A cheeky Christmas tree decoration has made it to one palace

Queen Mary of Denmark has stuck to plenty of royal traditions
over her twenty plus years at the heart of the oldest reigning
family in Europe but she’s also keen on mixing things up and that’s
never more evident than at Christmas.

Along with King Frederik and their four children, she’s just
decorated the Christmas tree at the family home in Amalienborg and
while there are plenty of traditional red, green and gold
trimmings, there’s also a rather modern twist on the regal
Christmas.

For Queen Mary, who comes from Tasmania,
has added a sparkling version of the Sydney Opera House to the
royal Christmas tree this year.

Mary is building a reputation for making her mark on the royal
Christmas since the start of her husband’s reign. Last year, the
family added a sparkling version of David Bowie to their tree.
While they might well be a fan of the star singer, it’s thought
that decoration was a nod to the family dog, Ziggy, who had
recently died.

The silver Sydney Opera House was spotted as King Frederik and
Queen Mary shared their photo album from the family decorations.
The most prized baubles were four bearing the name of their
children – Christian, Isabella, Vincent and Josephine.

Earlier, the Danish royals also added a video of their
decorating session to their social media but the scene was stolen
in that by 18 year old Princess Isabella who decided to dance her
way through the afternoon.

Crown Prince Christian, 20, was clearly enjoying being back with
his family as he took a break from his military training to join
the Christmas prepartions.

Twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, 14, were reunited
after choosing different schools for this academic year. Josephine,
who has shown a flair for the arts inherited from her grandmother,
Queen Margrethe, is now at boarding school while her brother
remains closer to home.

King Frederik and Queen Mary have already announced their
Christmas plans. They will be spending the festive season at the
Amalenborg Palace in Copenhagen with their four children and Queen
Margrethe.

Prince Joachim, younger brother of King Frederik, and his wife,
Princess Marie, are celebrating Christmas in Washington D.C. where
they now live. They will be with their children.

The Danish royals have a much busier calendar than other
reigning families over the holidays. The festive speech will be
given by King Frederik on New Year’s Eve and on New Year’s Day
he’ll be joined by Queen Mary for the traditional gala that is held
to mark the start of the year.