Homecoming Queen: Mary to begin state visit at Uluru
Mary mania is set to sweep Australia.
Tasmania’s Danish queen and her husband King Frederik will embark on a six-day state visit to Australia next month.
This will be their first and only and will bring with it a huge business delegation focused on green energy.
Traditional owners are preparing to welcome the Danish royal couple to Uluru, where they will watch the sunset with local elders.
The highlight of the visit is expected to echo the 1983 British royal tour when the late Princess Diana and her husband Charles, now King, visited the iconic rock.
“This is an opportunity for them to see the natural beauty of Australia,” said Danish Ambassador to Australia Ingrid Dahl-Madsen, adding that Mary and Frederik have a keen interest in biodiversity.
“It’s going to be a pretty full schedule.”
The tour will begin on March 14 and will also take visiting royals to Canberra, Melbourne and Mary’s hometown of Hobart.
“There is a very positive atmosphere in the relations between our two countries,” says Ms. Dahl-Madsen.
“Queen Mary’s Australian heritage plays a big part in this.”
Governor-General Sam Mostyn will host the couple in Canberra, where they will visit the federal parliament and receive a 21-gun parade.
Marianne Singer, royal correspondent for Danish magazine Billed-Bladet, has covered several state visits and said the tour would be a big hit in Denmark because Mary was “going back to her roots.”
“This is something really close to her heart,” Ms. Singer says.
“I guess you can expect him to greet as many people as he can on rides.”
Traditionally, such high-level visits also include more formal social settings, Ms. Singer says.
“You can expect a lot of glamor at the state banquet, with crowns and (fancy) dresses,” he adds.
The second dinner will likely feature Danish cultural entertainment such as ballet or opera.
“The return dinner is the king and queen’s way of saying thank you for the welcome,” Ms. Singer says.
The royal visit is expected to give momentum to tourism in Australia.
Britain’s Prince William and Princess Kate’s trip Down Under in 2014 resulted in a 125 per cent increase in booking inquiries from the UK to the Tourism Australia website.
The latest available data shows around 27,000 Danes will travel to Australia in 2024; the same year, former Queen Elizabeth II. The Danish royal couple were promoted when Margrethe became the first monarch to abdicate in 900 years.
This is their fourth official visit to Australia; the last one was in 2013.
This trip isn’t Mary’s journey home since she took on the new role; He sneaked into the country in February 2025 and was seen browsing the stalls in Hobart’s Salamanca Market.
He also flew out with his twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine to attend his nephew’s wedding in Tasmania in October 2024.
The tour will likely be a nod to Australian fashion, with the royals frequently wearing Australian brands Zimmerman and MOSS & SPY.
The royal couple will be accompanied by a delegation of 55 companies.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and Climate Minister Lars Aagaard were also planned to attend the tour.
However, the election date in Denmark was on Thursday, March 24, so they will likely be behind in the campaign as two ministers are party leaders.
Denmark’s transition to green energy, which creates employment and provides economic growth, is the main theme of the trip.
The small country of six million is a global leader in offshore wind energy.
More than 88 percent of net electricity generation in 2024 came from renewable sources, aiming to reach 100 percent by the end of the decade.
“This change to our energy system through decarbonisation is not something that is the monopoly of one country or region,” Mr Aagaard told a group of Australian journalists in Copenhagen this week.
“We’re looking for partners. We’re looking for business opportunities,” he said.
“I truly believe it’s a two-way street. If we manage to build more resilient, safer decarbonized energy systems, I think we’ll all be winners.”
Danish Industry senior vice-president Troels Ranis said Denmark viewed Australia as an “attractive and reliable” investment destination and was keen to share its expertise on balancing renewables in its country’s electricity grid.
“We know what we’re good at,” he tells AAP.
“We know what we can offer. We can provide cheap energy: offshore wind.”
Danish energy giant Orsted and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners hope to launch offshore wind projects off the coast of Gippsland in Victoria.
CIP has begun construction on a major battery project to help South Australia store energy as the state pushes to move to 100 per cent net renewable energy by next year.
CIP also hopes to develop the Murchison Green Hydrogen Project near Kalbarri in Western Australia, which will use solar and wind-powered hydrogen and convert it into green ammonia for export. However, the company is waiting for the market to start before making the final investment decision.
The state visit comes as Australia tries to finalize its long-awaited free trade agreement with the European Union amid customs chaos from the Trump administration.
“I very much expect to see concrete agreements on cooperation from this visit,” says Ms. Dahl-Madsen.
Lisa Martin toured Denmark as a guest of a media program of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
