Princess Mary attends UNICEF event as the Danish royal family meet for ‘peace talks’ 

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has donned her favourite designer blazer to attend a special UNICEF event as the rest of the Danish royal family meet for ‘peace talks’.

The 50-year-old arrived to the 60th anniversary of the UNICEF Supply Division in Copenhagen on Friday wearing a maroon Alexander McQueen ensemble. 

Initially built to pack health kits for maternity clinics and child health services, the warehouse has since evolved into a logistics hub – and become the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world. 

Despite having a smile on her face as she was offered a tour of the property, the mother-of-four had her visit overshadowed by the current ‘peace talks’ between her mother-in-law Queen Margrethe and the Queen’s youngest son Joachim. 

The 50-year-old arrived to the 60th anniversary of the UNICEF Supply Division in Copenhagen wearing a maroon Alexander McQueen ensemble

Margrethe, 82, and Joachim engaged in conversation this week to try and smooth tensions that have arisen after the monarch announced she would be stripping his four children, Prince Nikolai, 23, Prince Felix, 20, Prince Henrik, 13, and Princess Athena, 10, of their royal titles, which he claimed had ‘hurt’ them.

Heir to the throne Frederick and his wife Princess Mary’s four children – Prince Christian, 16, Princess Isabella, 15, and twins Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent, 11 – remain unaffected by Margrethe’s decision as they are direct descendants of the future King.  

Following the meeting, the palace confirmed that the monarch and Joachim want to ‘look forward’ and are trying to ‘find their way through’ their differences – however, Frederik did not attend the meeting at Fredensborg. 

Despite having a smile on her face as she was offered a tour of the property, the mother-of-four had her visit overshadowed by the current ‘peace talks’ between her mother-in-law Queen Margrethe and the Queen’s youngest son Joachim

She gave a short speech inside of the Copenhagen warehouse to the team at UNICEF

Danish publication B.T. reported: ‘According to the Royal House, the Crown Prince was not part of the meeting’, with a statement from the palace reading: ‘The Queen and Prince Joachim have spoken together at Fredensborg. Everyone agrees to look forward, and as the Queen herself has expressed, she and Prince Joachim want calm to find their way through this situation.’

It comes after Joachim, 53, and his second wife Princess Marie, 46, who is mother to his youngest two children, said their relationship with Frederik and his wife Princess Mary, 50, is ‘complicated’.

But as the conflict brewed between the Danish royals, Spanish magazine Vaniatis Elconfidencial claimed the real reason for the rift was because Joachim ‘was deeply in love with his sister-in-law Mary’.

Queen Margrethe (centre, in 2015) had a meeting with Prince Joachim (right) following animosity after he said his children were ‘hurt’ by her decision to remove their princely titles (Left: Crown Prince Frederik)

The news comes as a Spanish magazine reported the Prince had been ‘deeply in love’ with his sister-in-law and Crown Prince Frederik’s wife, Princess Mary. Pictured in 2014

Tensions began to grow last week in the Danish Royal Family after Queen Margrethe, declared Prince Joachim’s children, Prince Nikolai, 23, Prince Felix, 20, Prince Henrik, 13, and Princess Athena, 10, were to be counts and countesses as of 1 January 2020 and known as Their Excellencies, rather than their Royal Highnesses (pictured with their parents on the Queen’s golden Jubilee in September)

The Danish Royal Family tree. Prince Joachim’s children Nikolai, 23, Felix, 20, Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10, will all be losing their titles on January 1 2023

B.T.’s royal correspondent Jacob Heinel Jensen said of the ‘significant and positive development’ between the monarch and her youngest son, that it was ‘not surprising’ that Frederik wasn’t included.

The expert said: ‘Prince Joachim himself has acknowledged that the relationship with the Crown Prince couple was complicated, so it is not surprising that he was not there. It is the Queen’s decision, and she is the one who must bear the brunt of it.’

He added of the meeting: ‘This is crucial for their relationship. There will be an event in the future where it is important that we as a population believe that they have become friends again, now the first stones have been laid.’

Tensions began to grow last week in the Danish Royal Family after Margrethe declared Joachim’s children, Prince Nikolai, 23, Prince Felix, 20, Prince Henrik, 13, and Princess Athena, 10, were to be counts and countesses as of 1 January 2020 and known as Their Excellencies, rather than their Royal Highnesses.

Following the announcement, Joachim, speaking outside the Danish Embassy in Paris, told Ekstra Bladet his children had been ‘hurt’ by the decision and that he had only been given five days to break the news to them before it was publicly announced.

Amid the scandal, Joachim and his second wife Marie admitted their relationship with his older brother Crown Prince Frederik and his sister-in-law Crown Princess Mary is ‘complicated’. 

And the Spanish magazine Vaniatis Elconfidencial has since sparked more speculation around the rift, after reporting that Joachim ‘was deeply in love with his sister-in-law Mary’.

A photograph was even published by Swedish woman’s weekly magazine ‘Svensk Damtidning’, allegedly showing Joachim trying to kiss Mary at a gala party of the Royal Guard Regiment.

The Spanish magazine recalled: ‘With obvious signs of drunkenness, it seems that the youngest son of Queen Margarethe tried to stamp his lips on his sister-in-law’s mouth, that she got out of the way as she could and with an unperturbed smile, while Marie witnessed the embarrassing moment.’

It’s been a dramatic week for the Danish Royal Family – after Queen Margarethe II of Denmark announced last week that she would be removing princely titles from four of her grandchildren. Pictured, Princess Marie, Prince Joachim, Princess Mary and Prince Frederik in 2019

Queen Margrethe of Denmark and her eldest son refused to answer questions regarding the fallout of last week’s bombshell royal titles as they arrived at the state opening of parliament on Tuesday

Queen Margrethe (pictured in blue) made the decision to strip princely titles from Prince Nikolai (left), Prince Felix (second from left), Prince Henrik (right) and Princess Athena (second from right). Also pictured: Prince Joachim and Princess Marie

It also suggested that shortly after Frederik and Mary’s wedding in 2004, Danish media began to speculate that Joachim ‘was deeply in love with his sister-in-law’. 

‘In fact, it didn’t help that in 2007 he announced his engagement to a French girl (Princess Marie) with the same name and a striking physical resemblance,’ wrote the magazine. 

But with such strong rumours about the prince’s crush on Mary, the magazine claims Margarethe called ‘them to order’ and ‘started a campaign to show that there were no problems between the two women,’ including ‘unscheduled outings’ together.

MailOnline has contacted the Danish Royal Household for comment.  

On Tuesday, Queen Margrethe and her eldest son refused to answer questions regarding the fallout of last week’s bombshell royal titles as they arrived at the state opening of parliament. 

Margrethe, 82, was joined by Crown Prince Frederick and his wife Princess Mary at the opening of the Folketing, in Copenhagen. 

The assembled press asked a flurry of questions to all three royals on their arrival but the trio ‘chose with big smiles to turn their backs to the press and talk among themselves before they entered Christiansborg’, the seat of the Danish parliament, according to local news outlet BT.

The royals put on an upbeat display and smiled to each other as they took their seats ahead of the opening. Margrethe opted for a vibrant mint dress and matching hat, while Australian-born Mary looked more sombre in grey.