Three days after Danish Queen Margrethe II's dramatic announcement that she would abdicate the throne in favor of her son, tempers between Crown Prince Frederik and his wife, Princess Mary, reportedly appeared to be at “freezing point.”
Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet cast doubt on the status of the couple's relationship in a terse report on their appearance at a New Year's reception on Wednesday morning. It was her first public appearance since the abdication bombshell dropped.
Her astute analysis of the couple's appearance began with the biting suggestion that they might have been served cold coffee – Denmark has one of the highest coffee consumption levels in the world and the frigid state's citizens are notorious for being intolerant of subpar cups.
Ekstra Bladet continued: “In any case, the future royal couple didn't exactly look like anyone enjoying themselves when they arrived at Christiansborg Palace on Wednesday morning.
“As the doors opened and Frederik and Mary had to stroll past the press, there was an exchange between the two that didn't exactly look like they were wishing each other good luck… The mood was at freezing point.”
The newspaper used the expression “stram ud i betrækket,” which translates to “tight in the envelope,” to describe Maria’s behavior. In Danish, this expression describes a person who is very strict and inflexible, like a blanket stretched tightly over an object.
Ekstra Bladet's commentary said that Mary did not look “like someone who would be delighted to soon be called Denmark's Queen” and that Prince Frederik was also unable to muster a “broad smile” at the reception.
The couple's somber appearance is likely to reignite rumors that their relationship is in trouble. The first rumors started when Frederik was photographed on a night out in Spain with a glamorous Mexican socialite.
“It was really a big surprise when she announced she was stepping down and it's hard for people not to connect that with the recent problems.”
— Danish aristocrat
There was strong speculation that Margrethe, 83, announced her abdication on New Year's Eve to save Frederik and Mary's marriage. The couple met in 2000 and married in 2004. Mary is a middle-class Australian native.
A Danish aristocrat familiar with the royal family told The Daily Beast this week: “It’s always been there [Margrethe] would continue like this, if not forever, then certainly for many more years. So it really came as a big surprise when she announced she was stepping down, and it's hard for people not to connect that with the recent problems.”
British royal journalist Phil Dampier told the Chron: “I think Margrethe was perhaps afraid that her marriage was in trouble and that's why she had to act.” The Queen always believed that Mary was a fantastic addition to the royal family and if she had thought she would leave, it would have been a disaster. She now hopes that Frederik and Mary will resolve any differences and work together as the new king and queen.”