Crown Princess Mary, Current Events 2: April - November 2004
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ABC
Australian Greens Senator and republic supporter Bob Brown says he will stay up late tonight to lap up the excitement as Tasmanian Mary Donaldson joins the Danish royal family.
Senator Brown is not the only republican who thinks there is just something about Mary.
Senator Brown says tonight's royal wedding in Denmark is a little bit of magic in a world that has otherwise gone mad.
"While I'm a republican, people should have a little delight in their lives and a bit of romance and this is giving them that and I'm all for it," he said.
Ms Donaldson is spending her last few hours as a commoner today, preparing for her marriage to Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik at midnight (AEST).
Senator Brown's fellow republican, the Labor president of the New South Wales Upper House, Meredith Burgmann, is calling for Mary to become Australia's Queen.
"Instead of Denmark having an Australian queen and Australia having the English Queen, we thought it was much [more sensible] for us to have the Australian queen," she said.
Best wishes
Prime Minister John Howard has passed his best wishes to Ms Donaldson ahead of the wedding.
Mr Howard says he is not disappointed that he will not be at the wedding, with Governor-General Major-General Michael Jeffrey to represent Australia.
Mr Howard says he has not contacted the couple in the lead-up to the wedding but wishes them well.
"I wasn't planning to. I think it's appropriate that the Governor-General, who is representing Australia, do what I know he will do with great style and very effectively," Mr Howard said.
"But I do publicly wish both of them every happiness in their life together. It's always a great occasion for anybody, a wedding, and I hope it's a very happy day and they have a long and happy life together."
Opposition leader Mark Latham has also wished the couple well and the Tasmanian Government has sent them a letter of congratulations.
Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon has offered Government House as future accommodation for Ms Donaldson and Crown Prince Frederik.
"It's a fantastic day for Tasmania but more particularly it's a very special day for Mary, who's going to give herself to Crown Prince Frederik for the rest of her life," he said.
"I imagine they're feeling a little nervous right now, a little jittery, but we send the best wishes of all Tasmanians to them on what is a very special day for them."
Danish royal reporter Annette Dich says 100,000 people are expected to line the streets for the wedding procession.
"After the wedding, the couple will ride in an open carriage. Hopefully it's not raining and people will be waving at them and they'll appear on the balcony of Copenhagen Castle and we're all waiting for the kiss."
In other developments:
Australian Greens Senator and republic supporter Bob Brown says he will stay up late tonight to lap up the excitement as Tasmanian Mary Donaldson joins the Danish royal family.
Senator Brown is not the only republican who thinks there is just something about Mary.
Senator Brown says tonight's royal wedding in Denmark is a little bit of magic in a world that has otherwise gone mad.
"While I'm a republican, people should have a little delight in their lives and a bit of romance and this is giving them that and I'm all for it," he said.
Ms Donaldson is spending her last few hours as a commoner today, preparing for her marriage to Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik at midnight (AEST).
Senator Brown's fellow republican, the Labor president of the New South Wales Upper House, Meredith Burgmann, is calling for Mary to become Australia's Queen.
"Instead of Denmark having an Australian queen and Australia having the English Queen, we thought it was much [more sensible] for us to have the Australian queen," she said.
Best wishes
Prime Minister John Howard has passed his best wishes to Ms Donaldson ahead of the wedding.
Mr Howard says he is not disappointed that he will not be at the wedding, with Governor-General Major-General Michael Jeffrey to represent Australia.
Mr Howard says he has not contacted the couple in the lead-up to the wedding but wishes them well.
"I wasn't planning to. I think it's appropriate that the Governor-General, who is representing Australia, do what I know he will do with great style and very effectively," Mr Howard said.
"But I do publicly wish both of them every happiness in their life together. It's always a great occasion for anybody, a wedding, and I hope it's a very happy day and they have a long and happy life together."
Opposition leader Mark Latham has also wished the couple well and the Tasmanian Government has sent them a letter of congratulations.
Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon has offered Government House as future accommodation for Ms Donaldson and Crown Prince Frederik.
"It's a fantastic day for Tasmania but more particularly it's a very special day for Mary, who's going to give herself to Crown Prince Frederik for the rest of her life," he said.
"I imagine they're feeling a little nervous right now, a little jittery, but we send the best wishes of all Tasmanians to them on what is a very special day for them."
Danish royal reporter Annette Dich says 100,000 people are expected to line the streets for the wedding procession.
"After the wedding, the couple will ride in an open carriage. Hopefully it's not raining and people will be waving at them and they'll appear on the balcony of Copenhagen Castle and we're all waiting for the kiss."
In other developments:
Bellefleur
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Mary is pretty! It's true Mary isn't the soft, motherly looking type like Princess Diana, but perhaps Mary feels somewhat selfconscious in a country where she feels she might be criticised for not speaking the lang. properly and not looking Danish. Her feelings may just be reflected on her face, that's all...soon she'll probably look happier and more settled once her wedding is over (which it now is)
that;s what i think
bellefleur
that;s what i think
bellefleur
a little info from a dane!
regarding Marys danish, danish is the fourth hardest language to learn and only people from Germany and the rest of Scandinavia can learn it perfect.
Princess Alexandra is very very good bur her mother is from Austria so she also speaks german!! therefore she has it bit easier than Mary.
People from england, us and aus have a lot of trouble with danish.
I have seen videos of Mary and she looks and seems very lovely.
pictures can fool you
regarding Marys danish, danish is the fourth hardest language to learn and only people from Germany and the rest of Scandinavia can learn it perfect.
Princess Alexandra is very very good bur her mother is from Austria so she also speaks german!! therefore she has it bit easier than Mary.
People from england, us and aus have a lot of trouble with danish.
I have seen videos of Mary and she looks and seems very lovely.
pictures can fool you
Dennism
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Well, for writing English and Mandarin have to be near the top. It depends on whether it is writing/reading or speaking. I found Attic Greek rather hard to read and even harder to pronounce! 
Foreigners having to learn Danish always complain about the pronunciation. We have a lot of soft sounds, especially the soft d can be quite difficult to master for a stranger it makes the "melody" of the language especially difficult. But in all honesty very few foreigners ever learn to speak Danish without a hint of an accent. Even the late Queen Ingrid, (who came as close to mastering the language as anyone God rest her soul) had a vague swedish lilt when pronuncing certain words.
Oh by the way I forgot. I can't see how anyone can think HRH the Crown Princess looks vicious. I think she looks absolutely lovely.
Oh by the way I forgot. I can't see how anyone can think HRH the Crown Princess looks vicious. I think she looks absolutely lovely.
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Dennism
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It must be. I was reading the subtitles for the speeches and I heard them speaking the words and a lot of it did not seem to correspond. So it does indeed appear to be a difficult language to pronounce. "The melody"? So it is like Swedish in this way. Danes sound like they are singing when they are speaking then. Cool. The love the rising and falling of the syllables.
theprincess
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IMO, Queen Margarethe must at the very least like Mary and think she will be able to handle the role of being Denmark's CP. If QM didn't feel that way, Mary would not be CP right know. I have only seen a few of QM's interviews, but she seems like a really warm, down-to-earth, loving person. Therefore, I believe QM has been helping and supporting as she prepares for her new role. However, any kind of really close bond between them will obviously take some time. After seeing the wedding, I am much more convinced that Mary and Frederick are indeed in love and that she makes him happy. And to QM, I think she knows how important that is.
I think HM QM is in a "no-win" situation, if she were to take the attitude to be negative to Crown Princess Mary (CPM).
I'd say all in all, Her Majesty QM, knows that with "noblesse oblige" ... all things considered, CPM's way is eased (substantially) if HM QM makes it easier for her now.
