Princess Mary's successful tour of Australia came to a glittering finish with a black tie ball in Melbourne, where crowds waited for an hour in the rain to greet her. The Tasmanian-born royal dubbed 'Our Mary' by the local media has charmed her compatriots from the moment she touched down with husband Frederik, the heir to the Danish throne, and their adorable twins.
It's the charismatic couple's first official trip to Mary's homeland since 2008 although she was there on a private tour last year.
And even Prime Minister Julia Gillard, known for her republican views, was won over. She told guests at a lunch in the couple's honour: "Sydney in the year 2000 was an unlikely setting for a modern-day fairytale. "A beautiful young woman meets a handsome prince, and they live happily ever after." Indigenous leader Janette Phillips welcomed Mary, by declaring she'd given fresh hope to Australian women that ''Prince Charming really could be out there''.
Mary has an irresistible combination of regal glamour and easy charm that reassures the Aussies she's still one of them. This was very much in evidence on a visit to Broken Hill, New South Wales, when she received a couple of wolf-whistles, prompting her to giggle and wag her finger at cheeky admirers. The princess was in the isolated Outback city to view the work of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which has helped over 278,000 patients in the last year.
Major General Michael Jeffery, the former Governor-General of Australia: “We appreciate her interest in the work of the flying doctor and in the healthcare of people living in remote areas.”After wrapping up their official programme, Mary was due to pay a private visit to Hobart. Meanwhile, Frederik was on his way back to Copenhagen, via Vietnam, to look after their two other children, Christian and Isabella.