Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark [Paperback]

Karin Palshoj (Author), Gitte Redder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2006

The modern-day, real-life fairy tale of the young Australian commoner who became the Crown Princess of Denmark is detailed in this definitive biography. When Mary Donaldson walked into the Slip Inn restaurant in Sydney on the first Saturday of the 2000 Olympic Games, she met Frederik, the Crown Prince of Denmark, by chance, and her life was never the same again. The world watched as the Prince wooed Mary, and women everywhere swooned as Frederik shed a tear as he watched his bride walk down the aisle. This biography chronicles the incredible story of the thoroughly modern and elegant woman who has risen to the formidable challenge of being the Crown Princess of Denmark with grace and style.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A nice biography of Denmark’s Crown Princess."  —Royal Book News

About the Author

Karin Palshøj is a journalist who covers royal events and state visits for Danish national television. Gitte Redder is a veteran journalist and has covered stories for many Danish newspapers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 203 pages
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin; 1st English Ed edition (April 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1741147492
• ISBN-13: 978-1741147490
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #962,942 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Scandinavian
  • #77 in Books > History > Europe > Denmark

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Predictable Spin but a Good Beach Read, January 3, 2008

By 

K. Boullosa - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark (Paperback)

This book is a decent entry into that genre of entertainment called "READ GOGGLE-EYED HOW ONE GIRL IN A MILLION GOT LUCKY!" It's decently written, wholly positive, not to say nearly hagiographic, and has nice photos. The outlines of the story of how the erstwhile Australian real estate/marketing executive met the Crown Prince of Denmark in a Sydney bar during the 2000 Olympics, and actually made it to the altar with him and is on her way to becoming Queen Consort of Denmark, IS remarkable. Unfortunately, it's the ONLY remarkable aspect of the book, because the two people involved couldn't be more ordinary. The only thing extraordinary about Prince Frederik is the circumstance of his birth, and the only thing extraordinary about Mary Donaldson is the circumstance of her marriage, as mind-bogglingly successful a grab at the matrimonial brass ring as ever was.

Unlike the late Diana, Princess of Wales, Mary Donaldson (as well as the handful of other commoners who wed European Crown Princes in the last few years) had some maturity and world experience before catching HER prince, and thus seems to have been able to make the most of her tremendous opportunity without paying for it later with misery and disappointment.

Catty as that sounds, they look like a well-matched couple and Miss Mary, who seems to have quite a bit of backbone, has gone on to adapt to a new country, new religion, new language, new public role, while giving the Danes the next generation's male heir AND the first little princess born to the Danish royal family since 1946, all within the first two years of marriage. Except for a few bumps, most notably some difficulty mastering Danish (she has continued to improve here, and it IS a notoriously difficult language to learn as an adult), she has adapted well and is increasingly popular among the Danes - in 2009 the royal tabloid Billed-Bladet took a poll in which Mary emerged as the most popular member of the Danish royal family.

The book gives lots of detail about how the couple kept the relationship going while separated by continents between summer 2000 and October 2003, when Frederik's mother, Queen Margrethe, finally gave her consent to the marriage. If you enjoy those sorts of details, and those describing Mary's adjustment leading up to the couple's sumptuous and, I must admit, quite gorgeous wedding in May 2004 (it is frankly the loveliest royal wedding I've ever seen, and three different DVDs exist on which you can see it), you'll enjoy this.

This book is now greatly outdated. Frederik and Mary are approaching their seventh wedding anniversary, are now also the parents of four adorable children (two of whom are twins, a boy and a girl, born in January 2011), have myriad foreign tours under their belts, while Mary's hairdos and wardrobe have undergone noticeable shifts. The usual rumors about cracks in their marriage occasionally pop up, particularly in certain circles, but true or not, Mary continues to carry herself with a certain admirable dignity. I'm sure other books will follow to catch everyone up on the doings of one of Europe's Golden Royal Couples. Or, you can try getting the hang of tabloid Danish and tracking the couple's lives through Billed-Bladet, Seg og Her, and Her og Nu online. If you don't mind this book being so far out of date, tuck it into your purse as you ride the bus, or into your tote as you head for the beach - that's about its level of insight.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Biography with no depth, July 16, 2007

By 

SusieQ (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark (Paperback)

I have to agree with the one-star reviewer, in one aspect of her review: this is definitely a somewhat shallow, lets-generate-good-PR, type of biography. There's no real story here. The facts of Mary's life are presently blandly, but then, maybe there's nothing really exciting about her either. Mary seems like a nice enough person from a nice family. Frederik also seems like a nice person from a nice family. But there's no in-depth analysis of their characters, or their very different backgrounds. (You have to wonder, what did Queen Margarethe really think about her son's choice of an Australian commoner? But you won't get that kind of question in a "loyal" bio such as this one.)

The book is already a little out of date, since Mary and Frederik have had two children as the date of this review, and this biography only covers up to their marriage. I don't dislike this book -- it's informative about the basic facts of Mary's life, and has several nice photographs -- but yes, it is disappointing if you want an in-depth, thoughtful biography of this person.

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, March 31, 2006

By 

Katherine Leftwich - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark (Paperback)

This is one of the best royal biographies of the year! The authors stick to the facts and do not reley on untrue rumors; at the same time they fully describe the personalty of Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.