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ROYAL FAMILY

Denmark’s Crown Princess Mary to visit homeland Australia with children

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark is to visit Australia, the country of her birth, with her children for the first time for five years.

Denmark’s Crown Princess Mary to visit homeland Australia with children
Crown Princess Mary will visit her homeland Australia with her children and Crown Prince Frederik this winter. Photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

The visit will be part of a private Christmas visit in December, the royal palace said in a statement. Crown Prince Frederik, the heir to the Danish throne, will also travel to Australia.

Although Crown Princess Mary has visited Australia within the last five years, her children have not accompanied her on any of the more recent visits.

Strict travel curbs in Australia during the Covid-19 pandemic reduced options for the Danish royals to visit Mary’s homeland.

Crown Princess Mary was born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson and is originally from Tasmania. She met Crown Prince Frederik during the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

The couple married in 2004, with Mary taking the title of Crown Princess and automatically receiving Danish citizenship.

The palace did not give details as to the length of the upcoming visit or where in Australia the family are scheduled to travel to.

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CULTURE

Queen Margrethe to design set for ballet at Copenhagen Tivoli

Queen Margrethe may have abdicated as Denmark's monarch but she hasn't given up her side job as a set designer, returning to the role for a performance of Hans Christian Andersen's Blockhead Hans this summer.

Queen Margrethe to design set for ballet at Copenhagen Tivoli

A ballet baseed on the popular fairy tale, called Klods-Hans in Danish, will be performed this summer in the Pantomine Theatre at the Tivoli Gardens amusement park, which celebrates its 150th year in 2024. 

“There are so many possibilities in the fairy tale about Blockhead Hans, who is a person you can’t help but like, and that gives us many possibilities on stage,” Margrethe said in the press release issued by Tivoli. 

Queen Margrethe has previously designed the sets for six performances at the Pantomime Theater, including those for “Cinderella”, “The Tinder Box” and “The Swineheard”, all stories by Hans Christian Andersen. 

Margrethe has also helped to create the two critically acclaimed ballets at Tivoli’s Concert Hall, “The Nutcracker” and “The Snow Queen”, where she has created more than 100 costumes and numerous stage images.

“I have tried to make performances for the Pantomime Theater before and have a good feeling for what works well on the small stage. I am looking forward to getting started with that together with the other forces behind the show,” she said. 

Tobias Praetorius, choreographer and soloist at the Royal Ballet, is behind the choreography for the ballet performance. Conductor and TV host Phillip Faber has written the music.

“It has been exciting work to make the orchestra’s sound merge with Andersen’s story, Tobias’ thoughts and choreography and Queen Margrethe’s visual universe,” Faber said in the announcement.

Blockhead Hans will be performed approximately 30 times in Tivoli over the summer, with the premiere on June 22nd.

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