Denmark’s Queen Mary and King Frederik to start visit to Australia despite travel disruptions caused by the Iran war

Australia-born Queen Mary is returning home with her husband King Frederik X for the first time since he took the throne of Denmark for an official state visit.

The couple – who, in true fairytale style, met at the Ship Inn Hotel in Sydney at the 2000 Olympics – will touch down in Central Australia on Saturday evening.

It was a trip that was in doubt after the US/Iran war broke out two weeks ago, causing huge disruptions to international travel.

The worst flooding in Central Australia in decades may yet disrupt the first leg of their six-day visit, which will start at Uluru on the weekend.

It’s understood a few adjustments have been made to the visit due to the disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East, with details of those changes to be announced later on Friday.

The travel dates, however, are expected to remain the same.

The royal pair’s first tour down under in 13 years will also include stops in Canberra – where they will meet the Prime Minister and attend a state dinner in their honour – and Melbourne.

It will end in Hobart, where Mary was born and spent much of her childhood.

They will be joined by a delegation of 55 Danish businesses.

The Royal House of Denmark said the two countries had a shared interest in nature and cultural conservation, which will also form part of the state visit.

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

“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.”

Mary and Frederik have made four official visits to Australia, in 2013, 2011, 2008 and in 2005, but this is their first since being crowned King and Queen in 2024 after his mother Queen Margrethe abdicated.

The Queen herself was last in Australia for a solo visit back in April 2023.

The pair met at the Slip Inn pub during the Sydney 2000 Olympics, and later married in May 2004.

They have had four children – Crown Prince Christian, 20, Princess Isabella, 18, and 15-year-old twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine.

Their visit to Uluru comes some four decades after Princess Diana and then Prince Charles visited the iconic site – then called Ayers Rock – in an tour which established Diana’s popularity.

The couple visited the landmark in March 1983.

Just over three decadeslater, their son Prince William and his wife Kate maked the same visit.

Charles and Diana climbed the Rock in 1983, but William and Kate did not follow in his parents’ footsteps, respecting the wishes of the Anangu people.

Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan are due to visit Australia in April for a three-day visit.

Their trip will be for “private, business and philanthropic engagements”, a spokesperson for the couple said.