The similar lives of Denmark’s Princess Mary and Kate Middleton

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.  

Their fashion sense, which has often aligned in the past – with the royal contemporaries frequently mirroring each other’s style during public engagements – today saw both women wearing pearls, black leather gloves and smart heels with chic clutch bags. 

The pair, neither of whom were born into royal life and first forged a friendship 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 Copenhagen’s Amalienborg Castle.

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At ease: The pair, neither of whom were born into royal life, looked relaxed as they strolled in the sunshine outside the official royal palace in the Danish capital, their fashion sense aligning too – with the royal contemporaries both opting for dress coats, smart heels with chic clutch bags

Earlier Kate posed alongside Queen Margrethe II and Crown Princess Mary inside the royal 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 echoed each others’ body language as they were pictured waving at well-wishers today. They 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

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 visit is in part due to pay tribute to the historic ties Britain shares with Denmark and celebrate the countries’ joint jubilees – the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the Golden Jubilee of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, both of which fall in 2022 

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

Such warmth between the two royal contemporaries is unsurprising considering the similar paths their lives have followed. 

After both marrying into royal families, Kate to Prince William in 2011, and Mary to Crown Prince Frederik in 2004, the commoners-turned-royals have thrown themselves wholeheartedly into public life, garnering legions of adoring fans in their respective nations.

Doting parents, 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.

However, if Kate Middleton’s middle-class Home Counties upbringing was certainly one of privilege – the British royals famously fell in love while both History of Art students living in the same hall at St Andrews University in 2001, Crown Princess Mary, as the former Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, came from a very different start in life 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. 

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 (Kate pictured in London in 2019). Right: Crown Princess Mary, pictured also in stripes in 2016, cycling along with her twins Vincent and Josephine, born in 2011, on a tricycle

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 the prince, nicknamed ‘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. 

Similar to Kate, Mary quickly knuckled down to the job, was soon fluent in Danish and has established herself as a hugely popular figure within Denmark, where she is still held in high regard by the country’s inhabitants. 

 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 in 2019

The royal counterparts both share a confidence in their fashion – with a laid-back approach to how they’re perceived in public. Left: The Duchess of Cambridge visiting a settlement of the Kalash people in Chitral, Pakistan, in 2019. Right: Crown Princess Mary wearing traditional hearwear during a 2018 visit to the Kalama Conservancy in Kalama, Kenya

The parallels between Kate and Mary extend further. There’s a clear style synergy between the two women that have seen their royal wardrobes – both casual and formal – mirror each other. Whether it’s relaxed clothes perfect for more rustic outings, or donning historic jewels and gowns for public occasions, both women appear assured in their sense of style.  

And each has acclimatised to the accompanying scrutiny of royal life with aplomb. Earlier today, a confident Kate proved once again that she can turn her hand to whatever a royal engagement requires without Prince William by her side. 

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 just outside Copenhagen, 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 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 continue her support of Crown Princess Mary by joining her to visit a project supported by the Page 2 of 2 Mary Foundation, founded in 2007 by the Danish royal, to protect vulnerable women and children from domestic violence.  

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.