I'd say all in all, Her Majesty QM, knows that with "noblesse oblige" ... all things considered, CPM's way is eased (substantially) if HM QM makes it easier for her now.
QM and especially Prince Henrik have shown in the past that they are more than capable of rejecting some of Fred's girlfriends. Henrik especially was highly critical of some of Fred's girlfriends, so I don't think this is a case of them "settling" for Mary because they are in a no-win-situation.
australian_cornsilk
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Just a further comment about Mary learning Danish.
I am Australian..but grew up in three countries as my father was in the Army..and we travelled because of it. I was lucky I suppose to meet and hear many different people from many different countries..I used to say.."it sounds like music!" to hear their accents!
As a child..I learnt Maori ( native tongue of New Zealand Indiginous people) and as a teen..I learnt some German.
Then..I had a romance with a Norwegian man last year
and I began to learn Norwegian to talk to him..I wanted to learn about his life..his ways..his country and his langauge.
In Australia, we have a very fine education system ( I know because I am a teacher lol)
but we dont have a huge push here in schools to learn a language...generally because we only use English as communication.
As a adult, in my travels I have noted that people often like the Australian accent.
I think its a very different sound to other English speaking countries, and even compared to our close neighbour New Zealand, its definitely unique.
Our vowels are defined sounds, and the 'er' endings on words are soft..the 'r' is very soft...almost an 'a' sound.
English is a widely spoken language, and it comes with different accents from different native speakers, an Englishman sounds nothing like an Australian and an Australian is not close to an American in the way we speak.
I dont quite understand the comments about Marys accent speaking Danish.
EVERYONE who learns English..speaks it with an accent!
When Europeans come here, they all have distinct accents!
But to us, its not a big deal. We understand them and I appreciate how hard it is to learn, yet I am usually very impressed with the skill of Europeans speaking English.
I was in Germany visiting my friends and they commented on my accent.
I was PROUD of it!
I said..you speak English with a German lilt and I guess everyone speaks a new language this way..
For me, I can read German much better than I can speak or understand the spoken word, the same happened again with the Norwegian I was learning.
As a child, I learnt Maori whilst in school there ( working holiday for my parents)
and it seemed so easy to learn, yet the vowels are a little different and they have less consonants in the alphabet.
"Haere Mai" is a Maori greeting and the words are said...."Hiree myy" with the 'r'
Well...thankyou, I am glad you did not fall asleep Theilmann!
OK..now..back to what I was trying to say
Learning language comes much easier to small children, they arent afraid of making mistakes and learn from them when they do. But for someone like the new Crown Princess Mary, making mistakes with her Danish is going to be very criticised, and I dont think we will ever hear her speak it without an "accent".
Should an accent matter? I dont think it should ( unless its sooooo strong you cant even understand a word!). My point is...English is spoken very well by a variety of nationalities, English is English..regardless of the way the accent affects it. Its the words spoken, and the grammatical structure that count.
All language is about COMMUNICATION...thats it, period!
I think accents are interesting, and I love to hear an accent, its an invitation for me to find out something new and interesting about where this person comes from!
I think for Mary, the hardest thing will be learning the grammar, as it is this that separates the good from the not so good.
When you have only learnt English, learning the grammar of another very different language is hard. Its why we Australians can sound a little silly when we use another tongue, because we can sometimes be incorrect how we put the words together! And of course, in Danish..there are even new letters and sounds to learn!
But to end my discussion here, I will make reference to something Mary herself said, ( I will endevour to find the quote) but she made mention of the fact Danish wasnt easy for her..that she worked hard to learn it..and was STILL learning it.
That for her..it was something she had to train her ears to listen to, and her tongue to say..as it is so incredibly different to her mother tongue.
To end, I will simply say, I have always envied those who speak more than ONE language well. Its a talent. Its a skill. Its very clever and its something I am jealous of, because for all of my early meanderings with languages, I have not really ever had the chance to practise them, so..I lost them.
