Queen Mary comes under fire over a seemingly innocent act at the Paris Olympics

Fraud and corruption experts have slammed Queen Mary after she took her friends to the Paris Olympics with free tickets.

Queen Mary and King Frederik received four tickets for the Games in Paris from the International Olympic Committee, which experts say is ‘fine’.

But Jesper Olsen, chairman of Transparency International, an organization that combats bribery and corruption, draws a line here.

He says it is not ideal that the Queen uses the two extra passes to get her friends Malou Skeel and Helle Trolle to the competitions.

He claimed the passes should have been used for palace staff or returned to the IOC.

This line of thinking appears to be in line with the palace’s policy, which states that it cannot accept gifts from private companies.

“When they (the spare tickets) are given to friends, Queen Mary ceases to operate. The tickets become gifts,” he said.

The Royal House previously announced that the Queen’s visit to the Olympic Games was mainly private.

Queen Mary is depicted with Helle Trolle (right)

Therefore, it was not on the official palace calendar, but she was there to congratulate the Danish dressage riders when they won team silver.

According to communications expert Anna Thygesen, this gave her visit to Paris a ‘more official’ atmosphere.

The 52-year-old royal rider performed with friends at the Dressage Individual Grand Prix Freestyle at the Palace of Versailles in France.

Unfortunately for Mary, Denmark missed out on the medals, finishing in fifth place. Germany took both gold and silver, and Great Britain finished in third place.

King Frederick and Queen Mary pictured together at the opening ceremony – although only the King was listed as being present at the games for official purposes

The royal family appeared deeply captivated as she watched the event with her friend Trolle, a Danish textile designer.

She was also photographed meeting Danish rider Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour. The women beamed as they posed for a photo with Trolle.

The Australian-born Queen also stopped by to congratulate the Australian relay team as they won gold in the pool.