When Mary of Denmark she got married, she already knew that one day she would become queen. The wedding outfit included all the royal accoutrements: a tailored creation, a tiara on the head and a veil worn by various sovereigns and princesses. That young woman catapulted to Copenhagen from Tasmania with a challenging future on the horizon thought that she needed all the support possible, even from those who unfortunately were no longer on this earth.
Here is the story of the wedding dress of Mary of Denmark who celebrates her twentieth wedding anniversary with King Frederik today. On 14 May 2004 the Australian “commoner” Miss Donaldson entered Danish history and he did it with a detail invisible to the eyes of others.
The queen came from Tasmania
In 2000 Mary Donaldson she was a twenty-eight year old born in Hobart on 5 February 1975 to Scottish parents who moved to Australia in the early 1960s. After studying marketing and advertising and having had some experience abroad, she settled in Sydney with a job in the real estate sector. A woman jeans and a t-shirt rather simple with a passion for sport, this is how Mary describes herself when talking about her previous life.
Anna Maria of Greece and that wedding dress lost and then found more than 50 years later
In 1964 the wedding between the Danish princess and King Constantine took place. The dress with a six-metre train remained closed in a suitcase for decades: it is testimony to a great love but also tells of the exile into which the royal family was forced
One evening at the beginning of the millennium he met with some friends in a pub called Slip Inn where he met a nice guy. Frederik was there for the Olympics which were taking place in Sydney in the second half of September of that year. He was the crown prince of Denmark: If she had no idea who this guy was, he knew he had just found the woman of his life.
The acquaintance continued partly in secret and partly publicly for about three years until on 8 October 2003, with the blessing of Queen Margrethe and the consent of the Council of State, the official engagement was announced complete with «patriotic» ring. Frederik gave the future bride a ring with an emerald-cut diamond in the center flanked by two baguette rubies: white and red, the colors of the Danish flag.
Uffe Frank, the designer chosen by Mary of Denmark
Danish royals are traditionally linked to their ateliers. Self Jørgen Bender had he not passed away prematurely on 10 September 1999, he would probably have been the designer called upon to create the wedding dress. Student of Holger Blomcouturier of the previous generation of royals, Bender had already designed the wedding dresses of Margrethe of Denmark and his sister Benedikte.
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About twenty dresses designed by Jørgen Bender in close collaboration with the royal are the protagonists of the exhibition Prinsessekjoler. The wedding dress could not be missing, a creation that still excites the princess after more than half a century
Uffe Frank took his first steps in that tailoring shop. However he was not the only candidate for the royal commission. Word spread around the world that Mary Donaldson was looking for a stylist: a close friend of Frederik of Denmark mentioned her name and in the end he was chosen for the job.
Uffe Frank had not remained in his country of origin but had worked in Milan at the court of Giorgio Armani and that of Valentino. Back in Denmark, he decided to open his own fashion house using the precious experience acquired in Italy. A royal wedding dress was the best stepping stone he could find on his way.
The wedding dress
The dress was also popular at the time many considered it a little out of time when it was finally revealed once the bride arrived at Copenhagen Cathedral accompanied by her father in a kilt, a true Scotsman. For being at the beginning of the millennium it may not be contemporary but it was probably the veil that gave the outfit that considered touch démodé. However, it was the future queen of an ancient monarchy who wore it and she, the protagonist of a true fairy tale, would have been forgiven for everything.
Now on display at the Amalienborg museum until 8 September 2024 on the occasion of the exhibition Frederik X – The King of Tomorrowthe dress is in all respects a sartorial masterpiece studied in every detail by Mary herself.
Over 60 meters of silk were used to make it duchesses ivory shining like mother of pearl. One of the dress's standout features is the stiff bateau neckline, which some say served as the inspiration for Meghan Markle's wedding dress. The three-quarter length sleeves are shaped like a calla lily while the folded panels of the organza-lined skirt make the creation resemble a tulip.
That type of workmanship was used to show the underlying lace, which is as old as the veil which we will talk about in a moment. The more than six meter long train that started from the waist could not be missing, detached later for the reception to make the dress lighter.
If Uffe Frank with Mary of Denmark imagined the dress, there was a person who actually sewed it. Her name is Birgit Hallstein and has been alongside the royal for more than twenty years. She is the one who created some of her most iconic outfits: among these we cannot fail to mention the burgundy dress which boasts the record of appearances at royal gala evenings.
But Birgit Hallstein is always the hand behind the white look worn on the day she became queen. Perhaps there is no one in Denmark who knows the sovereign so intimately.
Mary of Denmark, the Queen's first time wearing the Crown Jewels. Let's find out them in detail
The emerald set, the most precious in the royal collection, can only be worn by the sovereign in office and cannot cross the borders of the Scandinavian country. Furthermore, it is the only set that includes a tiara, therefore perfect for the new official portrait
The family veil
The Irish lace veil is a very precious family heirloom. The first to wear it was for her wedding Margaret of Connaughtdaughter of Queen Victoria, married in 1905 Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. The princess did not have time to become sovereign as she died in 1920.
The veil passed to her daughter Ingrid of Swedenwho became Queen of Denmark having married Frederik IX, who began the custom of showing it off for the wedding and continued by her daughters Anna Maria of Greecefrom Margrethe IIfrom his sister Benedikte and the next generation.
Mary was the first “acquired” bride, not a direct descendant, to have the honor of using it for the royal wedding with Frederik. A gesture that was worth a thousand words: it meant complete acceptance by the queen in office despite the fact that her future daughter-in-law came from another continent and she was of bourgeois extraction.
Mary of Denmark: discovering all the jewels in her treasure chest, now that she is queen
The new sovereign now has at her disposal heirlooms of great historical and emotional value which have the characteristic of being firmly linked to the throne of Denmark. A heritage of which Mary became the worthy guardian after Margrethe II
The wedding tiara
In this truly regal painting, there is an element so discreet that it almost disappears. It's about the tiara to which the family veil is anchored. The origins of the piece are not known but we know that the diamond tiara The floral motif was a wedding gift from her in-laws, Margrethe of Denmark and her husband Henrik and could be used as a necklace.
Mary has worn it frequently in the past also because it is from her personal collection and not a loan or one of those Crown Jewels which cannot leave national borders and which can only be used by sovereigns. In 2011 he made a small change to make it more precious: he added a row of pearls to the base.
In addition to the engagement ring, Mary chose not to overdo the jewelry. However, they stand out at the lobes the platinum diamond earrings with a large South Sea pearl. A gift from Frederik for the bride commissioned from the Marianne Dulong jewelry store.
Something dear close to the heart
Mary had her late mother's ring sewn into the dress at heart level (some say the wedding ring, some say it was the engagement ring). Very little is known about this fact unlike other anecdotes linked to royal wedding dresses such as, for example, the horseshoe sewn into the wedding dress without her knowledge. Princess Diana.
Mrs. Henrietta Clark Horne married Donaldson died suddenly of a heart attack in 1997, three years before her daughter met a Prince Charming. In the wedding outfit there was a lot of the family of the heir to the Danish throne and everything was rightly exhibited and told as part of the history of a country.
The mother's ring, however, still remains a kind of secret, almost a legend. More than something old, that heirloom witness to a great love is “something dear” that Mary, future queen of Denmark, wanted to have with her on the most important day of her life.
Source: Vanity Fair
I’m Susan Karen, a professional writer and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in Entertainment news, writing stories that keep readers informed on all the latest developments in the industry. With over five years of experience in creating engaging content and copywriting for various media outlets, I have grown to become an invaluable asset to any team.
