Australian-born Crown Princess Mary will be cheering at Wembley tomorrow

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Danish football fans have been left furious after it emerged the country’s royal family will watch the country play England at Wembley Stadium tomorrow while they are forced to watch from home.

The nation’s biggest newspaper was among those slamming royals including Australian-born Crown Princess Mary and her son as they left for London to watch the Euro 2020 semi-final against Gareth Southgate’s squad.

Henrik Qvortrup, editor of Ekstra Bladet, railed in an editorial that ‘blue blood gives immunity in all respects’. However, the Danish royal family hit back at criticism and said it was ‘completely natural’ that it ‘represents Denmark’ at the match.

Even the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, will not be able to watch the game at Wembley after she was forced to self-isolate when she came into contact with someone who tested positive – despite being double-jabbed and testing negative for the virus herself.

Under a deal struck between the British government and Uefa, 2,500 VIPs including royals, politicians and football officials are skipping quarantine so they can watch the match live – while millions of Denmark supporters are forced to stay at home and watch it on their TVs instead.

Just 6,000 expat Danes living in Britain have been allocated tickets among the 60,000-strong Wembley crowd after fans living in Denmark were told not to travel otherwise they would fall foul of the mandatory 10 days of self-isolation. 

The row has broken out after Health Secretary Sajid Javid revealed that the requirement for fully-vaccinated people to self-isolate when they are contacted by NHS Test and Trace will not be dropped until August 16, in a move that will doom millions of British people to further house-arrest.  

Crown Prince Frederik, 53, his wife Princess Mary, 49, and their 15-year-old son Prince Christian have been given exemptions to travel to London for the clash.

All three have been invited by the Danish Football Union (DBU) to join officials at Wembley – sparking fury among Danes.

Denmark’s biggest newspaper lashed out at the Royals for being allowed to flout Covid laws and watch the semi-final in the stadium.

The editor of Ekstra Bladet saw red at the apparent hypocrisy of allowing VIPs to enter the UK for the match.

Henrik Qvortrup railed in an editorial: ‘The Posh are welcome. Others are not.

‘We cannot interpret it any differently when Danish fans are not allowed to travel to England and watch the national team, while those who sit in the most expensive seats are allowed to.

‘The British authorities have strict restrictions on the football fans who pay and create the atmosphere and the joy of football, but at the same time roll out the red carpet to people with VIP status and money.

‘Ekstra Bladet has been told that there will be representatives from the royal family present at Wembley.

‘The royal crown couple and Prince Christian. (…) As we all know, blue blood gives immunity in all respects.’

Spokesman for the Royals Lene Balleby hit back: ‘It is completely natural that the royal family represents Denmark.’

The Royals’ Instagram page has shown Frederik and Christian at group matches, and Christian wearing a kit with the name of his idol Christian Eriksen on.

Crown Princess Mary showed her support by donning the colours of their flag when she was a guest of the Group B Denmark versus Belgium match in Copenhagen.

It was the team’s first match since Danish footballer Christian Eriksen collapsed with a cardiac arrest in their opening game of Euro 2020.

Princess Mary watched from the stand with her patriotic husband Frederik, Prince Christian, and cousins Prince Felix, 18, and Prince Nikolai, 21.   

Princess Mary and Prince Frederik were in the crowd when Eriksen collapsed four days prior.

Outspoken editor Qvortrup, 57, is no stranger to controversy after being the editor-in-chief of the controversial tabloid Se & Hør (See & Listen).

He was jailed for three months in 2016 for illegally obtaining and misusing credit card information to track the whereabouts of the rich and famous.

Football VIPs are allowed to visit the UK without having to quarantine as part of a deal to keep the Euro 2020 finals in England.

Ministers reportedly agreed a deal with Uefa to exempt officials, politicians and sponsors from travel restrictions so they can go to the semi-finals and final.   But the VIPs, who are thought to number in the ‘low thousands’, will have to remain in a ‘bubble’ during their visit, reports suggest.

The deal comes after UEFA threatened to move the games to Hungary unless the British government eased coronavirus travel restrictions for its officials and sponsors.

As part of the deal, around 2,500 VIPs would be allowed into the country and be given special permission to bypass usual travel restrictions, according to the Times newspaper.

Currently, most of Europe is on the UK’s ‘amber list’, which would usually force arrivals into a self-imposed quarantine for 10 days. But the plans, which the Telegraph said were negotiated by Boris Johnson’s chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, a window for quarantine free entry will be opened for VIPs.

According to the paper, the window will remain in place until after the final, which is being played on July 11.

The VIPs will need to provide a negative test before leaving for the UK, and will have to undergo testing during their stay, according to the reports. They will also be restricted to staying in selected hotels and to official meetings and matches.

However, according to the Times, most of the VIPs will fly in and out on the same day as the match they are attending. Wembley is set to have 60,000 fans in it tomorrow night – meaning it will be at 75 per cent capacity.

Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin said last month: ‘It is great news that so many fans will be able to watch the final three matches of the Euro 2020 at Wembley.

‘The last 18 months have taught us – both on and off the pitch – how integral fans are to the fabric of the game. This tournament has been a beacon of hope to reassure people that we are returning to a more normal way of life and this is a further step along that road. 

‘I am grateful to the prime minister and the UK government for their hard work in finalising these arrangements with us, to make the tournament final stages a great success in Wembley.’

