Queen Mary and King Frederik watch sunset at Uluru as they begin Australian tour

Queen Mary and King Frederik X began their Australian tour by watching the sunset at Uluru on Saturday evening.

It has become a rite of passage of sorts for royals visiting Australia, with Prince William and Catherine, as well as Princess Diana and then-Prince Charles, having done the same during past tours Down Under.

The Danish King and Queen arrived in the Northern Territory on Saturday, the first stop on their six-day state visit which will end next week in Mary's former hometown, Hobart.

The royal couple flew in from Denmark on Friday, arriving in Perth where they stayed at Government House before catching a flight to the Northern Territory on Saturday afternoon.

King Frederik and Queen Mary were welcomed to Australia by Indigenous elders at the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park Cultural Centre where they met students working in its café.

Kulata Academy Café is part of the National Indigenous Training Academy, which offers paid internships and traineeships in tourism and hospitality for Indigenous young people from across Australia.

They then moved into position to watch the sunset over Uluru, accompanied by elders from the Aṉangu people – the traditional owners of the site.

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Queen Mary and King Frederik posed for photographs as the sun set over Uluru, the 348-metre national landmark that is arguably Australia's most famous natural wonders.

There was a little bit of rain but it didn't dampen the King and Queen's enthusiasm to be at Uluru.

In 1983, Princess Diana and Prince Charles visited the site as part of their tour of Australia and in 2014, the current Prince and Princess of Wales did the same.

Saturday's stop in Uluru was King Frederik and Queen Mary's first time at the landmark.

Mary wore a beige linen skirt and a brown button-down shirt and tan flat shoes. She accessorised with an Akubra hat and jewels from Dulong, plus her Cartier watch.

She used a fan in the heat and a jacket when light drizzle moved in.

On Sunday morning, the Danish royals will visit the Muṯitjulu Waterhole at sunrise, one of the few permanent water sources around Uluṟu.

The site and surrounding landscape hold deep cultural and spiritual significance for Aṉangu people.

King Frederik and Queen Mary are in Australia for the first time as King and Queen and it is their first official joint visit in 13 years.

They have engagements in Canberra on Sunday and Monday, before visiting Melbourne and Hobart.

The state visit is a history-making event aimed at forging closer ties between both countries.

That Australia was chosen for King Frederik and Queen Mary's first state visit outside of Europe is a major indication of the enduring affection, and connection, the Tasmanian-born royal has for her birth country.

King Frederik and Queen Mary are being accompanied by a delegation of 55 Danish businesses as the Australian tour has a specific focus on the green transition and economic security. The contingent is participating in the official business promotion, Partnering for a Green, Secure and Sustainable Tomorrow.

Denmark and Australia's shared interest in nature and cultural conservation will also form part of the state visit.

This will be King Frederik and Queen Mary's first and only state visit to Australia.

According to Danish protocol, a country can only receive one state visit from a monarch during their reign. The last Danish state visit was in 1987, when Frederik's mother, Margrethe II, was queen.

The official program will include a state banquet, hosted by the Governor General, on Sunday night in Canberra.

The formal event will see female guests, including Queen Mary, wear gowns and their finest jewels. Mary is likely to wear a tiara but it won't be one taken from the Crown Jewels as they are forbidden to leave Denmark.

The first opportunity for members of the public to meet the King and Queen will be on Monday morning when they visit the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

The King and Queen have other engagements in the capital before they move to Melbourne and later, Hobart.

More details of their itinerary will be shared soon.

Following the tour, Frederik and Mary are likely to spend some time with the Queen's Australian relatives in Tasmania.

King Frederik and Queen Mary's children – Crown Prince Christian, 20, Princess Isabella, 18, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, 15, – have not made the journey to Australia this time.

The family of five last visited Australia together in 2022 for a private holiday.

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Queen Mary was last in Australia, on official business, for a one-day solo visit on April 28, 2023, while she was still Crown Princess.

She and her husband have had four previous official visits to Australia: in 2013, 2011, 2008 and in 2005.

But Mary and her family have quietly travelled Down Under for private family holidays on at least seven other occasions, including most recently in February, 2025, when the Queen was spotted shopping at Hobart's Salamanca Markets.

Mary and Frederik married in May, 2004, after meeting at the Slip Inn pub during the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Before arriving in Australia in Friday, the King and Queen shared a personal message on the Danish Royal House's official Instagram page.

"We have been enormously looking forward to the reunion with Australia and the whole country's population," the King and Queen said.

"A lot has happened since we met here more than 25 years ago!"

The message was accompanied by two photos of Mary and Frederik, taken in Hobart 25 years ago.

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