How Princess Mary and her family will celebrate Christmas

Crown Princess Mary will celebrate Christmas in Denmark this year in a traditional family affair.

Mary, 47, and husband Crown Prince Frederik, 51, are spending the festive season with the rest of the Danish royals at Marselisborg Castle, in Aarhus, north-west of Copenhagen.

The Australian-born royal will travel to Aarhus late next week with Frederik and their four children Prince Christian, 14, Princess Isabella, 12, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, eight.

In 2015 and 2017, they had Christmas in Australia with Mary's relatives.

The Danish royals have spent Christmas at Marselisborg since Queen Margrethe's ascension to the throne in 1972. Photos taken over the years at the castle show it shrouded in snow, just like a fairy tale.

Margrethe and the Crown Prince family will be joined by Prince Frederik's brother, Prince Joachim and his wife Princess Marie and their two children, Prince Henrik, 10, and Princess Athena, seven.

Prince Joachim's sons from his first marriage, Prince Nicolai, 20, and Prince Felix, 17, will be with their mother, Alexandra, this year.

The Danish Queen will take up residence at Marselisborg from December 20 after travelling by train from Copenhagen in the royal carriage. The castle is one of two personally owned by Margrethe after her father, King Frederik IX, gave it as a wedding present when she married the late Prince Henrik, in 1967.

On Christmas Eve the royals attend mass at Aarhus Cathedral and again on Christmas morning.

Christmas Day includes a mix of traditional Danish and English foods. Queen Margrethe is distantly related to the British royals through her mother, Ingrid, who was a descendant of Queen Victoria's son Arthur.

"I think we will do what we have done always," Queen Margrethe said, of her family's celebrations.

"Our Christmas dinner and such will still be one with risengrød [Danish rice pudding] and goose, and then we also have an English plum pudding, which my mother taught me to eat, and which I enjoy very much."

Much like the British royals with Christmas trees scattered throughout the royal residences, the Danish royals ensure theirs are decorated to perfection.

The palace recently shared a video of Princess Mary and her children decorating a tree inside the horse stables at Christiansborg Palace, in Copenhagen. They then sat down to afternoon tea before being interrupted by the hungry horses. In 2018, Princess Mary's tree featured kangaroo and joey ornament in a sweet nod to her Australian heritage.

Christmas is an important time for the Danish royals, especially Queen Margrethe, who has taken charge of the royal family's Advent Calendar since 2016.

It gives a rare look at spaces within the royal family's residences around Denmark, often revealing rooms and areas normally off-limits to the public.

This year's theme follows the adventures of the nisse which, in Danish and Scandinavian folklore, is similar to a gnome or an elf. The elves will explore "secret, unknown and adventurous nooks and crannies of the royal castles" while also delving into the family's archive of Christmas decorations that have been kept by Margrethe and her ancestors throughout the centuries.

The Danish royals will remain at Marselisborg Castle until December 29 when they return to Copenhagen for New Year's Eve, which is celebrated over several days with a number of white-tie balls inside Amalienborg Palace.