FILE – John Donaldson, center right, father of Mary Donaldson, the fiance of Denmarks Crown Prince Frederik, and his wife, Susan Moody, center left, speak to the crowd in front of the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen, May 13, 2004. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)FILE – Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, center, pose with parents Susan Moody, Prince Hendrik, Queen Margrethe and John Donaldson, from left, on the Amalienborg Palace balcony following the wedding ceremony in Copenhagen on May 14, 2004. (AP Photo/Heribert Proepper, File)FILE – Stepmother and father of the bride Susan Moody and John Donaldson pass press photographers on their way to the Royal Theater in Copenhagen on May 13, 2004. (AP Photo/Heribert Proepper, File)
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
FILE – John Donaldson, center right, father of Mary Donaldson, the fiance of Denmarks Crown Prince Frederik, and his wife, Susan Moody, center left, speak to the crowd in front of the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen, May 13, 2004. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
COPENHAGEN – The father of Denmark’s Australian-born Queen Mary, John Donaldson, has died in Tasmania, the royal house in Copenhagen said Sunday. He was 84.
Donaldson died in Hobart, a royal statement said, without giving further details. It said that his health had been declining over the past few years, and that the queen last visited him at the end of March.
John Dalgleish Donaldson, born in Scotland on Sept. 5, 1941, was a professor of applied mathematics.
Mary became Denmark’s queen in January 2024 after two decades as crown princess when her husband became the Scandinavian country’s monarch. He was proclaimed King Frederik X following the abdication of his mother, Queen Margrethe II.
Frederik and Mary met during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. They married in 2004.
Sunday’s statement quoted Mary as saying that “my heart is heavy.”
“But I know that when the grief settles, the memories will brighten my day, and what will remain strongest is love and gratitude for everything he gave me and taught me,” she added.
Mary’s mother, Henrietta Clark Donaldson, died in 1997. Her father married Susan Moody in 2001.
The statement said the family will hold a private memorial service for Donaldson “at a later date.”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.