Mary's Scottish Background

[carlota]

i was wondering how close mary is to her scottish background. i read that she travelled through scotland shortly after her mother's passing, and also worked there for a firm called rapp collins edinburgh. it is a worldwide firm as it explains in the official webpage, so i guess that means she was in the edinburgh office (?). i also read she sent her wedding bouquet after the wedding to her mother's grave, in scotland, and she was reportedly visiting privately during some break (christmas maybe) scotland, although this wasn't confirmed. do we know any more details on this (or others) on how much closer is mary to scotland? what about her time in scotland while she was working, presumably, in edinburgh?

 

[Alison20]

She still has most of her aunts, uncles and cousins in the UK (mainly in Scotland), and her father is still very Scottish.

I think that now she is living in Denmark she will have much more opportunity to be in contact with them than when she was based in Australia

 

[princess leonor]

I;m sorry to be asking this probably very stupid question but does Mary have Scottish background? I thought she was from Australia just like her parents. Was her mother originally Scottish then?

 

[BurberryBrit]

I;m sorry to be asking this probably very stupid question but does Mary have Scottish background? I thought she was from Australia just like her parents. Was her mother originally Scottish then?

Mary was Australian but nationality but Scottish by ancestry. Both of her parents are Scottish.

 

[Fashionista100]

Both of Mary's parents were born and raised in Scotland. They emigrated to Australia after they married. Mary had joint UK and Australian citizenship which she gave up when she married. She put her bouquet on the grave of her grandmother in Scotland. Her mother is buried in Australia.

 

[Regina]

Scotland has a Meaning for mary since her parents were born there and her beloved grandmother is buried there, but I don't think Mary fells very-very close to her Scottish roots. I believe Australia is the country of her heart, after Denmark (of course)

 

[carlota]

She put her bouquet on the grave of her grandmother in Scotland. Her mother is buried in Australia.

regarding this, i wonder if mary visited the grave after the wedding or if the bouquet was just sent to be put on it?
in that case, it went really unnoticed!

 

[Lumutqueen]

How do you know the wedding bouquet was placed on the grave of her grandmother?
There is no mention of it anywhere.

 

[Madame Royale]

It'true. I've seen the photo aswell! I'll see if I can find the source sometime today if nobody does it before me.

 

[Guiomar]

How do you know the wedding bouquet was placed on the grave of her grandmother?
There is no mention of it anywhere.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2chl5op.jpg

http://www.theroyalforums.com/forum...enmark-and-mary-donaldson-2004-a-2280-16.html

 

[JessRulz]

If you read the headstone in the picture Guiomar posted, Mary's mother Henrietta is also listed, with her date of death, under her parents' (Elizabeth and Archibald) details.

 

[Anna Z.]

regarding this, i wonder if mary visited the grave after the wedding or if the bouquet was just sent to be put on it?
in that case, it went really unnoticed!

According to the short article posted by Guiomar, the bouquet was placed on the grave by Mary's maternal aunt.

 

[Sereta]

That was a really thoughtful gesture of Mary.

 

[carlota]

i found this article by mary's great aunt on the wedding quite an interesting read on the "behind the scenes" of a royal wedding:

Watching my niece become a princess - Scotsman.com News

 

[ashelen]

thank you so much for sharing, very interested! I was thinking how many memebers of the family she was allow to bring becasue I belvie, somebody can correct me if i am wrong Maxima had a limit of people that she could bring.
It is a really nice touch that Mary had with her aunt! and I can imagine a very impresive experience for anyone!

 

[IslandDweller]

Does anyone know about the conditions Mary's family lived in in Scotland? In other words, what her grandparents and great-grandparents did career-wise, etc? I've always imagined her parents' roots to be quite humble, but I've posted the question on at least one other thread (a long time ago) and never got a response. Any ideas?

 

[Sternchen]

Mary's father has been studying and finishing his degree in Mathematics in Scottland and married Henrietta before moving to Australia, following his parents. According to Wikipedia, his father was captain of a large trading company. So the background must have been afluent enough to pay for the college education?

John Dalgleish Donaldson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[AnnaNotherThing]

I love how Mr. Donaldson refers to Mary's Scottishness in relation to the Vikings in his 2004 wedding speech...Very clever and very funny...A Dane marrying a Scot, coming full circle...

TRH The Crown Prince Couple - Mr. John Donaldson's speech

 

[IslandDweller]

Mary's father has been studying and finishing his degree in Mathematics in Scottland and married Henrietta before moving to Australia, following his parents. According to Wikipedia, his father was captain of a large trading company. So the background must have been afluent enough to pay for the college education?

John Dalgleish Donaldson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks for directing me to that, Sternchen. I think "captain of a large trading company" makes it sound grander than it really was. While talking about her grandmother (also named Mary Donaldson) in the pre-wedding documentary, Mary mentioned that she didn't have much to live on. John Donaldson's undergraduate degree was most likely free. I don't know what grad school programs in Australia in the 1960s cost, but people find all kinds of ways to pay. I don't think it necessarily indicates anything about the parents' circumstances.

 

[Sternchen]

John Donaldson went to University in Scottland, not in Australia IIRC Edinburgh I don't think that you can compare the way people were paid in the 50's with how we are being paid today for the same position Even not in relation

 

[IslandDweller]

John Donaldson went to University in Scottland, not in Australia IIRC Edinburgh I don't think that you can compare the way people were paid in the 50's with how we are being paid today for the same position Even not in relation

I know he did his undergrad degree in Scotland, Sternchen - that's why I said it was probably free According to Wiki, however, his graduate studies were carried out at the University of Tasmania. It's certainly true that salaries have grown disproportionately, but I still imagine that wikipedia is making Mary's grandfather's career sound grander than it was. I would love more information, and have no objection to being proven wrong