Inside the scandals of the Danish royals as Frederik and Mary prepare to become king and queen

On New Year’s Eve, Queen Margrethe of Denmark announced she will abdicate the throne on January 14 in favour of her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederik, and his Australian-born wife, Princess Mary.

It will mark a new era for the House of Glücksburg, which traces its lineage back to the Viking King Gorm the Old, who ruled until his death in 958.

Queen Margrethe’s reign over the past 52 years has been one of stability, familiarity and devotion, making her – and the Royal Family – incredibly popular in Denmark.

It has been portrayed as the ultimate picture of a modern monarchy – a family that is less ostentatious than their distant British cousins, hardworking and community minded, and accessible.

Indeed, Princess Mary and Prince Frederik are known in Copenhagen as the “bicycling royals” for how often they’re spotted pedalling around the city.

In an interview with The Daily Beast, journalism Sara Lilja Steensig noted: “Danes love the royals. Over 70 per cent support the monarchy. It’s not rational but we do. Frederik is charming and funny, and people relate to him. He just seems like a really nice guy.”

Princess Mary is beloved by the public and her popularity has only risen since she moved from Australia to Denmark, eventually marrying the prince she famously met in a bar in Sydney in 2000.

In less than a fortnight, she will become Queen alongside King Frederik.

Royal watchers are speculating whether the changing of the guard and the pomp and ceremony that comes with it will distract the public from the latest in a series of painful family scandals.

A shattered fairytale

From the moment a handsome prince met a real estate agent commoner in a pub halfway around the world, Danes have been enamoured with the relationship of Prince Frederik and Princess Mary.

Their union has long been seen as unbreakable and strong, with the couple not afraid of public displays of affection and grand romantic gestures.

Indeed, the sight of Prince Frederik openly weeping as he watched his bride walk down the aisle in 2004 warmed hearts across the globe.

Together, their philanthropic endeavours and nurturing parenting style of their four children has seen them become the epitome of wedded bliss in the eyes of their subjects.

That was until last year, when the Spanish tabloid Lecturas published photographs of Prince Frederik gallivanting through Madrid with Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova.

They were spotted going to a museum, dining together, seeing a flamenco show, and then returning to her apartment, where Prince Frederik remained until early the next morning.

Allegations of an affair erupted like a bomb, shattering the perfect picture of a fairytale romance, but the Royal Household remained silent, leaving Ms Casanova to respond.

“I flatly deny the statements that suggest a romantic relationship between Prince Frederik and me,” she said.

She also threatened to sue the publication but no legal action has commenced.

Another Spanish magazine followed up with a story quoting a source as saying a mutual male friend was meant to catch up with Prince Frederik but took ill, and so asked Ms Casanova to step in.

The Royal Household continued to refuse to respond, only saying that it did not “comment on rumours or insinuations”.

Princess Mary continued to carry out royal duties alongside her husband, although onlookers claimed to notice a shift in their body language – no longer holding hands, as they were famed for doing, and appearing tired and forlorn.

Queen’s brutal family move

In September 2022, Queen Margrethe announced a slimming down of the number of formal positions in the Royal Household, describing it as “necessary futureproofing of the monarchy”.

Her second son Prince Joachim’s four children stripped of their royal titles, meaning Prince Nikolai, Prince Felix, Prince Henrik and Princess Athena would no longer be HRHs nor able to use the titles of prince or princess.

They are now known as the counts and countess of Monpezat.

“Her Majesty the Queen wishes to create the framework for the four grandchildren to be able to shape their own lives to a much greater extent without being limited by the special considerations and duties that a formal affiliation with the Royal House of Denmark as an institution involves,” a statement read at the time.

“All four grandchildren maintain their places in the order of succession.”

But it became clear the Queen may not have told her son of the new before it was announced, sparking outrage from Prince Joachim, who issued an emotional statement of his own.

“My kids don’t know which leg to stand on. What they should believe. Why should their identity be removed? Why must they be punished in that way?”

He and his wife, Princess Marie, stopped speaking to the queen. Prince Joachim’s relationship with his older brother Frederik was already said to be complicated and strained.

The couple moved to the United States shortly after, where Prince Joachim serves as the defence industry attaché at the Danish Embassy in Washington DC.

Negative public sentiment quickly grew, and the Danish press was at times brutal in its coverage of the Queen’s controversial decision.

A few months later in her annual New Year’s Eve address to the country, she noted her sadness at how things had transpired.

“I always feel great love for my entire family,” the Queen said.

“Difficulties and misunderstandings may arise in any family, also in mine. The whole country has witnessed that. That the relationship with Prince Joachim and Princess Marie has run into difficulties makes me sad.

