Danish royals keep love of animals in the family

Like many royals, Crown Princess Mary and Prince Frederik are known for their love of animals and have welcomed several pets into their household over the years. See why.

Many royal families have had a close affinity to animals and the Danish royals are no different.

Princess Mary and Prince Frederik welcomed their Australian border collie dog Grace in 2017, after their first dog Ziggy died. Grace is from the same family as Ziggy.

Ziggy was also a border collie and lived for 12 years after being gifted to the royal couple as a wedding present.

Twins Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent celebrated their 11th birthday in 2022 with some of the family’s fur babies. Picture: H.K.H. Kronprinsessen

Then, in 2021, the couple announced their dog Grace had two brown and white border collie puppies. The dogs often feature on the Danish royal family’s social media channels.

But the love for their furry friends goes well beyond their royal household.

Princess Mary opened a new Australian native animals enclosure at the Copenhagen Zoo in 2022.

Titled “Mary’s Australian Garden”, an expansion of the zoo saw the construction of a new aviary for cockatoos and kookaburras and a bigger Australian natives section. The facility had already housed a number of kangaroos and Tasmanian devils.

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark with her twins, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, feeding the penguins in 2022 before they cut the first sod for what would be Mary’s Australian Garden at Copenhagen Zoo. Picture: Ole Jensen/Getty Images

A Tasmanian devil growls at the Copenhagen Zoo in 2006. It was one of four small carnivorous animals given by the state government of Tasmania. Picture: AP Photo/John McConnico

Four devils from Tasmania were gifted to the zoo in 2006 to mark the baptism of Prince Christian.

Not only was it the first zoo outside of Australia to keep the animals but, in 2013, it was also the first to successfully breed the endangered species outside of Australia.

Queen Margrethe of Denmark, with Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mary and their children at the Ringsted horse ceremony at Graasten Slot during their 2017 summer vacation. Picture: Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images

Crown Princess Mary and Prince Frederik also have a love for horses and have been spotted often riding through the sprawling forests by the royal family’s summer residence, Graasten Palace, in southern Denmark.

The couple’s four children also love riding horses.