Princess Mary to return to Australia for the first time in five years

Princess Mary has revealed a return to Australia after a five-year absence. And the timing couldn’t be better.

Princess Mary and her family will be in Australia for Christmas. Picture: Martin Sylvest/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP

The prodigal daughter returns.

Princess Mary will be setting foot on Australian shores for the first time in five years this holiday season, the Danish royal household confirmed.

Mary and her family, including Crown Prince Frederick and their children Christian, 17, Isabella, 15 and twins Vincent and Josephine, 11, will spend Christmas with the native Tasmanian’s Australian family.

The visit will be a private affair. It’s been almost 10 years since Mary was last in Australia in an official capacity.

A statement from the royal household said, “In December, the Crown Prince’s family will travel on a private Christmas holiday in Australia to celebrate the holiday with HRH the Crown Princess’s family.

“It has been five years since the Crown Prince coupled together with their four children last visited the Crown Princess’s homeland.”

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Princess Isabella, Prince Christian, Crown Princess Mary, Crown Prince Frederik, Princess Josephine, and Prince Vincent.

The trip could be a nice break for the family, away from the drama which this year has engulfed the Danish royals.

Mary had been dragged into an escalating row after Denmark’s Queen Margrethe stripped some of her grandchildren of their royal titles.

Margrethe, 82, announced in September Prince Joachim’s children Prince Nikolai, 23, Prince Felix, 20, Prince Henrik, 13, and Princess Athena, 10, would be stripped of their royal titles.

Her slimming down of the Danish monarchy would instead make them counts and countesses.

Princess Mary’s children with Crown Prince Frederik will keep their titles, as Frederik is next in line to the throne.

Joachim and his second wife Marie have now come forward to say their relationship with Frederik and Mary is “complicated”.

In an interview with B.T., they also revealed that Margrethe has “unfortunately not” spoken to them since the bombshell move.

“It’s also family. Or whatever we want to call it,” Joachim added.

The Danish royals have been embroiled in a title drama this year. Pictured are Prince Felix, Princess Marie, Prince Joachim, Princess Athena, Prince Henrik and Prince Nikolai. Picture: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP

Marie has also revealed that Athena has been bullied at school since she lost her title.

“They come and say (to Athena): ‘Is it you who is no longer a princess?’,” she said.

The family are only said to have been told of the decision five days before it was made public.

Mary recently defended Margrethe’s “difficult” decision to strip her grandchildren of their royal titles in an interview with Ekstra Bladet.

“Change can be extremely difficult and can really hurt,” Princess Mary said.

“I think most people have tried it. But this does not mean that the decision is not the right one.

“ … And I can understand that it is a very difficult decision to have to make, and also a very difficult decision to receive.”

As direct descendants of the future King, Frederick and Mary’s four children are unaffected by the decision.

However, Mary suggested that may not always be the case.

“We will also look at our children’s titles when the time comes. Today we cannot see what the royal house will look like when it is Christian’s time, or when Christian’s time begins to approach,” she said.

Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Margrethe is now Europe’s longest-serving monarch. She has been on the throne since January 1972.

Originally published as Princess Mary to return to Australia for the first time in five years