From Chloe and Prada to sustainable fashion: Princess Mary’s style secrets
She’s known for her sleek and sophisticated dress sense, mixing luxury labels with brands known for sustainability. Here’s how Australian-born royal Princess Mary does it.
She’s known for her sleek and sophisticated dress sense, mixing luxury labels with brands known for sustainability.
Australian-born Princess Mary is Denmark’s queen-in-waiting and looks every inch the part, with a regal wardrobe made up of neat silhouettes, midi-length dresses, tailored coats and the occasional pop of colour.
The Tasmanian-raised royal, 47, has been a style icon since she married Frederik, the Crown Prince of Denmark, in 2004, a role which means she will be the next Queen of Denmark.
Known for her effortless elegance and immaculate grooming, she attends official royal engagements often wearing luxury brands including Chloe, Prada, Bottega Veneta, Stella McCartney, Preen by Thornton Bregazzi and Erdem, as well as local Danish designers David Andersen and Mark Kenly Domino Tan.
The Danish royals are even more conservative than their British counterparts, and Princess Mary’s tasteful clothing choices reflect that.
She’s not known for an edgy day-to-day style but rather makes a statement in her formal dressing.
Mary’s version of daring is baring a shoulder or a slightly sheer train on a gown.
Her much-copied wedding dress, by Danish fashion designer Uffe Frank, featured three-quarter length sleeves paired with a dramatic off-the-shoulder neckline.
Last month, Princess Mary — born Mary Donaldson — turned heads wearing a pair of knee-high boots, teamed with a Chloe skirt and a Prada handbag, at the UN Women and Boston Consulting Group’s Gender Diversity Roundtable in Copenhagen.
For formal engagements, the mother-of-four tends to favour bright red, pastel pink and even teal, which was also a favourite of the late Princess Diana, teamed with Danish royal family diamonds and tiaras.
She keeps her makeup fresh and natural, with glossed lips, a lick of blush and with her chocolate brown hair usually out or tied back in a loose bun.
The former advertising executive also supports Australian designers, appearing on the cover of Vogue Australia twice.
On her most recent over, in 2016, she wore a custom-made black Alex Perry gown and a dress designed by Kit Willow in the magazine’s shoot.
Styled by fashion director Christine Centenera, Princess Mary posed with Prince Frederick on the grounds of the palace and had personal input into what pieces and designers she wore.
“She kindly opened up the palace to our team and she was very involved with what she would wear,” Vogue Australia editor Edwina McCann told News Corp Australia.
“She wanted to support Australian designers and she cared about the sustainable credentials of all of the designers we photographed her in.
“She was involved in the selection of what was chosen. We brought over a lot of pieces, laid them all out in the palace on these huge racks in this extraordinary grand ballroom.
“I was really impressed by her knowledge of Australian and Danish designers and her commitment to promoting the sustainable credentials of designers from those two countries, over wearing high fashion.
“And you can see that in her everyday wardrobe.”
McCann recalls running into Princess Mary “on our morning walk” while the Vogue team was in Copenhagen for the iconic cover shoot.
“She had the twins in the little box on the front of the bike, like they do in Denmark, and she was riding them to school,” McCann said.
“She has a very appropriate, casual wardrobe and always looks like a princess — she is extraordinarily well-groomed and never puts a foot wrong in terms of fashion,” McCann said.
Princess Mary’s commitment to sustainability extends her role as patron of the Copenhagen Fashion Summit — a leading industry event about sustainability in fashion.
“She’s very conscious of the impact she has when she chooses who she wears and takes her role very seriously in terms of supporting Danish industry, and obviously fashion is a visible way to do that,” McCann said.
“It’s a role and she always dresses appropriately, but she always manages to express some of the latest trends, whether it’s in patterns and colours that she chooses.
“They’re always neat silhouettes, she usually favours skirts to the knee, and she tends to wear a lot of dresses over separates.”
Speaking to Vogue Australia in 2016, Princess Mary reflected on her royal role.
“I see my role as not just being a voice of the voiceless, but also being able to be a catalyst for bringing people and relevant actors together,” Mary told Vogue Australia at the time.
“I believe that in order to find solutions to some of the most pressing global challenges of today we need to take a holistic approach that requires us to consider the social, environmental and economic aspects, and work together in new and innovative partnerships, maybe with people and organisations we wouldn’t have thought about working with before.
“It will require a continuous effort and patience, and strong and authentic leadership: it takes time to create real and sustainable change.
“I try, as effectively as possibly, to use the platform that I have built up over the years to advocate and work for the empowerment of women and of their human rights.”
Of course, Princess Mary does that — and more — in an impeccable wardrobe.
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