Princess Marie of Denmark's early life
Marie Agathe Odile Cavallier was born in Paris, France and lived in Switzerland with her four brothers for most of her life. She attended Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts to study international business and economics, and then went on to study economics in Geneva. She earned a Bachelor of Arts at Marymount Manhattan College.
During university, she worked for Estee Lauder as a PR assistant.
Her relationship with Prince Joachim of Denmark
The couple first met in 2004, but romance was only on the cards in the autumn of 2005 when the prince's divorce from Princess Alexandra - the mother of his two children - became final.
Marie first hit headlines when she was photographed with her royal love while they enjoyed a private holiday together in Avignon, France, in August 2005. Joachim and Marie are often seen happily socialising at the same events as Alexandra and her husband Martin Jorgensen and even saw in the New Year together at a 2007 party. Her increasingly frequent weekend trips to Denmark had many believing Marie could soon be a royal bride, then in October 2007 the news that everyone had been expecting finally came. The Palace announced Marie and Prince Joachim were to wed.
They tied the knot on May 24 2008 at picturesque Mogeltonder Church, located in a medieval village just to the west of the South Denmark municipality of Tonder and upon her marriage to Joachim, Marie's official title became "Her Royal Highness Princess Marie of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat".
They have two biological children, Henrik, born May 4 2009 and Athena, born January 24 2012.
Her patronages
Princess Marie's patronages include: Denmark's folk music festival - Tønder Festival; the Annual Literature Prize; Syddansk Universitet (University of Southern Denmark); the Danish Ski Federation; the Danish National Commission for UNESCO; the Danish Epilepsy Association; the AIDS Foundation; and Autism Denmark.
