King Frederik and Queen Mary will uphold a long-standing Danish royal family Christmas tradition by spending their first festive season since the change of throne in Aarhus.
The Danish royal household has confirmed the King and Queen, and their four children, will be at Marselisborg Castle for Christmas, taking up residence at the estate from December 23 to December 26.
They will be joined by Queen Margrethe II, while her youngest son Prince Joachim and his wife, French-born Princess Marie, and their four children, will celebrate Christmas with Princess Marie's family.
It is not unusual for Prince Joachim's family to spend Christmas away from the rest of the royals. Recently, Count Nikolai spoke of his fond memories of Christmas with his family during his childhood at Schackenborg Castle.
Marselisborg Castle is north-west of Copenhagen and has been the focal point of Danish royal Christmas celebrations since Queen Margrethe's ascension to the throne in 1972.
The royal family also spends Easter at the same residence.
Frederik X took over from his mother as monarch on January 14, 2024, following her abdication.
Margrethe, 84, made the announcement in her New Year's Eve speech.
King Frederik will deliver his first New Year's address to the people of Denmark, live, from Frederik VIII's Palace, at Amalienborg. The palace is King Frederik and Queen Mary's winter residence in Copenhagen.
The King and Queen will then host the three New Year's gala balls at Amalienborg and Christiansborg Palace from January 1.
Before then, the community of Aarhus will welcome the royal family for Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, King Frederik and Queen Mary, along with Crown Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine are expected to attend mass at Aarhus Cathedral and again on Christmas morning, as per tradition.
Crown Prince Christian will return to Denmark in early December following his extended stay in eastern Africa.
Danes typically celebrate Christmas on December 24 by opening presents and eating a lavish feast, including roast pork and duck and boiled potatoes, red cabbage and gravy.
The main dessert is risalamande – a rice pudding topped with cherry sauce with an almond hidden inside.
In previous years Mary and her family had spent Christmas at Marselisborg.
But there have been notable exceptions.
In 2015, 2017 and 2022 Mary and her family travelled to Australia to spend Christmas with her relatives in Hobart, where she was born.
Mary made a brief return to Australia just before Christmas in 2023 but was in Aarhus for the main celebrations.
The 52-year-old was briefly back in Australia, again, in late October this year to attend her niece's wedding in Tasmania. Mary was photographed with Princess Josephine at Sydney's Bronte Beach before their return to Denmark.
King Frederik and Queen Mary are expected to share weekly highlights of their Christmas preparations through the Danish royal family's social media accounts, as Queen Margrethe did throughout her reign.
This will include photographs and video of the royal family decorating the Christmas tree inside their home at Amalienborg.
Traditions also include the lighting of the advent candle, which is typically burnt for one hour each day throughout December.
It's unclear whether King Frederik will continue another beloved tradition, started by his mother.
Queen Margrethe was known for her advent calendar which gave royal fans a daily insight into the royal family's Christmas.
Since 2016, Queen Margrethe curated 25 days of festive fun which was shared onto the palace's social media accounts.
It gave a rare look at spaces within the royal family's residences around Denmark, often revealing rooms and areas normally off-limits to the public.
Margrethe also hand-made many of the decorations and characters featured on the advent calendar, including the Christmas elves – known as the nisse in Danish.
