Why Denmark loves Queen Mary

There’s something about Mary that melts the icy Viking blood in Scandinavia. Denmark’s top historian reveals why.

There’s something about Mary.

It’s no secret Denmark has loved Princess-turned-Queen Mary for the past 20 years, and not just because the uncontroversial Australian glows in comparison to her dysfunctional British royal counterparts.

Denmark historian Lars Hovbakke Sørensen said the two decades of unbroken affection for the Tasmanian lies in an unlikely affinity shared between all Danes and Aussies – not just Frederik and Mary.

King Frederik X of Denmark and Queen Mary of Denmark greet the crowd after the King's accession to the throne. Picture: AFP / Denmark OUT

“Denmark in many ways is more like Australia than Britain, because also in Australia you don’t put a large emphasis on old privileges and you don’t have a nobility from old times,” said Sørensen.

“So in that way, even if both the UK and Denmark are monarchies, they are very different types of monarchies mirroring the differences between the two states’ history, their culture, and their mentality.”

Sørensen, a professor at Copenhagen’s Absalon University and author of several European history books — including “Denmark: From Ancient Times to Today” — said that mentality manifests into a monarchy that is the polar opposite of the United Kingdom.

Danish royal expert and historian Lars Hovbakke Sørensen. Picture: Supplied/Facebook

While the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla was on the opulent far end of the European royal spectrum, the proclamation of King Frederik X and Queen Mary is the extreme minimalist inverse.

“It mirrors the Danish mentality and the Danish culture where, even if we have a Monarchy instead of a Republic, we have also a society where you put a large emphasis on equality between people; social and economic equality,” Sørensen said.

“Mary’s also coming from a society with quite a lot of equality between the people and at least not a society with a lot of conservative traditions connected to an old nobility, simply because you have no nobility in Australia.

“And I think we have some similarities between the Danish and the Australian mentality which made it possible for Crown Princess Mary, and very soon Queen Mary, to be a very popular person. She also fits very well, and I think she has had it quite easy to integrate because she’s used to having just the same kind of mentality as we have in Denmark.”

Queen to be – Princess Mary pictured arriving at a gala performance at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark. Picture: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

The sentiment was echoed online in the r/Denmark sub-Reddit asking what the Danish people think about Princess Mary.

The eight-month-old thread is overwhelmingly positive, with the top comment from user “Ocadioan” declaring: “She’s ours now. You can’t have her back”.

“Seriously, Frederik scored way out of his league. We’re never letting her go. Referring to her as ‘King Mary’ is not uncommon,” replied another.

The second comment said that, despite much of the country not caring about the monarchy, both Frederik and Mary were well-liked as people regardless of apathy toward the royal family.

Danish King Frederik X and wife Queen Mary of Denmark. Danes see her as a ‘great wife’ as well as queen, according to an academic. Picture: Getty Images

“They are as down to earth as possible in that job, and represent the Danish values well,” said one commenter. “Mary did a really good job of getting accepted when she came to Denmark, and most people see her as a great wife and future queen.”

Another told an anecdote of seeing Princess Mary giving the opening speech at a conference to promote mental health for children with special needs.

“The surprise, however, came many hours later, when the conference was coming to an end. Mary was still present 7 hours later, to the surprise of many attendees.”

Princess Mary with an adoring crowd. Picture: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

One commentator said their dad ran into Princess Mary in the street and asked her about parking, not realising who she was a the time.

“She very politely explained to my dad that she knew very little about the parking in the area. It was first after that he noticed that she had armed company,” they said.

Amid the almost universally positive comments, the main negativity came, perhaps unsurprisingly, from an ex-pat.

“I’m an Aussie who moved to Denmark. I used to be pretty proud of her,” said user ‘enosprologue’. “But the more I learned about her role, the more superficial her charity work seemed … her friendship group here are a bunch of questionable business people and social climbers, and she puts far too much money and energy into clothing.”

“This, however, is not a popular opinion here,” the Australian ex-pat conceded.

Originally published as Why Denmark loves Queen Mary