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The incredible transformation of Mary Donaldson into the polished Crown Princess she is today
Princess Mary is, undoubtedly, one of the world's most stylish women.
At every event, each time she is photographed, the 47-year-old royal cuts an elegant and poised figure.
She is full of grace and her look is emulated by royal fans, documenting every detail of her outfit on social media, all over the world, from her native Australia to her adopted homeland of Denmark.
Mary has a natural beauty, indeed.
But she's not always been as polished to perfection.
Mary Donaldson underwent a significant transformation on her journey to becoming Denmark's future queen.
When she met Prince Frederik in Sydney during the 2000 Olympics, Mary was working as an account manager for advertising agency Young and Rubicam before joining Belle Property in Darlinghurst. She'd studied commerce and law at the University of Tasmania before moving to Sydney in the mid-1990s.
Mary's relationship with Denmark's heir to the throne was kept under wraps until the Danish media got wind of the story more than a year after their first meeting at the Slip Inn pub.
But they didn't know much about the mysterious Australian woman. The country's royal weekly magazine, Billed Bladet, published a picture of Mary during her time at Hobart's Taroona High School and from her school formal when she had frizzy hair and her sparkly dress featured prominent shoulder pads – but being the 1980s, she was quite fashionable!
Anna Johannesen, a journalist at the magazine, said in 2003: "All the other girls talked a little too much…Mary, she smiles, she's friendly, but she doesn't say anything. Mary, because she is a foreigner, she's clean. We have nothing on her". Johannesen "other girls" reference was to Frederik's previous girlfriends, including Katja Storkholm, a former underwear model, Maria Montell, a Danish pop singer, and Bettina Oedum, a fashion designer.
Mary moved to Copenhagen in 2002. Prior to that, Frederik had been making private visits to Australia to see his girlfriend, with reports he made as many as six trips following the Olympics. The palace was able to disguise some of the trips as sailing training – a sport the couple has regularly taken part in since their first meeting.
When Mary relocated to Europe she worked in Paris teaching English at a business school. She then moved to Denmark and was employed at the Microsoft Business Solutions as a Project Consultant for business development, communications and marketing.
But her training to become a Danish princess began even before she moved to Copenhagen.
She enrolled in a $1195 course at Starquest Studios in Double Bay, run by style consultant and actor Teresa Page. The training included instructions on how to relate to other people, how to walk into a room, how to socialise, how to perform in front of the camera. Ultimately, it was a makeover aimed at boosting her confidence and social graces.
But it was merely a stepping-stone for a far more intensive grooming program, taken at the behest of the royal household.
The most important thing was for Mary to master the Danish language, which has a reputation as one of the hardest to learn due to its eclectic-sounding consonants, hard and guttural sounds and plethora of vowels.
She had months of intensive lessons to learn the language, which she soon picked up.
"Crown Princess Mary’s Danish is very good, and she learned quickly," Lars Hovbakke Sørensen, royal commentator and assistant professor at Denmark's University College in Absalon, told the Australian Women's Weekly in 2017.
"Especially in a small country like Denmark, it is important a person from abroad learns the language. It’s about Danish national identity and self understanding."
Mary's physical appearance also underwent significant changes.
She lost weight, wore less makeup and her wardrobe began featuring some of the world's most expensive labels.
The engagement of Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson was officially announced by the Danish royal family in September, 2003.
In January that year, the couple had made their first official public appearance – in Tasmania. Frederik and Mary attended the Dragon Boat World Championship in Hobart. Dressed in baggy jeans, a thin and slightly see-through white top, with unstyled hair, Mary's personal style was distinctly different to her polish look we're so familiar with now.
Mary's appearance at some private engagements with Frederik, before their engagement was announced, had drawn the attention of Danish etiquette experts who criticised her fashion sense and royal cred. One of her most notable outfits was a belly-button-revealing cropped top and the absence of a bra while attending a wedding.
Mary employed hair and make-up artist Soren Hedegaard to help polish her look in the lead up her royal wedding. The makeover was kept under wraps - Hedegaard and Mary made regular trips to a suburban department store, where she was given cosmetic tips and treatments from Estee Lauder beauty therapists.
Hedegaard is tight-lipped about his work with Mary - "You see, I'm not allowed to talk ... but can I say I love her?" - but has previously complemented the Crown Princess on her natural beauty.
"Princess Mary is beautiful," Hedegaard said in 2005.
"It's so nice that I have a connection with her, as I see all her natural beauty. You have to like the person you do the make-up on or you want to make them look like Morticia [in The Addams Family]!"
He continues to work with the Crown Princess and is considered one of her closest confidants.
Danish stylist Anja Camilla Alajdi helped Mary become the fashion icon she is today. The two women attended fashion shows and went on shopping trips across Europe, refining Mary's wardrobe to include pieces from some of the world's most exclusive houses. Alajdi is also a business partner in Danish fine jewellery line, Marianne Dulong. Mary frequently wears the brand's pieces along with pieces from Ole Lynggaard which holds an official warrant to the Royal Danish Court.
Mary also had to be schooled in Danish society, politics, history and language. Per Thornit was tasked with Mary's royal transition through his role as chief-of-court. He was instrumental in her understanding of Danish political life, taking her to meetings with the Prime Minister, key public servants and other important leaders. Thornit was also helpful in preparing Mary for the finer points of being a princess – including how to accept a bouquet in public and when to discreetly pass it on. These etiquette lessons have resulted in a Crown Princess who never puts a foot wrong.
Denmark's Queen Margrethe II is 78 and is showing no signs of abdicating the throne to her son, Crown Prince Frederik. When her reign ends, Frederik will become King of Denmark and Mary, Queen Consort.
She'll be the head of one of the world's oldest monarchies, dating back more than 1000 years.
It's a stunning transformation from her time as Mary Donaldson but a role she was born to do and does better than anyone.
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