Royal Family Announces Queen Mary Has Been Forced to Cancel All of Her Royal Engagements After Unexpected Illness

"Her Majesty The Queen, like many others right now, has become ill."

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark greet the diplomatic corps during a New Year reception at Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen in 2024
(Image credit: IDA MARIE ODGAARD/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)

The Royal Family of Denmark has announced that Queen Mary is currently too sick to undertake any official engagements.

Speaking to Danish publication B.T., the Royal Family's communications department explained (via HOLA!), "Her Majesty The Queen, like many others right now, has become ill, and therefore unfortunately cannot participate in the Heart Association's award ceremony."

Mary subsequently shared her own message about the cancellations on Instagram, writing, "Thank you for your thoughtfulness. What a lovely surprise to receive this bouquet and drawings, even though illness prevented me from participating in the Danish Heart Association's event 'Together for the Heart.' I had been looking forward to presenting the Heart Award together with the heart children Alma and Ellen and to meeting some of the young people living with heart disease. Hopefully we can meet again."

The Queen of Norway was also forced to miss the opening of the National Knowledge Center for Early Intervention and Family Research at the University of Copenhagen and SDU, per HOLA! magazine.

It's currently unclear when Queen Mary will be able to return to public duties, and it's unknown what the royal has been diagnosed with.

The Queen of Denmark recently made headlines by giving Queen Caroline Amalie's 200-year-old tiara, which includes ancient stones, its public debut. Queen Mary chose to wear the incredible tiara at a dinner hosted by Finnish President Alexander Stubb at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki during a state visit to Finland in March 2025.

Queen Mary wearing a black and gold ballgown standing next to King Frederik and the President of Finland Alexander Stubb (L) and his spouse Suzanne Innes-Stubb at a state banquet in March 2025

Queen Mary wearing Queen Caroline Amalie's 200-year-old tiara.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

A headshot of Queen Mary wearing a slim gold tiara with stones on it and smiling in front of an ivory backdrop

Queen Mary wearing Queen Caroline Amalie's 200-year-old tiara.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Per the Danish Royal Family, King Christian VIII, who ruled Denmark from 1839 to 1848, collected the ancient stones while visiting Italy with his wife Queen Caroline Amalie. Between 1819 and 1821, the couple visited Rome and the excavations at Pompeii. When Christian presented the jaw-dropping tiara to his wife, he did so with a note reading, "It is from the summit of the flaming Vesuvius that my heart flies to you. April 24, 1828."

Amy Mackelden
Weekend Editor

Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.