FRED & MARY’S HEARTACHE QUEEN IN HOSPITAL!
The future of the Danish palace is about to look very different
With a history-making coronation looming in Britain, there is no rest on the other side of the pond, with the Danish palace last week revealing Queen Margrethe will have to undergo urgent “major back surgery”.
The 82-year-monarch, who is Europe’s longest-serving monarch, will be hospitalised afterward and take on “a longer rehabilitation process”, the royal household said in a statement.
“During a long period, Her Majesty has been affected by problems with her back, and in recent times the situation has worsened,” the release said.
This means all the queen’s official engagements have been postponed, cancelled or will be undertaken by other members of the royal house, including Prince Frederik, 54, and his wife Princess Mary, 51.
Sources confirm to Woman’s Day that while the tough-as-nails queen is putting on a brave face, the family are under no illusions this latest surgery will be an easy feat. Fred and Mary have rushed to her side, offering their support while she is operated on at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen.
The queen, who has long suffered from osteoarthritis has undergone myriad surgeries in her time, including a previous back surgery in 2003 and a knee replacement in 2007.
“There are a lot of feelings involved for Mary and Fred, who are first and foremost a son and daughter-in-law praying for the queen to come through her operation without issues,” confides a Copenhagenbased insider. The pair are also aware this operation marks a poignant shift in power from the monarch to her heir.
POSSIBLE ABDICATION
“Fred and Mary's lives are about to change,” they add. “They are ready for this new period in their lives – they’ve been preparing for it ever since their wedding, and Margrethe has trained them well.”
While insiders admit a possible abdication “will not be taken lightly by any party”, courtiers are quietly preparing
Frederik and Mary for the throne. While this should be a peaceful time in the Danish palace, Margrethe is now in the throes of negotiating the tricky relationship between Fred and his brother, Prince Joachim, 53.
“So far, Margrethe has been handling the friction between the brothers, but very soon they will be truly on their own with it,” says the insider, who adds there is mounting pressure for the bickering princes to put their feelings aside for the sake of their mother and the extended royal family.
“How Fred and Mary handle this will be their biggest test ever, as it will show Danes how their future king and queen intend to rule.”
While some contestants have gone on to find fame and fortune, these current Married At First Sight stars are in their own personal nightmare.
Last week, Melissa Sheppard revealed she had two men show up at her workplace, demanding to see the self-confessed “freak in the sheets”.
Melissa, 41, who caused a stir on the experiment this year for her candour when it came to the subject of sex with her on-screen husband Josh White, 40, added she feared for her life when the
strangers showed up to her NSW salon and yelled profanities at her staff.
“It shocked me because no one has ever said anything like that towards me before,” she told the media after reporting the incident to the police.
‘Going on the show is the biggest regret of her life...’
“I know they were going from what they saw on MAFS, but that’s not who I am. I wanted sex with my husband, yes, but not with multiple random men. It was scary.”
Woman’s Day revealed earlier this month the mum-of-one was “humiliated” after the editing on the show portrayed her as sex-obsessed, adding that she was afraid to leave the house.
BROKE & HEARTBROKEN
Just as Melissa is scared to go to her place of work, bride Caitlin Mcconville, 27, has no job to go to.
Talking to Woman’s Day, a source close to the bride, who left the experiment last night after her “husband” Shannon, 30, told the experts he was still in love with his ex, said the show left her “heartbroken, insecure and with no money to her name”, after she wasn’t able to work as content creator while she filmed, and while the show is on air.
“As part of her contract she had to stop her work online when filming, which started in August, until the show comes off air in Australia and in the UK, which is usually around May,” says the sleuth.
“She also lost most of her casual club work because she was away for so long in Sydney.”
They reveal that Caitlin then had to “rely on her mum” when she exited the show, until fellow participant Melinda, 32, offered her a job in her business.
“MAFS is the biggest regret of her life – and she didn’t even find love!”
When it was first announced Claire, 31, would be joining the cast earlier this year, social media was already abuzz with bizarre chatter about her past.
RUINED REPUTATION
Fan forums and social media platforms were flooded with wild accusations to do with Claire’s past, and while Woman’s Day won’t repeat any of them, we can confirm they were vicious and had the potential to mar her name.
“She genuinely doesn’t know any of these people – or the stories they’re spinning,” says our insider about the bride, who’s currently at the centre of a cheating scandal on the show.
“She works in education and knows all too well the repercussions they might cause, regardless of whether they’re true or not.”