Queen Mary of Denmark, 52, shares sweet photo with her father John Donaldson to mark her first birthday on the throne – after photos of King Frederik’s night out with a Mexican socialite rocked the monarchy

Queen Mary of Denmark has shared a sweet photo with her father John Donaldson to mark her 52nd birthday – after photos of King Frederik’s night out with a Mexican socialite rocked the monarchy.

The mother of four, who is originally from Australia, is celebrating her first birthday since becoming Queen Consort earlier this year.

To mark the occasion, the royal shared a photo with her father, 82, that her 13-year-old son Prince Vincent took during a family trip to Australia in December.

Late last year, King Frederik, 55, and Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova, 47, were pictured taking a walk in a park, going to an art exhibition and having a meal while watching flamenco.

The images – which sent shockwaves through the Institute – were first published by Spanish magazine Lecturas in November 2023, prompting the mother-of-two to deny ‘malicious’ rumors about her friendship with the royal family.

In the recently released photo with her father, Mary is dressed casually in a plain black V-neck top and jeans, and carries a tan crossbody bag.

For her off-duty look, the royal wore a pair of gold hoop earrings and two layered personalized necklaces.

Mary styled her long brown hair into a single braid and was seen wearing black Wayfarer sunglasses.

The royal wore minimal makeup for her family outing and opted for a rosy pink lipstick.

In the heartwarming photo, Mary is seen smiling next to her former university lecturer father, who wore a light blue sweater over a checked shirt.

The Royal House captioned the image: ‘Her Majesty the Queen has a birthday and turns 52 today.

‘On this occasion, the Queen has chosen an image of a special moment with her father from her recent trip to Australia in December.

‘His Royal Highness Prince Vincent is the photographer behind it.’

In January, a royal expert claimed that Queen Margrethe abdicated Denmark as a form of ‘damage control’ in the wake of the scandal and to prevent ‘Mary from divorcing Frederik’ over the ‘affair’ rumours.

Royal reporter Kenth G. Madsen argued that Mary’s mother-in-law, Queen Margrethe, had “no choice” but to abdicate – becoming the first Danish monarch in 900 years to do so.

Speaking to FEMAIL, the royal reporter claimed: ‘It can be difficult to forgive perceived infidelity in a relationship unless the price for turning a blind eye is high enough.

‘Against the background of the revelation of Frederick’s visit to Madrid and the documentation of the meeting with Genoveva Casanova, it is reasonable to assume that Queen Margrethe found the time to throw out a lifeline, before the relationship between the crown prince couple was completely devastated by the scandal.

‘The queen actually had no other choice: in a strategic move, the monarch managed to take the focus off the rumors about the affair and at the same time give Mary the hyper-rare status of queen.

‘A royal divorce scandal of that magnitude could destroy the strongest royal family forever.

‘The risk that the popularity and reputation that the Queen has built up in her 52 years as monarch could be forever destroyed if she had not limited the damage.’

Earlier this year, the Royal Household’s head of communications confirmed to FEMAIL that John Donaldson would not travel to Denmark to take his daughter’s throne due to his age and health.

After Mary married King Frederick in May 2004, her father John Donaldson and stepmother Susan Moody moved to Denmark for a number of years to support her in her new life.

The Crown Princess’s mother, Henrietta Donaldson, died of a heart condition in 1997 when Mary was just 25 years old.

Mary’s parents emigrated from Scotland to Tasmania before she was born, meaning she had both British and Australian citizenship.

John first taught mathematics before being appointed professor and teaching at universities such as Oxford, Montreal and Houston.

King Frederick and Queen Mary of Denmark met at the Slip Inn pub in Sydney in 2000 when the royal family, then 32, traveled to Australia to support the Danish sailing team at the Olympics.

Mary – who worked in advertising – probably had no idea that the handsome European tourist she had been chatting with for hours was actually the future King of Denmark.

After meeting in the pub, then 32-year-old Fred asked Mary for her phone number and a romance blossomed.

‘The first time we met, we shook hands. I didn’t know he was the prince of Denmark. Half an hour later someone came up to me and said, ‘Do you know who these people are?’ Mary revealed in an interview about the meeting with the heir to the Danish throne.

They maintained a long-distance relationship for a year, with Frederik taking secret trips Down Under before Mary moved to Denmark in 2001 to study the Danish language at Studieskolen in Copenhagen.

In early 2003, Frederick’s mother, Queen Margrethe, publicly acknowledged the relationship and the couple announced their engagement at Amalienborg Castle later that year, on October 8.

Frederik and Mary married on May 14, 2004 at Copenhagen Cathedral, with the newly minted Crown Princess opting for a beautiful dress by Danish designer Uffer Frank and a veil first used by Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden in 1905.

In a nod to her heritage, Mary carried a bouquet of Australian snow gum eucalyptus, interspersed with flowers from the palace garden.

At the altar, Frederik announced: ‘From today, Mary is mine and I am hers. I love her, and I will protect her with all my love.”

After his daughter’s marriage, John Donaldson was given a coat of arms by the Danish royal family to signify his social elevation.

It features an eagle and a boat symbolizing their Scottish heritage, along with a lion from the Scottish coat of arms which, by a happy coincidence, also appears in the heraldic coat of arms of Tasmania.

Their first child, Prince Christian Valdemar Henri John, was born on October 15, 2005; Princess Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe followed on April 21, 2007.

Nearly four years later, Mary and Frederik welcomed twins, Princess Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda and Prince Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander, at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen on January 8, 2011.

The family has returned to Mary’s native Australia many times, visiting famous landmarks in Sydney, Canberra and the Northern Territory and even spending Christmas Down Under.