“We have now had a quieter period and time for reflection, and I am sure that our family can embark on the new year together with confidence, understanding, and new courage.”

In a separate statement, the Queen apologised for how the decision was handled, conceding she had “underestimated” the impact it would have on her son and grandchildren.

Late last year, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie returned to Copenhagen to celebrate nephew Prince Christian’s 18th birthday and were all smiles as they mingled with the family.

Brawling brothers

A few years after Prince Frederik and Princess Mary’s wedding, just as the former Aussie was settling into royal duties, whispers emerged that her brother-in-law was infatuated with her.

It all culminated in a reported attempt by Prince Joachim to kiss her at a royal function in 2008, sparking a rift between the brothers.

That inappropriate encounter also reportedly caused resentment from Prince Joachim’s then-girlfriend, Princess Marie.

The Royal Household rubbished the rumours.

In 2008, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie wed – the prince’s second marriage – and spent the first few years of their union living in a remote castle in Jutland.

All seemed to be back on track between the brothers and their respective wives, until Prince Joachim and Princess Marie decided to move to Copenhagen.

It was a brief residency, after which the pair abruptly moved to France.

Shortly after, they gave a bombshell interview to prominent gossip columnist Jacob Heinel of the magazine See and Hear.

Heinel described the extraordinary encounter to The Daily Beast, recalling: “Suddenly, Marie cuts in and says, ‘You know, it wasn’t our choice.’

“I said, ‘Excuse me your royal highness, you have to elaborate what you mean by saying it wasn’t your choice to move to France,’ and she said, ‘Well, I’m not going to elaborate but it wasn’t our choice. I want people to know that it wasn’t our choice.’”

When he asked if the couple had been unhappy in Denmark, Princess Marie she “absolutely said no, she would have loved to stay in Denmark”.

On the reason for the shock move, Heineil told The Daily Beast that “it became apparent that the town was not big enough for both families”.

Prince Frederik and Princess Mary saw the relocation as an invasion of their turf and froze them out, it was claimed.

“There was never anything in the calendar for them,” Heinel recalled.

And thus, the move to Paris where Prince Joachim was given a job in the Danish Embassy.

Similarities between the deteriorating relationship of the brothers and that of British Prince William and Prince Harry saw the situation engulf into a tabloid feast.

And like Meghan Markle, Princess Marie was something of a controversial figure among many Danes.

“Marie from the beginning has been outspoken, and as a reporter I love her honesty,” Heineil told The Daily Beast.

“She doesn’t just shut up, she speaks her mind, and I don’t think the last word on this matter [of a feud] has been said.”

Queen’s painful few years

In 1967, then-Princess Margrethe married the French count and diplomat Henri Marie Jean Andre, who was raised in Vietnam.

After their marriage, he took the name Prince Consort Henrick – a title that didn’t change when his wife ascended the throne in 1972 after the death of her father.

They had two children, Crown Prince Frederik in 1968 and Prince Joachim in 1969.

For a long time, it seemed the Queen’s marriage was a happy one, but in the final years, Prince Consort Henrick publicly complained on multiple occasions that he should have been given the title of King.

The outburst caused embarrassment and thrust the family into a spotlight they weren’t used to.

In 2017, Prince Consort Henrick declared he didn’t want to be buried next to his wife in Roskilde Cathedral, as was custom.

He died the following year at the age of 83 and he was cremated, with his ashes placed in the garden of a castle near Copenhagen, with another portion spread in Danish waters.

The Royal Court issued a statement saying he had suffered from dementia in a bid to explain some of his controversial comments before his death.

‘The Ashtray Queen’

Like those in other Nordic nations, Danes are famed for being almost painfully commonsense people and as such, have significantly low tobacco usage rates.

Recent statistics indicate anywhere from 18 per cent to 23 per cent of the population uses a tobacco product once a day, with snus – a satchel of leaves usually placed behind the upper lip – popular.

But the Queen was an unashamed three-pack a day smoker, which earned her the nickname of ‘The Ashtray Queen’.

In the 1970s, an academic published a paper linking her habit to high rates of smoking-related illness and an uptick in deaths among women to the Queen’s public embracement of cigarettes.

Health data had shown a higher proportion of Danish women smoked than men – a trend that has persisted for decades.

She appeared at a press conference at the time to rebuke the criticism, and laughing with a cigarette in hand, told reports: “I smoke wherever there’s an ashtray.”

She was a heavy smoker for more than 60 years until an illness last year that required surgery prompted her to finally ditch the habit.