Danish Royal Household
The Danish royal household has announced some sad new about Queen Mary’s Australian-based father.
Professor John Dalgleish Donaldson has passed away in Hobart at the age of 84.
“My heart is heavy, and my thoughts are grey. My beloved father has passed away,” read a statement from Her Majesty.
“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.”
It was known that her father’s health had been declining in recent years, with John not able to travel to Copenhagen on the occasion of Frederik X’s proclamation weekend in January 2024.
However, Mary has been a frequent visitor on low-key private trips back home to Tasmania to see her family.
The Queen was also able to see her father on her recent State Visit to Australia in March 2026, which finished in Hobart.
A photo of her father taken by the Queen on March 26 was shared with the sad news.
The family will hold a private memorial service at a later date.
Who was Queen Mary’s father John Donaldson?
John Donaldson was a respected professor of mathematics who spent most of his career working at the University of Tasmania.
He was born in Scotland on September 5, 1941, and met Mary’s mother, Henrietta ‘Etta’ when they were just 13, with the pair quickly becoming school sweethearts.
The couple migrated to Australia in 1963 shortly after he had graduated with his degree at the University of Edinburgh.
The couple welcomed four children in Hobart, with Mary being the youngest.
Mary’s eldest sister Jane was born on September 26, 1965, followed by Patricia on March 16, 1968, and her brother John on July 9, 1970.
“I was a lot more of a disciplinarian than necessary,” John confirmed in the Danish Mary Elizabeth Donaldson documentary. “I think most of my friends thought I was very strict with the children. I probably was. I tried to make sure their homework was done and I tried to make sure they knew that a secure life was one they ought to be interested in.”
John was tasked with giving Mary the sad news when her mother Etta died following surgery 1997.
“He just said: ‘She’s not here anymore,’” Mary recalled. “I went into total shock. I dropped the phone and kicked very, very hard — as if I wanted to hurt myself.”
John found love again in later life, tying the knot for a second time with novelist Susan Moody in 2001.
When Mary married the then Crown Prince Frederik in 2004, he walked her down the aisle and gave her away.
A proud Scotsman his whole life, John wore a kilt for the special occasion.
He visited Denmark numerous times to see his daughter until ill health stopped him from making the long journey and even taught at a university in Copenhagen for a time.
