Scots claim Princess Mary of Denmark is Scottish

Princess Mary has long been known as Australia’s expat royal, but some claim the future Queen of Denmark is really Scottish.

When Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announced her abdication on New Year’s Eve, she also made history in Australia.

Her son, Prince Frederik, and daughter-in-law, Tasmania-born Princess Mary, will ascend the throne on January 14, meaning Australia will get its first homegrown monarch.

So, imagine our collective shock when UK paper The Telegraph marked the occasion with the headline: “How a Scot became Queen of Denmark”.

As it turns out, both Australia and Scotland have laid claim to the true heritage of the princess, with one expert saying Aussies have a fair fight on our hands.

Mary and her husband, Prince Frederik, will become king and queen of Denmark on January 14. Picture: Ida Marie Odgaard / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP

Is Princess Mary Scottish?

Mary’s parents immigrated from Scotland to Tasmania before she was born, meaning she held dual British and Australian citizenship before giving both up to become Danish royalty.

Her father, John, and mother, Henrietta, who died in 1997, are both Scottish, as was her grandfather, Peter Donaldson. Mary’s parents and paternal grandparents immigrated to Australia in the early 1960s, about a decade before she was born.

John wore a kilt when he walked Mary down the aisle at her royal wedding to Prince Frederik in 2004 and, during his father of the bride speech at the reception, emphasised the ties between Scandinavia and his homeland.

Mary’s father, John Donaldson, wore a kilt when he walked her down the aisle. Picture: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

She was born and raised in Hobart. Picture: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

Mary lived in Scotland for a few months in her 20s and, though she’s never made an official visit there during her royal career, the country’s foreign affairs minister extended an open invitation.

“It is extremely welcome that Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, takes her strong Scottish connections with her when she becomes Queen of Denmark,” Angus Robertson told The Times.

“She and Prince Frederik will be welcomed with open arms after the coronation.”

Mary and Frederik met in Sydney in 2000.

Despite her Scottish roots, Mary was born and raised in Hobart.

She still speaks with a mild Australian accent and her children, Christian, 18, Isabella, 16, and twins Vincent and Josephine, both 12, have poked fun at the Aussie twang that marks her Danish.

With all of that considered, Scottish-Australian journalist Catriona Stewart of UK newspaper The Herald says it’s a fair fight.

“She is as much ours as she is yours, I’m afraid,” Ms Stewart told ABC Radio.

“You have a fight on your hands.”

Aussie fans were nonetheless outraged by the claim, with one calling it “blasphemous”.

“The UK Daily Telegraph is claiming our Princess Mary as a Scot. Absolutely outrageous. Even if we do it to New Zealanders all the time,” another wrote on X.

But another said: “I guess with a name like Donaldson that is a reasonable claim”.

Originally published as Scots claim Princess Mary of Denmark is Scottish