I live in hope of marrying a foreign man who will spend his days teaching me new words and new things, he doesnt even have to be a Prince..just a decent man who is patient and has a penchant for Australian girls 
Good evening to you all!
I am Australian..but grew up in three countries as my father was in the Army..and we travelled because of it. I was lucky I suppose to meet and hear many different people from many different countries..I used to say.."it sounds like music!" to hear their accents!
As a child..I learnt Maori ( native tongue of New Zealand Indiginous people) and as a teen..I learnt some German.
Then..I had a romance with a Norwegian man last year
and I began to learn Norwegian to talk to him..I wanted to learn about his life..his ways..his country and his langauge.
In Australia, we have a very fine education system ( I know because I am a teacher lol)
but we dont have a huge push here in schools to learn a language...generally because we only use English as communication.
As a adult, in my travels I have noted that people often like the Australian accent.
I think its a very different sound to other English speaking countries, and even compared to our close neighbour New Zealand, its definitely unique.
Our vowels are defined sounds, and the 'er' endings on words are soft..the 'r' is very soft...almost an 'a' sound.
English is a widely spoken language, and it comes with different accents from different native speakers, an Englishman sounds nothing like an Australian and an Australian is not close to an American in the way we speak.
I dont quite understand the comments about Marys accent speaking Danish.
EVERYONE who learns English..speaks it with an accent!
When Europeans come here, they all have distinct accents!
But to us, its not a big deal. We understand them and I appreciate how hard it is to learn, yet I am usually very impressed with the skill of Europeans speaking English.
I was in Germany visiting my friends and they commented on my accent.
I was PROUD of it!
I said..you speak English with a German lilt and I guess everyone speaks a new language this way..
For me, I can read German much better than I can speak or understand the spoken word, the same happened again with the Norwegian I was learning.
As a child, I learnt Maori whilst in school there ( working holiday for my parents)
and it seemed so easy to learn, yet the vowels are a little different and they have less consonants in the alphabet.
"Haere Mai" is a Maori greeting and the words are said...."Hiree myy" with the 'r'
Well...thankyou, I am glad you did not fall asleep Theilmann!
OK..now..back to what I was trying to say
Learning language comes much easier to small children, they arent afraid of making mistakes and learn from them when they do. But for someone like the new Crown Princess Mary, making mistakes with her Danish is going to be very criticised, and I dont think we will ever hear her speak it without an "accent".
Should an accent matter? I dont think it should ( unless its sooooo strong you cant even understand a word!). My point is...English is spoken very well by a variety of nationalities, English is English..regardless of the way the accent affects it. Its the words spoken, and the grammatical structure that count.
All language is about COMMUNICATION...thats it, period!
I think accents are interesting, and I love to hear an accent, its an invitation for me to find out something new and interesting about where this person comes from!
I think for Mary, the hardest thing will be learning the grammar, as it is this that separates the good from the not so good.
When you have only learnt English, learning the grammar of another very different language is hard. Its why we Australians can sound a little silly when we use another tongue, because we can sometimes be incorrect how we put the words together! And of course, in Danish..there are even new letters and sounds to learn!
But to end my discussion here, I will make reference to something Mary herself said, ( I will endevour to find the quote) but she made mention of the fact Danish wasnt easy for her..that she worked hard to learn it..and was STILL learning it.
That for her..it was something she had to train her ears to listen to, and her tongue to say..as it is so incredibly different to her mother tongue.
To end, I will simply say, I have always envied those who speak more than ONE language well. Its a talent. Its a skill. Its very clever and its something I am jealous of, because for all of my early meanderings with languages, I have not really ever had the chance to practise them, so..I lost them.
I live in hope of marrying a foreign man who will spend his days teaching me new words and new things, he doesnt even have to be a Prince..just a decent man who is patient and has a penchant for Australian girls
Good evening to you all!
