A Danish Michelin star restaurant owner was starstruck after having the opportunity and honour to dine with Queen Mary of Denmark.
Queen Mary and her husband King Frederik hosted a gala dinner to celebrate Danish art and culture on Friday, February 28.
A selected few restaurant owners were invited to join the party, among them were Eric Vildgaard, head chef and owner of Jordnær, and his wife Tina.
Mr Vildgaard was surprised to receive an invite and was even more shocked when told Queen Mary would be joining his table.
‘I felt a pang in my stomach. It’s one thing to be invited to a ball at the castle, it’s another thing to have the Queen of Denmark as your maid of honour,’ he told B.T. News.
He revealed as soon as Aussie-born queen, 53, sat down she praised those at the table for their work.
‘She said that the royal couple were so proud of Danish gastronomy and what we meant to Denmark abroad, and that made me really proud on behalf of the entire restaurant industry,’ he added.
‘We had a lot of good conversations around the table. The Queen is incredibly eloquent, and very knowledgeable about all the things we talked about. From architecture to acting and gastronomy, she talked to us.’
Queen Mary and her husband King Frederik hosted a gala dinner to celebrate Danish art and culture on Friday, March 1
A selected few restaurant owners were invited to join the party, among them were Eric Vildgaard (pictured), head chef and owner of Jordnær, and his wife Tina.
‘We had a lot of good conversations around the table. The Queen is incredibly eloquent, and very knowledgeable about all the things we talked about. From architecture to acting and gastronomy, she talked to us,’ he said
Mr Vildgaard described the evening as ‘tremendously enjoyable’ and one he’ll remember for years to come.
The mother-of-four oozed glamour as she arrived at Christiansborg Palace in a sequinned dress, which featured silver beading and embellishments of clear crystals in the shape of flowers.
Mary added touches of glitz to her already chic ensemble with a jewelled diadem, which she matched with vintage-look earrings and a show stopping diamond ring.
She wore her brunette locks pushed back from her face with the tiara, and opted for a natural make up style for the evening in Copenhagen.
Also in attendance was Queen Margrethe, who abdicated from the Danish throne last January, handing the throne to her son King Frederik X.
Queen Mary of Denmark (pictured with King Frederik at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen on January 6, 2025) was rejected at the door of Danish restaurant Kiin Kiin when she was a Princess
Earlier this year another royal insider has recalled the embarrassing moment Queen Mary was turned away from a popular Danish restaurant.
The awkward encounter occurred before the Australian-born royal took over the throne.
For years Dak Wichangoen was the head chef at the Michelin star restaurant Kiin Kiin and had the pleasure of serving members of the Royal Family.
‘I cooked for Mary and Frederik when I worked at Kiin Kiin. She loved a good Pad Thai. They love coming there,’ she told B.T. News.
While the restaurant staff usually knew when the Royal Family were coming, on one occasion the Princess, now Queen, showed up unexpectedly and was rejected at the door.
‘She had been past the takeaway and then came in and asked if there was room. We had foreign staff in the kitchen and at the door, and they might not have known who Mary was,’ Dak said.
‘Then she came in and said, ‘Hey, they said they didn’t have any space?’ I said, ‘Who said there wasn’t any space? You just sit down.”
The restaurant is only a 10-minute drive away from Amalienborg Palace and has an average 4.5 star rating on Tripadvisor.
For years Dak Wichangoen was the head chef at the Michelin star restaurant Kiin Kiin and had the pleasure of serving members of the Royal Family .
While the restaurant staff usually knew when the Royal Family were coming, on one occasion the Princess now Queen showed up unexpectedly and was turned away. ‘She had been past the takeaway and then came in and asked if there was room. We had foreign staff in the kitchen and at the door, and they might not have known who Mary was,’ Dak said
In January royal watchers claimed Queen Mary could secretly be planning another trip Down Under without her husband, King Frederik.
Her last visit coincided with the one-year anniversary of her 56-year-old husband’s ‘night out’ with Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova in November.
She appeared happy as she frolicked with friends at Manly Beach, and spent time in the sun with her youngest daughter Princess Josephine in the Eastern Suburbs.
The Queen was seemingly shrugging off cruel rumours and speculations about her ‘fairytale’ marriage and looked relaxed as she bobbed around in the salt water.
She had made another dash Down Under in December 2023, just weeks after photos showing her husband spending time with his friend Ms Casanova were released.
During that trip the then Crown Princess took her two youngest children on Sydney’s famous bridge climb, one of the mum-of-four’s favourite activities.
Now, fans speculate, she could be planning a ‘women only’ trip to Melbourne – a city where the monarch lived and worked as an account manager in advertising before meeting her husband.
The speculation comes after the Women Deliver conference revealed Melbourne to be the next destination for its tri-annual conference.
Queen Mary of Denmark could secretly be planning another trip Down Under without her husband, King Frederik
Queen Mary headed to Sydney in December, 2023, weeks after photos of her husband having a night out with Genoveva Casanova surfaced
The conference which celebrates women and feminism will be held between April 27 and 30, 2026.
Queen Mary has supported the conference, and attended as an honoured guest since it was kickstarted in 2007.
In 2013 she was pictured alongside Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Dutch Princess Mabel at the conference in Malaysia.
She then acted as Patron in 2016 when the conference headed to Copenhagen, and attended the Canadian conference in 2019.