A royal insider has claimed Queen Mary and Queen Margrethe II have clashed over Prince Christian’s engagement plans.
The Crown Prince of Denmark has been in a relationship with Danish-born University of Sydney alumni Emma Nygaard Fritzen for two years, but the royal’s mother hopes her son will wait before popping the question.
Mary and Margrethe have two very different opinions on when Christian and Emma, who have largely kept their relationship out of the spotlight, should get engaged.
“Margrethe is absolutely encouraging of the couple getting formally engaged and thinks Emma, with a bit of monarch training, will become a wonderful Queen for Denmark,” a source told New Idea.
“Mary’s convinced they’re both still too young and would like them to experience more of the world before tying themselves to a royal marriage.”
The Australian-born Queen hopes her son waits before making such a huge decision about his future – a significantly different view from Margrethe.
“She was 31 when she got engaged, while Margrethe was 26, so they both have their own personal experience they believe to be superior; however, Margrethe thinks it would be a mistake to let Christian sow his wild oats before settling down, like she did with his father,” the source added.
The reported disagreement comes after Margrethe was rushed to hospital earlier this year after suffering a heart attack.
The Queen, who abdicated in 2024 due to her ill health, was admitted to Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen’s main hospital, in May, after experiencing chest pains.
At the time, the Royal House of Denmark confirmed the Queen was “tired, but in good spirits”.
Margrethe was the country’s longest-reigning monarch before her abdication.
She assumed the throne in 1972, at the age of 31, and reigned for 52 years before handing the crown to her son, King Frederik X.
After undergoing major back surgery in 2023, the Queen said her ailing health was part of the reason she gave up the throne.
“The surgery naturally gave rise to thinking about the future – whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation,” the Queen said in her New Year’s Eve 2023 address.
“I have decided that now is the right time. On 14 January 2024 – 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father – I will step down as queen of Denmark.”
Mary, who was born in Tasmania, met Frederik in Sydney’s Slip Inn pub in 2000. They married in 2004 and have four children: Prince Christian, 20, Princess Isabella, 19, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, 15.