Inside Princess Mary’s childhood and growing up in Tasmania

Our newly ascended Aussie Queen of Denmark didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming royalty — she had other ambitions in mind.

When Mary Donaldson was growing up she didn’t dream of becoming a princess.

Instead she had the much more sensible plan of becoming a vet.

However, she was just two years old when she first caught the eye of a prince, wandering into the path of the then Prince Charles, while he was on a visit to Tasmania.

Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, with her mother Henrietta, was born on February 5, 1972 in Hobart. Picture: Instagram

Emma Tom, who wrote the 2005 unauthorised biography, Something about Mary, said the now queen “made a good impression on royal males from the get-go”.

Born to two Scottish-born immigrants – John Donaldson, a professor and academic, and Etta Donaldson, a cat lover, royalist and a personal assistant at the University of Tasmania – Mary was the youngest of four.

Then Mary Donaldson sits on her mother Henrietta Horne’s lap for a family photo with siblings Jane, John and Patricia. Picture: YouTube

In a 2004 documentary, her father admits he was “more of a disciplinarian than necessary”, although by all accounts Mary got away with more than her siblings.

The Donaldson children grew up in a modest four-bed home in Morris Ave, Hobart, and shared bedrooms. The older style property was recently listed for rent in 2022 for $570.

Morris Avenue, Taroona, is where Princess Mary and the Donaldson family lived in Hobart. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Mary Donaldson as a child. Picture: Instagram

Mary said her father continually encouraged her to do what made her happy.

For her, that involved lots of sport including hockey, tennis and basketball. She was very competitive, but horses were her real passion. Eventually, she persuaded her parents to buy her one, which she called Sultan, and later competed in dressage and show jumping competitions.

Young Mary Donaldson, pictured here in 1977 as part of the Sandy Bay Infant School photos.

Sandy Bay Infant School at Sandy Bay in Hobart, pictured in 2003.

Like all the Donaldsons, Mary was publicly educated first at Sandy Bay Infants School, then Waimea Heights Primary and Taroona High.

Her teachers described her as capable and she was popular with her classmates.

One teacher Peter Armstrong remembers Mary as “confident, articulate and outgoing”.

“She had firm goals and she was always going to achieve,” Mr Armstrong told News Corp. “You could never predict she would go on to marry a prince but she was very determined.”

Mary Donaldson pictured at her Hobart College formal. Photo: FILE

A born and bred Tasmanian journalist Rachel Edwards said Taroona High, where Mary attended, was known for its “skatey culture” and where kids liked to party.

However, despite many journalists looking into her background no-one ever unearthed anything remotely scandalous, apart from 1980s fashion which included “giant shoulder pads and a scrunched poodle perm”, according to author Tom.

Glenn Marriott, a former boyfriend who said he dated Mary for three years, described her as a “fantastic, sweet girl”.

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark with then fiancee Mary Donaldson at her father’s house in Sandy Bay, Tasmania.

After abandoning her earlier ambition of becoming a vet, she studied commerce and law at the University of Tasmania. She had a new dream to become a managing director of an international company.

Well, she can probably tick that one off. As Queen of Denmark she is now the face of a Danish brand, representing her adopted country overseas. Hooray to that Tassie girl who got what she wanted in the end.

Originally published as Inside Princess Mary’s childhood and growing up in Tasmania