The Ever-Evolving Style of Crown Princess Mary of Denmark

The world’s eyes are on Crown Princess Mary, who, in less than two weeks’ time, will become Queen Mary of Denmark following the surprise abdication of her mother-in-law Queen Margrethe after a record-breaking 52 years on the throne. When she becomes queen, Mary will become the first Australian-born queen ever. She met her husband, Crown Prince Frederik, in her home country when he visited for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney; they met at a pub called the Slip Inn, and successful ad exec Mary had no idea that “Fred” was the heir to the Danish throne. They married in 2004 and have four children.

This year, Frederik and Mary will mark 20 years wed, and vis a vis, Mary will celebrate 20 years of being a working member of the Danish royal family. To those who follow global royals (and not just the British royal family), Mary has long been a style icon, a hardworking royal, and beloved not unlike Catherine, Princess of Wales in the U.K. (The two even physically resemble each other.) Right down to a commoner-marrying-prince so-called “fairytale” love story, Mary and Kate have a lot in common, and Kate is said to have modeled her own royal life after Mary’s. The two are so similar—both physically and situationally—that Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld once dubbed them “royal sisters.”

Here we take a look at Mary’s evolving style over the past two decades as she prepares for a monumental shift this month. We can’t wait to watch it all unfold.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.