While a bevy of tiny princes and princesses donned their best crowns and Viking helmets to mark the occasion,some older royalists wore home-made shirts emblazoned with the understated phrase “Congrats to Fred and Mary”.
Crown Prince Frederik’s accession to the throne is to take place early on Monday morning (AEDT) after his mother,Queen Margrethe,formally abdicates at a Council of State meeting at Christiansborg Palace. Frederik will be accompanied to the palace by Princess Mary and their son Prince Christian.
Dane Clara Kynne Schmidt met her Melbourne-born husband,Mark Hocking,while studying architecture in Copenhagen. The pair,who are based in Denmark,have two little Danish-Australian princesses of their own,three-year-old Ella and one-year-old Ida.
“We’re taking the best of both worlds,just like Frederik and Mary.[Ella and Ida] eat rye bread for lunch,but they also eat Vegemite for breakfast,” Kynne Schmidt said.
“We were feeling so sad that we didn’t get to be a part of it at home ... so we thought why not come here and celebrate this union,and also our relationship as a family – Denmark and Australia coming together.”
While Denmark House is not usually open to the public on weekends,an exception was made to commemorate the accession of the new monarch.