Queen Mary of Denmark will land in Australia today for a historic royal visit, with a homecoming stop in Tasmania expected to draw major crowds.
Queen Mary and King Frederik will be in the country until March 19, travelling across the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania.
For the Hobart-born Queen, the Tasmanian leg of the visit will mark a special return home.
A royal procession through Salamanca is expected to be one of the highlights of the visit when the Danish royals arrive.
They are also set to visit Hobart shipbuilder INCAT, where a major new electric ferry project for Denmark is currently under construction.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the visit would help strengthen ties between Australia and Denmark.
“Denmark and Australia are great friends and together we are working to build a more sustainable, secure and peaceful future,” Albanese said.
“This visit is an opportunity to deepen our cooperation across shared interests such as sustainability, renewable energy and innovation.”
It will be the first official state visit to Australia by the Danish royal family in more than a decade.
Queen Mary, who grew up in Tasmania, attended Taroona High School and Hobart College before graduating from the University of Tasmania with commerce and law degrees in 1995.
She became the world’s first Australian-born queen when Frederik ascended to the Danish throne in January 2024.
The couple’s last official royal visit to Australia was in 2013, when they were still Crown Prince and Crown Princess.
Queen Mary returned privately to Tasmania several times in recent years, including a visit to Salamanca Market in February 2025 and a family wedding in the Coal River Valley in October 2024.
Her father John Donaldson and sisters Jane Stephens and Patricia Bailey still live in Tasmania.
