Who Is Crown Prince Frederik Of Denmark?

In 2000, while visiting Sydney, Australia during the Olympics, Crown Prince Frederik stepped into a local pub and met Mary Donaldson, the Tasmanian-born daughter of two Scottish emigres (per CNN and The Telegraph). Twenty-eight at the time (Frederik was 32), Donaldson had no idea that the man she met was royalty, or anyone of note — she was only told an hour after the encounter. But romance soon followed, with Frederik making secret rendezvous to the land down under. When their relationship finally became public, Denmark was delighted. The couple married on May 14, 2004, and they have four children.

Foreign-born spouses of royalty have struggled to gain acceptance throughout European history, but Crown Princess Mary, as she is now known in Denmark, has become as popular as her husband with Danes. Her concerted effort to learn Danish earned her a considerable amount of goodwill, and her and Frederik's visibility at concerts and sporting events has helped to further endear them to the nation. Historian Sebastian Olden-Jørgensen described them to AFP (via Yahoo News) as "modern [and] woke," and a natural continuation of the Danish monarchy's transition into the 21st century.

Some foreign press outlets speculated that Queen Margrethe II's abdication was influenced by her son's marriage. The Telegraph quoted Danish royal commentator Phil Dampier as speculating that Margrethe was worried about rumors that Frederik was having an affair with Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova. These rumors broke a few months before the abdication announcement. But other royal watchers didn't share Dampier's theory, and Casanova strongly denied the rumors.

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