses is becoming a closed chapter,” says our source. “Even though they only live 12km apart, they never see each other anymore. Their relationship has definitely cooled.”