Queen Mary, Princess Amalia and Zara Tindall unite for special opening ceremony

Royal watchers were delighted to see a number of European royals all attend the one event, with one notable absence.

Queen Mary of Denmark was spotted in the VIP box at the equestrian world championships opening ceremony in Aachen, Germany on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEST).

The Australian-born royal was seen alongside the future queen of the Netherlands, Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange (or Princess Amalia as she’s more commonly known).

The pair showed their easy rapport as Mary, 54, and Amalia, 22, chatted and laughed side-by-side, along with Princess Elena of Spain - King Felipe’s sister - next to them.

Princess Amalia made her entrance into Main Stadium in the Crème Calèche royal carriage, which dates back to 1898.

The young royal was spotted wearing a green and white striped maxi dress, which was accessorised with both her mum Queen Maxima’s prized emerald and diamond drop earrings, as well as her Elie Saab Petit Wave clutch.

Queen Mary wore a tan and white polka dot silk halterneck top and skirt combo by Diane von Furstenberg, which the royal first wore in September 2018 and was most recently seen during her solo visit to Brazil in 2024.

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The Danish Queen was also joined by her mother-in-law’s sister, Princess Benedikte of Denmark, who is the royal patron for the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses.

Not far from them was King Charles’ niece Zara Tindall, who is an equestrian Olympic medallist herself and exactly 20 years ago (then Zara Phillips) won the gold in the individual title at the FEI World Championships, when they were last held in Aachen.

Tindall, who also took part in a carriage procession during the opening ceremony, appeared to be the solo attendee from the British royal family.

This is despite her mum, Princess Anne, also representing Team GB in a three-day equestrian event at the 1976 Olympics, as well as being the former president of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

Instead, Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence are on an annual cruise visiting British lighthouses.

But there were plenty of celebrities to pad out the royal line up.

This included some unexpected names, such as German singer Lou Bega, who is best known for the hit Mambo No. 5.

Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick and his wife Amy Jackson were also in attendance at opening ceremony event.

The FEI World Championships run until August 18 and include contests across all six equestrian disciplines - dressage, eventing, driving, para-dressage, show jumping, and vaulting.