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Thank you for finishing your post, it was worth waiting for. And let me say that having gone through the Danish educational system where we had to learn several foreign languages, I can tell you that the problem with learning foreign languages is mostly that people don't start early enough, and secondly that once you have learnt a language ( or sort of learned to speak it ) you tend to forget to use it. Today I only speak one foreign language, English, because I neglected the others that I have learned over the years. (German,French,Russian) And I sort of regret it to be perfectly honest.
But good luck with finding the language-instructor of your dreams.
But good luck with finding the language-instructor of your dreams.
australian_cornsilk
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Hello again Theilmann,
greetings to you..and you speak great English..sigh....I wish I could say I spoke something great that wasnt my first language!!
And yes..I also agree with you, starting young is important, and of course being able to use it.
And thanks for the good wishes about finding the dream language instructor!
Perhaps now the wedding will encourage even more Europeans to come here, and I could meet someone delicious at the SLIP INN! HAHA Cheers! SKAL to you! ( I cant do that special 'a'...my keyboard only speaks English like me!) sorry!
greetings to you..and you speak great English..sigh....I wish I could say I spoke something great that wasnt my first language!!
And yes..I also agree with you, starting young is important, and of course being able to use it.
And thanks for the good wishes about finding the dream language instructor!
Perhaps now the wedding will encourage even more Europeans to come here, and I could meet someone delicious at the SLIP INN! HAHA Cheers! SKAL to you! ( I cant do that special 'a'...my keyboard only speaks English like me!) sorry!
I can't really see that HM the Queen had any choice in the matter. She knew that the CP would chose whom ever he wanted (as he has stated on several occasions) and I'm sure she would be willing to accept any woman the CP had chosen. (As long as they weren't connected to any scandals, like some of the women who have married in to the various royal families ) I'm sure that HM the Queen is far to smart to risk "rocking the boat", just because she might not have liked the woman the CP wanted to marry.
But in any case I think it is quite obvious that they all get along perfectly, and I don't think that the relationship between HM the Queen and Princess Alexandra is any less deep than the relationship she has with the Crown Princess.
) I'm sure that HM the Queen is far to smart to risk "rocking the boat", just because she might not have liked the woman the CP wanted to marry.But in any case I think it is quite obvious that they all get along perfectly, and I don't think that the relationship between HM the Queen and Princess Alexandra is any less deep than the relationship she has with the Crown Princess.
montecarlo
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May 17, 2004 - The Mercury Australia
Written By: Paul Mulvey
Mary Sends Exports Soaring
Add Mary Donaldson to the list of profitable Australian exports. By marrying into Denmark's 1000-year-old monarchy, the Tasmanian law graduate who dabbled in advertising and real estate has become a one-person Australian marketing machine. In the three years from the time her relationship with Crown Prince Frederik was first revealed in the Danish press to Friday's stunning wedding in Copenhagen, Australian exports to Denmark have risen 50 per cent.
Tasmanian exporters in particular have tapped into the Danish market. Australia's trade commissioner in Denmark, Flemming Larsen, is expecting ever further growth. "In the last three years, exports from Australia to Denmark have gone from $105 million to $160 million," Mr Larsen said."I wouldn't be surprised if we see another $50 million in growth in the next year and the total jump to $250 million in a couple of years." A dramatically improved profile of Australia brings with it a much greater awareness of our products.
Mr Larsen said wine was one of the best examples, with Tasmanian wine going from sales of 1000 cases a year in Denmark to 12,000. Tasmanian companies that have had export success in the past six months include Tamar Ridge, Domaine A, Stefano Lubiano and Island Olive Grove. Meadowbank, Moorilla Estate and Pipers Brook are also thriving on the publicity. Australian arts and craft, homeware and fashion labels are booming in Denmark. And there are hefty sales from simple products such as Tim Tams, Cherry Ripes, Vegemite and Driza-Bone. Mr Larsen plans an annual Australian trade campaign in Denmark, probably around the wedding anniversary to again exploit Mary's profile.
