Princess Marie of Denmark

Princess Marie of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat, RE (née Marie Agathe Odile Cavallier, born 6 February 1976) is a member of the Danish royal family and a patron of the Danish Epilepsy Association, the AIDS Foundation, Autism Denmark and the Danish National Commission for UNESCO.

Princess Marie
Countess of Monpezat
Princess Marie at the Wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O'Neill on 8 June 2013
BornMarie Agathe Odile Cavallier
(1976-02-06) 6 February 1976
Paris, France
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2008)​
Issue
FatherAlain Cavallier
MotherFrançoise Grassiot
ReligionChurch of Denmark
prev. Roman Catholic

Early life

Marie Cavallier was born in Paris, France. She is the only child of Alain Cavallier, partner in an advertising agency,[1] and Françoise Grassiot (née Moreau), owner of the Château de la Vernède, near Avignon.[1] She is the paternal granddaughter of Claude Cavallier (stepson of Baron de Limnander de Nieuwenhove)[2] and Baroness Odile Brunet de Sairigné (née Labesse).[3] She moved to Geneva, Switzerland, with her mother following the divorce of her parents.

Education and career

After her parents divorced, Marie was sent to the Collège Alpin International Beau Soleil boarding school in Switzerland, where members of the Luxembourg ruling house have also studied. She attended Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, in the US for a brief time, to study international business and economics and then went on to study economics in Geneva. Marie earned a Bachelor of Arts at Marymount Manhattan College. During her years in college, Marie worked for Estée Lauder, as assistant to the public relations manager in 1994, and as an assistant to the managing director of ING Numismatic Group SA in Geneva.

After graduating, she started working for DoubleClick Inc, an international advertising agency, in New York as international marketing coordinator. Back in France, she worked for advertising agency Media Marketing. She then worked for Reuters financial news agency Radianz in Switzerland, took a position with REInvest in Geneva and worked as executive secretary in ING Numismatic Group SA until the engagement.

Courtship and marriage

Marie first came to public attention when she was photographed on a private holiday in Avignon, France, with Prince Joachim in August 2005. She celebrated the New Year 2006/2007 with Prince Joachim, his former wife Alexandra, their sons, Nikolai and Felix, as well as close friends.

In January 2007, Marie accompanied Prince Joachim and his children on a ski holiday in Switzerland. Later that year, Marie joined the royal family for Easter at Marselisborg Palace, where she met Joachim's mother, Queen Margrethe II, for the first time. Marie increasingly made weekend visits from Geneva to Denmark in 2007.

On 3 October 2007, it was officially announced that Marie Cavallier was engaged to Prince Joachim.[4] The wedding took place on 24 May 2008 in Møgeltønder Church. Upon her marriage to Joachim, Marie's title is "Her Royal Highness Princess Marie of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat". Marie, who had been a French citizen and a member of the Roman Catholic Church, became, in connection with the marriage, a Danish citizen and a member of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Denmark. Marie's wedding gown was designed by Spanish-Italian fashion house Arasa Morelli,[5] and was sewn by a Danish woman working for the company.

The couple have two children:

Public life

Public appearances

Marie's first engagement and trip abroad was to Morocco on 28 October 2008, when she handed out Lego toys to orphanage children in Rabat. After this trip abroad, the Princess accompanied Prince Joachim to Russia. The Princess' third official trip was to Hong Kong and China together with Prince Joachim in November 2009. In March 2010, Marie undertook her fourth official visit abroad to Mexico City with Prince Joachim. In April 2010, Marie paid a working visit to the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris as patron for the organisation.

In 2016, Marie attended Copenhagen Pride, becoming the first member of the Danish royal family to do so.[6]

Patronages

Marie's first patronage came shortly after her son's birth, when her patronage of Tønder Festival was announced. Tønder Festival is an international folk music festival near her official residence Shackenborg Manor in Møgeltønder, where the Princess resides with her family. Shortly afterwards, Marie took over one of the Prince Consort's duties as Patron of the Annual Literature Prize that awards an annual prize for French-language literature in Copenhagen. Marie also took the patronage of ambassador to Syddansk Universitet in Odense in September 2009. In January 2010, the Danish Ski Federation named Princess Marie official patron. Princess Marie was presented on 17 November 2009 as patron of "The Danish National Commission for UNESCO".

She is a patron of the Danish Epilepsy Association and Kattegatcentret,[7] the AIDS Foundation,[8] and Autism Denmark.[9]

Leisure and personal life

Marie enjoys bike-riding, running and skiing. She also shares a passion for racing with Prince Joachim.[10]

Title, styles, honours and arms
Monogram

Titles and styles
  • 6 February 1976 – 24 May 2008: Miss Marie Agathe Odile Cavallier[11]
  • 24 May 2008 – present: Her Royal Highness Princess Marie, Countess of Monpezat[12]

Honours
Coat of arms of Princess Marie of Denmark.
See also: List of honours of the Danish Royal Family by country

She has been awarded:[13]

National honours
  •  France:
  •  Denmark:
    • Knight of the Order of the Elephant[14]
    • Dame of the Royal Family Decoration of Queen Margrethe II
    • Recipient of the Commemorative 75th Birthday Medal of His Royal Highness The Prince Consort (11 June 2009)
    • Recipient of the Commemorative 70th Birthday Medal of Her Majesty The Queen (16 April 2010)
    • Recipient of the Commemorative Ruby Jubilee Medal of Her Majesty The Queen (14 January 2012)
    • Recipient of the Commemorative 75th Birthday Medal of Her Majesty The Queen (16 April 2015)
    • Recipient of the Golden Anniversary Medal of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik (10 June 2017)
    • Recipient of the Prince Henrik's Commemorative Medal (11 June 2018)
    • Recipient of the Commemorative 80th Birthday Medal of Her Majesty The Queen (16 April 2020)

Foreign honours

See also

References
  1. Bonnet, Dominique (2016-02-06). "Marie de Danemark, une vie en photos". Paris Match (in French). Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  2. "Le Carnet du Figaro - Mariages". Figaro - Numéro 216 - pp.2 [ Bibliothèque nationale de France (mise en ligne: 10 mars 2008) ] (in French). 1939-04-08. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  3. "Couleur de deuil". Point de Vue (in French). 2016-12-21. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  4. "Denmark's Prince Joachim to marry French girlfriend". Reuters. 3 October 2007.
  5. "'Iconic royal wedding gowns". Harpers Bazaar.
  6. "Copenhagen Pride Parade gets surprise visit from Princess Marie". royalcentral.co.uk. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  7. "HRH Princess Marie new patron for Danish Epilepsy Association and Kattegatcentret". Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  8. "Visit to HIV Ward". Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  9. "Autism-Europc Congress in Budapest". Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  10. "Princess Marie of Denmark turns 39: 10 facts about the royal". us.hellomagazine.com. 6 February 2015. Archived from the original on 5 May 2017.
  11. "Photo". www2.kongehuset.dk. Archived from the original on 2017-02-22. Retrieved 2017-01-30.
  12. "Her Royal Highness Princess Marie". Danish Royal Court. Archived from the original on 30 September 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  13. "Google Traduction". translate.google.be.
  14. "Modtagere af danske dekorationer". kongehuset.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  15. "Mary de Dinamarca deslumbra en una cena de gala con su tiara de 4.000 euros. Fotogalerías de Casas Reales". www.vanitatis.elconfidencial.com.
  16. "Photo" (JPG). 4.bp.blogspot.com.
  17. "Photo" (JPG). 2.bp.blogspot.com.
  18. "Photo" (JPG). c7.alamy.com.
  19. "Photo" (JPG). c7.alamy.com.
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