Queen Mary of Denmark ‘humbled’ by Aussie crowd in Canberra
Queen Mary of Denmark was greeted with applause as she greeted a packed crowd outside the War Memorial in Canberra on Monday during her first official visit with the Australian-born royal’s husband, King Fredrick X.
Queen Mary, who met then-Crown Prince Fredrick at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, arrived in Australia on Sunday for the couple’s first official visit since King Fredrick ascends to the throne in 2024.
The King and Queen laid a wreath and flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and stood at the Hall of Fame for Flying Officer Henry James Brock, a Tasmanian-born officer who was killed in action on 27 February 1944 and buried in Denmark.
The couple also placed a poppy in memory of Flying Officer Geoffrey Herbert Brandon Slinn, who was killed in action in Denmark on 27 November 1944.
The royal couple were welcomed by Governor-General Sam Mostyn and his partner Simeon Beckett SC. In addition to members of the royal court, a delegation of political leaders, including Danish Climate Minister Lars Aagaard, also attended the state visit.
The group will travel to Hobart on Thursday.
More than 200 spectators, including Danes living in Australia, school children and local residents, gathered outside the War Memorial on Monday morning, many waving flowers or Australian and Danish flags.
A large Danish flag was unfurled over the security fence.
Outside the memorial, the couple made their way through the crowd, shaking hands, talking to children and at one point kneeling down and petting a dog.
Among the crowd were Danish backpackers Benedikte Nikolajsen, 20, and Asger Nielsen, 19, from Horsens, who were traveling to Australia for a month.
Ms Nikolajsen, who was carrying a large backpack, said the pair were on their way to catch a bus to Sydney and stopped to see the Danish monarchs.
He said that when the royal couple were “out” in Denmark, they were usually on the other side of the country from where the couple was.
“We don’t see them much in person, but we see them a lot in the media,” Ms. Nikolajsen said.
“Of course we don’t integrate with them too much, but they are really nice people, so it’s always a pleasure when you see them.”
Yasmin Swifte, from Double Bay in Sydney, was at the memorial to see Queen Mary on her first official visit to her native Australia.
“And it’s very exciting to be able to see them here in such an important national monument,” he said.
Ms Swifte described the Queen as “highly educated”.
“She is so poised, beautiful, graceful and graceful and a true Australian icon,” he said.
When asked how she felt about returning to Australia, Queen Mary said: “It’s very humbling.”
The visit comes at an unstable time for constitutional monarchy Denmark, following US President Donald Trump’s months-long campaign to seize control of Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory.
The Republican President rejected the use of force to seize the island in January.
King Fredrick, his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. He ascended the throne in 2024, following Margrethe’s abdication. The Danish monarchy was first established in the 8th century.
