Princess Mary will have a palace to call home for all seasons once crowned Queen
As the incoming Danish King and Queen prepare to inherit a suite of luxe properties, take a look at never-before-seen images of Princess Mary and her royal family behind their palace walls.
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Australia’s Crown Princess Mary will have a home literally for every season and a fully crewed luxury ship at her disposal for lazy days in between.
While the Aussie royal has in the past famously liked to spend time with family at nondescript borrowed beach homes, notably on the island of Zeeland, she will have far more plush, opulent and more secure choices now available.
All are adorned with the finest silks and fabrics, filled with historical treasures, and hung with priceless artworks.
These include the beautiful Graasten Palace, in the Jutland region of southern Denmark, which has been renovated several times since it was first deemed a royal getaway location in the 1500s.
Mary and Frederik have regularly taken their kids to the stunning lakeside manor to holiday, with its expansive spectacular gardens open to the public only when the royals are not in residence.
News Corp Australia was invited to go behind the Graasten palace walls with the Danish royal family during their summer break in 2013, to capture the then young family playing in a series of never-before-seen images.
The then Princess Mary described Graasten as her “happy place” where the children could run wild among the secure grounds with extended members of their royal family.
The royal couple will principally stay where they live today, within Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen.
Amalienborg was actually built as four palaces around a single octagonal square, and in which one building Queen Margrethe has also long lived and will continue to stay, another has been home to her other son Prince Joachim and his family and another for Frederik and Mary.
The lavish home with its pastel painted interiors has an extravagant split staircase, with the balusters gilt with gold. The stairs themselves are white marble, in keeping with the rococo style.
Above the stairs is a large, elaborate chandelier with candles, while another room boasts an extraordinary gold chandelier dripping with stunning glass ornaments.
Another room has cream walls with gold features on both the doors and walls, with elaborate gold tables, a bronze statue and patterned carpet flecked with blues, pinks and purples.
The home is exceptionally stylish, with one room looking much like an art exhibit.
There’s also a non-residential second palace Christiansborg, in Copenhagen, which has an 800 year-long history.
The palace will be used by Frederik and Mary as King and Queen for official events such as gala banquets and public audiences.
The Royal Reception Rooms at Christiansborg are richly decorated, both with artworks salvaged from the two previous palaces and with decorations made by some of the best artists of that day, as well as with a fine contemporary addition in the form of tapestries made for the Queen.
Visitors come to the Royal Reception Rooms along the King’s Staircase, at the end of which, to the right, they reach the Tower Room. Across from this lies the oval Throne Room, which is decorated with a large ceiling painting.
But the Great Hall is the largest of the Reception Rooms, and stands at 40 metres long and 10 metres high with a gallery running along its sides. Retracted into the ceiling are three large paintings that symbolise the legislative, the executive and the judiciary powers united in the palace.
Meanwhile, the Marselisborg Palace in Aarhus is the Christmas residence of the royal family.
The palace is situated in a 32-acre park known as The Palace Park, which features sweeping lawns dotted with small ponds, clusters of trees and shrub-covered slopes.
There is also a rose garden and a herb garden and the landscape dotted with art sculptures.
As for the spring and autumn months, they will call Fredensborg Palace, on the island of Zeeland, their home.
The palace is often the setting for important events in the life of the Royal Family and it’s here they celebrate weddings, birthdays and receive heads of state from all over the world.
Fredensborg features a garden that covers nearly 120 hectares, as well as a chapel and a riding ground and stable.
WHAT WILL QUEEN MARGRETHE’S LIFE LOOK AFTER ABDICATION?
Queen Margrethe will retain her royal title following her abdication, as well as her current residence within Amalienborg Palace.
While it is not known if she will retain any ceremonial role, royal commentators have speculated the 83-year-old will devote more time to her hobbies, including embroidery and painting, as well as taking walks.
But many Danes have expressed concern that declining health and mobility issue could have a huge impact on their beloved queen’s life post-abdication.
Danish royal experts are divided over her health issues, with some believing they are serious and others claiming they were used as a smokescreen for scandal.
The Queen emphasised her age and her health during the New Year’s Day address in which she announced her decision to step down after 52 years on the throne. Back problems have plagued her for years, necessitating surgery in 2023, while doctors have also expressed concern about her longstanding smoking habit.
But royal expert Phil Dampier said she was more likely motivated by the desire to save the Crown Prince and Princesses’ marriage, in the wake of recent claims Prince Frederik had an affair with a Spanish socialite, which she denied.
“I don’t believe for a second that her illness is what prompted her to retire – she is fearful that she will lose Mary and the Danish people love her. Queen Margrethe thinks that
Mary is wonderful and does not want to lose her,” Mr Dampier said.
But Danish royal house expert Lars Hovbakke Sørensen differed, saying: “My thinking is she is genuinely ill and cannot continue.”
“We were all surprised Margrethe would abdicate, it shocked us, but the allegations of romance … would not influence her retirement,” he said.
Originally published as Princess Mary will have a palace to call home for all seasons once crowned Queen
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