Queen Mary Participates in Exhibition Film About Countess Danner

On May 1, 2025, Frederiksborg will open the special exhibition "Danner of Denmark," focusing on the life story of Countess Danner and the later interpretations of her legacy. In connection with the exhibition, Queen Mary appears in a new exhibition film, where she unfolds Countess Danner’s life story through a series of the Countess’s personal and historical objects.

In the film, Queen Mary discusses, among other things, Countess Danner’s birth certificate, which serves as the first tangible evidence of her impoverished origins — and how, later in life, the Countess donated her fortune back to the common people from whom she came.

This special exhibition explores how one of 19th-century Denmark’s most remarkable and controversial women has been interpreted — both in her own time and by generations since. Born Louise Rasmussen, she was a ballet dancer and milliner before marrying King Frederik VII and becoming known as Countess Danner.

Due to her non-aristocratic background, Danner was never granted the title of Queen. Yet, in many ways, she was ahead of her time — challenging the norms of her society and anticipating the values that would shape Denmark in the 20th century.

The title of the exhibition plays on a double meaning in Danish: while “Danner” is the Countess’s name, the word also means “maker” or “shaper.” Thus, the Danish title refers both to her identity and to her role in shaping the nation.

The special exhibition "Danner of Denmark" will be on view at Frederiksborg from May 1 to November 16, 2025. In the exhibition’s promotional film, Queen Mary wore a blue dress by Soeren Le Schmidt, which she had worn on several previous occasions.