The Duchess of Cambridge has looked delighted to be back in the company of the Danish royal family – and particularly Crown Princess Mary – during her whistlestop two-day visit to Copenhagen this week.
This morning saw Kate Middleton officially welcomed to Denmark by Queen Margrethe II and Australian-born Crown Princess Mary at Christian IX’s Palace, and from the official photos taken, it’s clear that the English royal is very much at ease with her Danish counterparts.
Indeed, the Duchess, 40, and Crown Princess Mary, 50, both wearing their long brunette locks flowing and opting for smart coat dresses – Kate wearing a £3,000 Catherine Walker coat dress while Mary chose a chic white number worn on previous outings – might have been mistaken for sisters.
The pair, neither of whom were born into royal life and first met in 2011, looked entirely comfortable in each other’s company as they strolled in the sunshine outside the official royal palace in the Danish capital, chatting as they headed to a private lunch at Amalienborg Castle in Copenhagen.
Royal kinship: Looking remarkably similar in regal coats and with their brunette locks flowing, the Duchess of Cambridge, 40, and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, 50, posed for official photos at Christian IX’s Palace in Copenhagen today
At ease: The pair, neither of whom were born into royal life, looked entirely comfortable in each other’s company as they strolled in the sunshine outside the official royal palace in the Danish capital
Earlier Kate has posed alongside Queen Margrethe II and Crown Princess Mary inside the palace, on the second day of her two-day visit to Denmark with The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood
Both women have excelled in the roles they’ve been given since marrying into their respective royal families. Their fashion sense has often aligned too as they’ve been spotted frequently in similar stylish outfits. While Kate Middleton donned a £3,000 Catherine Walker coat dress, her Danish counterpart opted for a chic white coat with frayed hem that she’s worn for a previous engagement
The royal peers first met in 2011 when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made an official visit to the country – and they have forged a strong friendship in the years since (Pictured waving at the crowds today on their way to a private lunch at Amalienborg Castle in Copenhagen)
Like Kate, the Danish royal, 50, wasn’t born into royal life. Crown Princess Mary was raised as Mary Elizabeth Donaldson and came from a very different place to her husband, Crown Prince Frederik
The two women could be seen waving to royal fans who had gathered as they walked across the Amalienborg Courtyard in Copenhagen on Wednesday
In her stride: Kate looked in confident mood as she stood alongside the European royals this morning on her short trip to Denmark
In marriage, both women have thrown themselves wholeheartedly into their demanding roles, transforming from the cheerful, outdoorsy young women they once were into the elegant and thoughtful spear-carriers of their nation’s monarchies.
Doting mothers, while the Duchess of Cambridge is mother to Prince George, eight, Princess Charlotte, six, and Prince Louis, three, Crown Princess Mary has four children: Prince Christian, born in October 2005, Princess Isabella, born in April 2007, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, born in January 2011.
While Kate Middleton’s middle-class Home Counties upbringing was not completely unlike that of Prince William — boarding school, skiing holidays, university at St Andrews — the Princess, as the former Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, came from a very different place to her husband, Crown Prince Frederik.
Born to a Scottish mathematics professor and his wife on the small island of Tasmania in Australia, thousands of miles from the spectacular Frederik VIII’s Palace of Amalienborg that is now her home in Copenhagen, hers was a completely different world.
She met Prince Frederik, now 53, in a pub called The Slip Inn in Sydney. She was then a 28-year-old sales director for a luxury estate agent, and he was visiting Australia for the 2000 Olympic Games.
Famous for dating Scandi models and even a pop star, it was apparently love at first sight for ‘Fred’. They married in 2004 and Mary was taken under the wing of Frederik’s mother, the formidable Queen Margrethe II, herself a graduate of Cambridge and the Sorbonne.
On their respective wedding days: Kate Middleton marrying Prince William in April 2011. Right: The royal wedding of Prince Frederik of Denmark and Crown Princess Mary, then Mary Donaldson, in 2004
Style synergy: The two women, born ten years apart, have a similar approach to fashion, and have often been spotted wearing almost identical outfits. Right: Crown Princess Mary, pictured also in stripes in 2016, cycling along with her twins Vincent and Josephine on a tricycle
Similar to Kate, Mary knuckled down to the job, was soon fluent in Danish and has established herself as a hugely popular figure.
On occasion, the British royal and the Danish royal have even donned the same outfit, with Kate wearing this chic navy patterned dress with a white collar in 2020 to visit NHS staff, and Crown Princess Mary wearing exactly the same outfit on a visit to Indonesia
And both have acclimatised to the accompanying scrutiny with aplomb. Earlier today, Kate proved once again that she can turn her hand to whatever a royal engagement requires. In casual attire, she visited the Stenurten Forest Kindergarten and was snapped chopping wood alongside a group of children.
The mother-of-three appeared relaxed in a grey jumper, which she paired with her £209 green Seeland wax jacket and a simple pair of black jeans. She finished off her look with her £170 boots from celeb-loved brand Blundstone.
A very hands-on Duchess! Kate threw herself into activities while at the kindergarten earlier today, even taking part in some wood chopping with children
The mother-of-three took a seat alongside a group of children as they took part in a series of activities during the day-out in Copenhagen today
Showing off her motherly side! The Duchess chatted with one young boy during her visit earlier today, placing a hand on his shoulder as they spoke
The royal was seen splitting taking part in several activities at the forest kindergarten, including splitting wood with a hammer and racing around the grounds hand-in-hand with local children.
Later today, the Duchess will join Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, 49, and visit a project supported by the Page 2 of 2 Mary Foundation, founded in 2007 by the Crown Princess, to protect vulnerable women and children from domestic violence.
Kate and Mary have met on a number of previous occasions, including at Royal Ascot in 2016 and on William and Kate’s joint visit to the Danish capital in 2011.
The Duchess will also learn about how Denmark promotes infant mental wellbeing alongside physical health, and how it harnesses the power of nature, relationships and playful learning in the first five years of life.
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