Federico and Mary from Denmark, 20 years since their wedding: from Letizia’s red dress to the photos with Genoveva Casanova

Twenty wedding anniversary for Frederick and Mary from Denmark. The royals were married on May 14, 2002, a week before the then princes of Asturias. Two state liaisons, in one week, which brought together all the royal houses in the world among the guests. We remember that wedding day in Copenhagen for two details.

First: These two decades of marriage come to Federico and Mary at a time of tireless struggle for their marriage.. The friendship of the then heir with Genoveva Casanova, and those photos together in Madrid, unleashed a storm over the palace. There are still embers of that pothole when we see the Kings avoiding their gaze or staging a happiness and a union that has just convinced.

And the second detail of that wedding: the official presentation of Letizia Ortiz in society before European royalty, at the hands of Don Felipe. That dressed Lorenzo Caprile’s red made history in his dressing room. His appearance, sparkling and stellar, on the Danish red carpet was a ten out of ten: the bun with defined waves, the strapless neckline in a pencil design with a train and the shoulders covered with chiffon of the same color.

Both queens share a generation. Both Letizia and Mary, both 52 years old, are women of their time, professionals, modern, feminists and share fields of work such as education, inclusion, mental health and women. And they are both mothers. But back to Denmark and Mary.

The movie kiss that marked the proclamation

The lawyer has lived through a few turbulent months since her husband’s friendship with the Mexican Genoveva Casanova came to light last November. After the photos of that friendship walking through Madrid went viral, Mary put a stop to it and went to her native Australia. Federico’s trip to the antipodes following in his wife’s footsteps was interpreted as forgiveness and together they returned to Copenhagen ready to celebrate Christmas with the family. And even more important to be next to Queen Margaret II at the moment when she announced her abdication in favor of her son. On January 14, Frederick proclaimed himself King. The movie kiss, on the balcony of Christiansborg Palace in front of a square packed with Danes, sealed that forgiveness and began the journey of the new kings (photo below).

As queen, Mary maintains her own agenda with a strong commitment to equality, against gender violence (she wrote an essay about it at university) and to the environment. The mother of four children, Cristian, Isabel, Vicente and Josefina, she has inherited the family structure from her childhood. The eco queen (she buys vintage clothes and repairs her dresses to reuse them), she presides over her foundation that ensures social inclusion, combating loneliness and reducing bullying in schools.