R114 - Links to proof that no one in Mary's family is speaking to her anymore. Her father just turned 80, by the way.
I think the assessment of how the match came about is a fair one. The thing is, Frederik was always a lazy sort who clearly wasn't thrilled with royal duty and could have lived his entire life sailing, yachting, and skiing. Mary brought energy to the job that Frederik didn't have (he was no Prince Charles), and she took to it like a duck to water and did more work than he did, even when doing the next generation obligations. Her mother-in-law seems to have a shrewd appreciation of Mary's ability to do the job, and if Frederik isn't ecstatically in love, too bad. In that sense, Frederik made the right choice.
I think you have to be made of chrome steel underneath it all to come in to a foreign country, learn a really difficult language fluently, be on view all the time, prove your worth as a brood mare, patroness, representative of an old monarchy, etc., and not get run over.
Mary and Maxima of The Netherlands are the prima facie examples of how it can be done.
Mary really knew she had to hit the ground running, and she did; Meghan Markle boasted about it but was, in reality, totally not up to the job and then blamed everyone around her for her massive failure to grapple with the role she was given, and she wasn't even in the hot spot that the two future Queens were.
Eggs were thrown at the golden carriage that Maxima and Willem rode back to the Palace with after their marriage, I saw the footage. A footman (who was probably a security man in a footman's uniform) walking next to the carriage wiped it off quickly with his glove. Maxima's father was attached to the brutal regime in Argentina and wasn't even allowed to attend his daughter's wedding, let alone walk her down the aisle. She had to make a speech about it on television after the engagement was announced. She was speaking fluent Dutch by the time the engagement was announced, I saw the engagement interview.
I admire these women for their unashamed ambition, guts, and willingness to do what it takes in return for the immense privilege they landed themselves in. The Dutch royal family is richer than the Windsors. I think only the Lichtensteinian royal family is richer.
The Norwegians and Belgians are the poor relations. The Danes, Swedes, Luxembourg are somewhere in the middle.
All in all, the two couples who look the happiest in Europe would be Maxima and Willem, and Philippe and Matilde of Belgium. I think Felipe of Spain is happy with his choice, although Letizia is not that liked in Spain and has a reputation of being a cold, demanding, imperious bitch.
Charles and Camilla are happy. I think William and Kate are happy. The Luxembourg Grand Ducal marriage is still in its early days, and he's reputed to be a fellow traveller and they waited some time before having a baby . . .
But for sure the most miserable royal wives are Charlene of Monaco and Naruhito's wife, Empress Masako.
Well, we seem to have created our own Royal Foibles thread out of the Frederik one.
