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AROUND THE WORLD 2: Denmark Preps For Royal Wedding

In Copenhagen, Denmark, the Danish Royalty is preparing a wedding fit for a King… a future King, that is.

Crown Prince Frederik is marrying Mary Donaldson, an Australian, on Friday, May 14, 2004. Although typical Royal Marriages involve two individuals of royal blood, the Danes are excited over the marriage of the Crown Prince to someone who is not a member of a European monarchy.

A prince-and-commoner wedding is nothing new in the Danish nation of 5.4 million. In 1995, Prince Joachim, Frederik's younger brother, married Alexandra Manley, a Hong Kong-born Briton then working in mutual funds.

Donaldson was a project consultant for a Microsoft subsidiary before quitting to marry Frederik, the heir to Europe's oldest throne. She will become Crown Princess Mary. Earlier this year, Donaldson spoke to reporters about the wedding in Danish, albeit with an Australian accent.

Police expect 250,000 people to jam the streets of Copenhagen, and except for official cars ferrying wedding guests, the only vehicle moving on Friday will be the newlyweds' horse-drawn carriage. Some 800 guests, including European and Asian royals, have been invited to the ceremony at the Lutheran cathedral, Our Lady Church.

With memories of the deadly terrorist bombings in Madrid still fresh, the capital of 1.8 million people is taking no chances. One-third of Denmark's 9,000-strong police force will be on security duty.

Frederik is heir to a throne founded by Gorm the Old, the Viking king who died in 958, and he will one day be King Frederik X, with Mary his queen. But that may be a long way off. Frederik's mother, Queen Margrethe, is 64 and has no known plans to abdicate (give up her throne.)

--Written by Hillary Rouse

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