King and Queen of Denmark lock in Australian visit

King Frederik of Denmark and Queen Mary are heading to Australia for a six-day state visit.

The couple, who met at the Sydney Olympics and married in 2004, will make their fourth official visit to Australia in March; This means the King will marry his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 2024. It will be Margrethe’s first visit since taking the throne following her abdication.

The royal family will travel from the Northern Territory via the ACT, Victoria and Tasmania, where the queen was born and raised.

The couple will be accompanied by the Danish deputy prime minister, foreign minister and climate minister, as well as a delegation representing 55 Danish businesses.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the royal couple had a “very special bond” with Australia.

Mary Donaldson met her future husband at the Slip Inn bar in central Sydney during the 2000 Olympics and moved to Denmark a year later.

The couple has four children together.

US President Donald Trump’s threats against Denmark’s control of Greenland have thrust the Scandinavian country into global headlines.

“A strengthened partnership with Australia is particularly important at a time when geopolitical changes have economic and security implications,” the Danish royal family website said in a statement announcing the trip. he said.

The two countries signed a strategic partnership in July 2023 focused on accelerating renewable energy investments.

“Denmark and Australia are great friends and together we are working to build a more sustainable, secure and peaceful future,” Mr Albanese said. he said.

Opportunities for cooperation in the green transition are an attractive prospect for dozens of Danish companies participating in the visit.