Why Scotland and Australia are fighting over Princess Mary: both countries claim the future Danish queen as ‘their own queen’ after Margrethe’s abdication
Australians and Scots are fighting over the true legacy of Crown Princess Mary after it was announced she will become Queen of Denmark.
Both Australian and Scottish headlines proudly claim ownership of the future Danish queen and a heated debate rages online between the two countries.
British publication The Telegraph headlined an article: ‘How a Scot became Queen of Denmark’, while the Australian referred to the popular royal family as ‘Mary, our Flannie Queen’.
And thousands of Australians were up in arms over many similar headlines calling Australian-born Mary the ‘Queen of Scotland’.
‘The UK Daily Telegraph claims our Princess Mary as a Scot. Absolutely outrageous. Even though we do it all the time with New Zealanders,” one Australian fan wrote on X.
A heated debate has erupted between Australians and Scots over Princess Mary’s legacy after it was announced she will become Queen of Denmark on January 14.
‘It’s such an overreach of the British press (which often seems to act as if Scotland is this strange, faraway country). Mary never called herself Scottish,” wrote another.
“She grew up in Tasmania, Australia’s Scotland,” a third joked, while another called the Scots’ claim about Mary “blasphemy.”
“I guess with a name like Donaldson that’s a reasonable claim,” a fourth commented.
Scottish-Australian journalist Catriona Stewart of the British Herald told the newspaper ABC News Breakfastthe Scots have a strong claim on Princess Mary.
“She’s as much ours as she is yours, I’m afraid,” she said.
Mary’s parents emigrated from Scotland to Tasmania before she was born, meaning she had both British and Australian citizenship.
Stewart also noted that Mary’s father, John Donaldson, wore a kilt as he walked her down the aisle at her wedding, to represent his strong Scottish roots.
During his father-of-the-bride speech at the reception, he spoke about the strong ties between his homeland and Scandinavia.
Mary’s parents emigrated from Scotland to Tasmania before she was born. Her father John Donaldson (left) wore a kilt to her wedding to represent his Scottish roots
“You’re arguing,” Catriona laughed, before adding that Mary briefly lived in Scotland for three months in her twenties.
Although Mary never made an official visit to Scotland during her royal career, the Scottish Foreign Secretary, Angus Robertson, offered her an open invitation to her family home.
“It is extremely welcome that Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, will bring her strong Scottish connections with her when she becomes Queen of Denmark,” he said. The times.
“She and Prince Frederik will be welcomed with open arms after the coronation.”
Princess Mary was born and raised in Hobart and still has a fairly strong Australian accent.
Her children Prince Christian, 18, Princess Isabella, 16, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, both 12, have even joked about the Australian tone she has when speaking Danish.
Mary’s father John and mother Henrietta, who died in 1997, are both Scottish, as is her grandfather, Captain Peter Donaldson.
The princess’s parents, along with her paternal grandparents, all emigrated to Australia in the early 1960s, ten years before she was born.
Queen Margrethe II used her annual New Year’s Eve speech on Sunday to announce that she would abdicate the throne, making Prince Frederik her successor and Mary the queen consort on January 14.