Queen Mary and King Frederik Attend Private Memorial Service in Tasmania
The Danish royals returned to Queen Mary's birthplace for a personal tribute to her late father.
Queen Mary and King Frederik of Denmark have made a discreet visit to Hobart, Tasmania, to attend a private memorial service for Queen Mary's father, Professor John Donaldson. The service took place on Wednesday, six months after his death.
This deeply personal journey marks Queen Mary's first known return to her native Australia since her father passed away on April 11 at the age of 84. The visit was confirmed by the Danish Royal House, which added the engagement to its official diary, noting that the King and Queen would attend a private memorial service for the Queen's father in Hobart.
The couple's trip has been kept private, with no public engagements scheduled. Their 20-year-old son, Crown Prince Christian, is serving as regent in Denmark during their absence.
Queen Mary's last visit with her father was in March, during the couple's first official tour of Australia since ascending the Danish throne in January 2024. At the conclusion of that trip, Queen Mary visited her father in Hobart. The Danish Royal House stated at the time that his health had been declining for several years and that the pair had shared "precious time together" during that visit.
John Donaldson, a mathematician, was born in Scotland in 1941 and moved to Tasmania in the 1960s. He had a long academic career at the University of Tasmania, specializing in numerical analysis and eventually serving as Dean of the Faculty of Science before retiring in 2003. He and his first wife, Henrietta Clark Horne, raised four children, including Mary, who was born in Hobart in 1972.
His daughter met then-Crown Prince Frederik during the Sydney Olympics in 2000, leading to her marriage to the Danish heir in 2004. As Queen Mary built her life in Denmark, her father's declining health made the distance increasingly challenging. He was unable to travel to Denmark for significant family events in his later years, including Princess Isabella's confirmation, when Mary acknowledged his poor health prevented the long journey.
Donaldson's death came just weeks after Queen Mary's March visit to Australia, adding a poignant significance to the time she was able to spend with him. This latest visit, six months after his passing, sees Queen Mary and King Frederik returning to Tasmania to privately remember the man who remained a strong connection to the Australian life she left behind over two decades ago.