The Danish Royal Household confirmed in an official statement released Sunday that John Donaldson, the Australian-born father of Queen Mary of Denmark, has passed away at his home in Tasmania at the age of 84. According to the announcement, Donaldson died in Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, with no additional details surrounding his death provided to the public. The statement noted that Donaldson’s health had slowly deteriorated over the course of several years, and that Queen Mary traveled to Tasmania to visit her father for the last time at the end of March this year.
Born in Scotland in September 1941, John Dalgleish Donaldson built a long, respected academic career as a professor of applied mathematics. His daughter Mary first met Frederik, then Crown Prince of Denmark, during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The pair married four years later in 2004, and Mary spent 20 years as crown princess before ascending to the role of queen consort in January 2024, when her husband succeeded his mother, Queen Margrethe II, following her abdication to become King Frederik X of Denmark.
In a heartfelt quote included in Sunday’s royal statement, Queen Mary spoke publicly about her loss, sharing that “my heart is heavy.” She went on to reflect on her father’s legacy, saying, “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.”
Donaldson’s first wife, Henrietta Clark Donaldson, Mary’s mother, passed away in 1997. He remarried to Susan Moody in 2001, four years before Mary’s royal wedding. According to the statement, Donaldson’s immediate family will hold a small, private memorial service to honor his life at a future date that has not yet been announced.