Written By: Paul Mulvey
Mary Sends Exports Soaring
Add Mary Donaldson to the list of profitable Australian exports. By marrying into Denmark's 1000-year-old monarchy, the Tasmanian law graduate who dabbled in advertising and real estate has become a one-person Australian marketing machine. In the three years from the time her relationship with Crown Prince Frederik was first revealed in the Danish press to Friday's stunning wedding in Copenhagen, Australian exports to Denmark have risen 50 per cent.
Tasmanian exporters in particular have tapped into the Danish market. Australia's trade commissioner in Denmark, Flemming Larsen, is expecting ever further growth. "In the last three years, exports from Australia to Denmark have gone from $105 million to $160 million," Mr Larsen said."I wouldn't be surprised if we see another $50 million in growth in the next year and the total jump to $250 million in a couple of years." A dramatically improved profile of Australia brings with it a much greater awareness of our products.
Mr Larsen said wine was one of the best examples, with Tasmanian wine going from sales of 1000 cases a year in Denmark to 12,000. Tasmanian companies that have had export success in the past six months include Tamar Ridge, Domaine A, Stefano Lubiano and Island Olive Grove. Meadowbank, Moorilla Estate and Pipers Brook are also thriving on the publicity. Australian arts and craft, homeware and fashion labels are booming in Denmark. And there are hefty sales from simple products such as Tim Tams, Cherry Ripes, Vegemite and Driza-Bone. Mr Larsen plans an annual Australian trade campaign in Denmark, probably around the wedding anniversary to again exploit Mary's profile.
I don't think HM the Queen would ever want to make HRH the Crown Prince's life miserable, even if she didn't like his bride. Not only does she love him, but she also knows full well that the future of the Danish Monarchy rests solely on his shoulders.... In any case I believe it to be a moot point, as I think it is obvious that there are warm feelings between HM the Queen and HRH the Crown Princess.
Topsy-Turvy
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I guess the fastest way to loose a royal boyfriend is to talk about the relationship. Mum's the word.
Well that's great for Australia, but I'm not eating Kangaroo no matter what!
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MoonlightRhapsody
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Mary has a pretty nice monogram of her own.
Mary and Frederick's Monograms
Frederick's monogram will appear first then wait for a few seconds for Mary's.
Mary and Frederick's Monograms
Frederick's monogram will appear first then wait for a few seconds for Mary's.
montecarlo
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May 18, 2004 - TV 2
Crown Princess' Father Starts Work in Aarhus
Math Professor John D. Donaldson, father of Crown Princess Mary, yesterday started work as guest lecturer at Aarhus University. At a press meeting today he said that he does not know where Frederik and Mary have gone for their honeymoon. He told that the period up till the wedding was hard. But he and his family have taken the Danes to their hearts, and he also believes the reverse to have happened. The period was hard because of the many arrangements with a lot of food and other goods. "The biggest moment was when I walked my daughter up the aisle," John Donaldson said at the press meeting. At the same time, he revealed that he is trying to learn the Danish language via the Internet because he feels it an obligation after he and the rest of his family have gotten a close relationship to Denmark. The Professor also did not completely reject the idea of moving to Denmark at a later point.
Crown Princess' Father Starts Work in Aarhus
Math Professor John D. Donaldson, father of Crown Princess Mary, yesterday started work as guest lecturer at Aarhus University. At a press meeting today he said that he does not know where Frederik and Mary have gone for their honeymoon. He told that the period up till the wedding was hard. But he and his family have taken the Danes to their hearts, and he also believes the reverse to have happened. The period was hard because of the many arrangements with a lot of food and other goods. "The biggest moment was when I walked my daughter up the aisle," John Donaldson said at the press meeting. At the same time, he revealed that he is trying to learn the Danish language via the Internet because he feels it an obligation after he and the rest of his family have gotten a close relationship to Denmark. The Professor also did not completely reject the idea of moving to Denmark at a later point.
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