The move was roundly slammed by Tory MPs who described it as ‘morally inconsistent’.

The revelation from the Danish Royals comes on the day Britons faced more pandemic gloom as they were told the requirement for the double-jabbed to self-isolate will not be dropped until August 16.

Mr Javid said the ‘protective wall’ thrown up by vaccines meant ministers can ‘look afresh’ at rules when people are ‘pinged’ for contact with an infected individual.

From the middle of next month people who have received two doses can take PCR tests rather than self-isolating. Under-18s will also not be subject to the restrictions from the same date.

But the timetable means ‘scary’ numbers will be caught in the system after ‘Freedom Day’ on July 19, with furious businesses warning they are on the brink of disaster with ‘massive’ staff absence and customers bailout out of bookings.

Others also raged the government is failing to provide any clarity on the rules for getting staff back in offices.

Mr Javid told the Commons he had looked at changing the isolation rules earlier, but was ‘more comfortable’ waiting until even more people are vaccinated.

He said: ‘As we make this change we will be drawing on the huge capacity we have built for testing and sequencing and advising close contacts who are fully vaccinated to take a PCR test as soon as possible so they can get certainty about their condition.’

Anyone who tests positive will have to self-isolate, regardless of their vaccination status.

‘This new approach means that we can manage the virus in a way that is proportionate to the pandemic while maintaining the freedoms that are so important to us all.’

As under-18s are not routinely jabbed, a similar exemption from self-isolation rules will be extended to them.

‘Anyone under the age of 18 who is a close contact of a positive case will no longer have to self-isolate.

‘Instead they will be given advice about whether they should get tested, dependent on their age, and will need to self-isolate only if they test positive.’

Crown Princess Mary was recently made a regent by her mother-in-law, Queen Margrethe, meaning she can perform duties as head of state when the Queen is otherwise engaged.

She is the fourth member of the Danish royal family to be named regent after Prince Frederik, his brother Prince Joachim, and the Queen’s sister Princess Benedikte, who are all official stand-ins for the monarch. 

The Crown Princess will become Queen of Denmark when Frederik ascends to the throne, following the death or abdication of his mother. 

Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary, Countess of Monpezat, was ‘just’ Mary, a marketing manager at an advertisement company, when she met Crown Prince Frederik at a bar in Sydney during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. 

Tasmanian-born Mary, the youngest daughter of two Scottish immigrants – maths professor John and university secretary Henrietta, has previously said she ‘never dreamed of becoming a princess, I wanted to be a veterinarian,’ and did not know who the man who introduced himself as ‘Fred’ was at first. 

‘The first time we met we shook hands. I didn’t know he was the prince of Denmark. Half an hour later someone came up to me and said, ‘Do you know who these people are?,’ revealed Mary as reported by Hello magazine. 

Born in 1972 the Princess studied at the University of Tasmania and graduated in 1994 with a Bachelors degree in Commerce and Law. 

‘We went for long walks along beach, prepared good food – or rather I did because Mary isn’t that good at it – so we were able to really get to know each other,’ Prince Frederik previously told Australia’s Women’s Weekly. 

‘It was all laughing and talking and gradually opening up for one another,’ he said of his time wooing his now wife.

Separated by geography the couple continued their relationship long distance.

Despite being spotted together several times in both Denmark and Australia, and Mary moving to Europe in 2001, it was not until April 2003 that Queen Margrethe publicly acknowledged their relationship. 

In his 2008 autobiography entitled Frederik – kronprins af Danmark, the royal male revealed that he proposed to Mary during a trip to Rome in September 2003, but as tradition dictates he had already written to Mary’s father John Donaldson asking for his daughter’s hand in marriage, as reported by the  Courier Mail. 

Speaking of his actual proposal he revealed: ‘I said to her, ‘You cannot say no, you mustn’t say no, you just have to say yes’. And then she said ‘yes’, and it was wonderful. I was so happy.’

In the pages of his book the Prince who calls Mary his ‘soul mate’ and said he was attracted to her because ‘she was a bit secretive but also very beautiful’. 

Despite initially having no idea who the European royal was, their relationship soon became the stuff of fairytales and they tied the knot on May 14, 2004 in Copenhagen Cathedral in the Danish capital.

The guestlist included the Kings and Queens of Sweden, Norway, Spain, Belgium and The Netherlands as well as Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex.

Mary donned a dress created by Danish fashion designer Uffe Frank and a veil first used by Crown Princess Margareta of Sweden, Queen Victoria’s granddaughter.

Mary was given the title of Crown Princess of Denmark, set to become the first ever Australian-born Queen consort if and when Crown Prince Frederik takes the throne. 

The pair share four children; Prince Christian born in October 2005, Princess Isabella, born in April 2007, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine born in January 2011. 

While they reside at Frederik VIII’s Palace in Denmark, they are frequent visitors to Australia, with Mary often bringing her brood home to see her family.  

Back in 2016, Crown Princess Mary made it clear where her loyalties lie. 

In a tongue-in-cheek interview with the Daily Mail Online, the Australian born royal confessed she was supporting Australian athletes in Rio, so long as they were not competing against the Danes.

‘I’ll absolutely support Australians so long as they’re not competing against a Dane,’ Princess Mary said with a laugh.