Queen Mary and King Frederik to make first official state visit to Australia since change of throne, palace confirms

Queen Mary and King Frederik of Denmark will visit Australia from March 14 to 19, the Royal House has announced.

It will be the King and Queen's first official joint tour of Australia in 13 years and their first since Frederik became monarch two years ago following his mother's abdication.

The state visit will be an historic moment for Australia, marking the first time a reigning Australian-born queen has visited here in an official capacity.

More details of their itinerary will be announced in due course.

In a statement the palace said: "The state visit will further develop the already strong relations between Australia and Denmark, both culturally, economically and in foreign policy".

"A strengthened partnership with Australia is particularly important at a time when geopolitical upheavals have economic and security policy consequences that bind developments in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region together.

"Building on the strategic partnership that was entered into between Australia and Denmark in 2023, the state visit will strengthen cooperation in a wide range of areas, including green transition and economic security."

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The palace statement continued: "Green transition will be a focus area during the visit".

Fifty-five Danish companies travelling with the contingent are participating in the official business promotion, Partnering for a Green, Secure and Sustainable Tomorrow.

"It is intended to promote cooperation within renewable energy and energy-efficient urban development.

"Finally, Denmark and Australia share an interest in nature and cultural conservation, and nature and cultural elements will be included as part of the state visit."

Confirmation from the Royal House comes just over a week after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a Sydney radio station the Danish royals would soon tour the country.

"Queen Mary is coming here," Albanese told KISS FM.

"It's quite exciting. Queen Mary and King Frederik."

Frederik and Mary – as Crown Prince and Crown Princess – were last here in October, 2013, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House, designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon. The five-day tour was limited to Sydney and the Blue Mountains.

In 2011, Mary and Frederik came to Australia for the first time as a family of six bringing along all of their children. The seven-day visit included stops in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Broken Hill.

Queen Mary was last in Australia, in an official capacity, for a one-day solo visit on April 28, 2023.

The Tasmanian-born royal flew in for a whirlwind engagement, riding a bike through Sydney's CBD on a visit focused on sustainability and green energy.

Much of Queen Mary's work since marrying into Denmark's royal family has focused on sustainability, women and children's health, helping survivors of domestic violence and those experiencing loneliness and social isolation.

Mary, who will celebrate her 54th birthday on February 5, has returned to Australia twice since her mother-in-law Queen Margrethe II's abdication

Both visits were private and came with little fanfare.

In February 2025, Queen Mary and King Frederik slipped into Tasmania quietly with three of their four children. Mary was photographed shopping at Hobart's popular Salamanca Markets.

Months before, in October 2024, the queen travelled to Australia with her youngest daughter Princess Josephine, who was bridesmaid at Mary's niece's wedding in Tasmania. Mary and Josephine were photographed in Sydney doing the popular Bondi to Bronte walk before flying back to Copenhagen.

She has travelled here on other private holidays in 2021, 2017, 2015, 2010 and in 2006.

Mary Donaldson, as she was once known, married the heir to Denmark's throne on May 14, 2004 in a fairy tale wedding at Copenhagen Cathedral, also known as the Church of Our Lady.

They had met in 2000 at the Slip Inn pub during the Sydney Olympics.

Mary and Frederik's first visit to Australia after the royal wedding took place in February and March of 2005.

That visit has been their largest of Australia to date, spanning 13 days, and included engagements in New South Wales, Victoria, Canberra and Mary's former hometown of Hobart.

She and Frederik returned again in 2008, this time with Prince Christian, who was then nearly three, and their daughter Princess Isabella, who was 14 months.

Crown Prince Christian, as he is now known following his father's accession, is now 20 and is currently doing military service. He will serve with the Royal Life Guards from June.

Princess Isabella is 18 and is due to graduate high school later this year. Twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine turned 15 in January.

The royal family have two main residences in Denmark: Frederik VIII's Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen and Chancellery House within Fredensborg Palace, north of the capital.

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