Queen Mary of Denmark has tackled another first as consort as she appears in a new film for an exhibition at her royal palace.

Mary is in a film based on the life of another woman once married to a King of Denmark called Frederik. But, unlike Mary, this historic figure was never allowed to be called queen.

The film is all about the life of Countess Danner called, perhaps unsurprisingly, “Danner of Denmark”. The new exhibition opens at Frederiksborg Palace on 1 May and focuses on the countess, also known as Louise Christine Rasmussen. 

Louise Rasmussen was born on 21 April 1815 and trained as a ballet dancer at the opera in Copenhagen. Born to unmarried parents, in the 1830s and 1840s, she had a relationship with the heir to a newspaper fortune and had an illegitimate child in 1841, Frederik Carl Christian Louis Berling. 

Rasmussen met the then-Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in the late 1830s and by the mid-1840s, they had developed a relationship. Frederik fell in love with her and hoped to marry her, but the government did not agree to the heir marrying a commoner who was illegitimate and had had a child out of wedlock. 

On 8 August 1850, the now-King Frederik VII married Rasmussen who was given the title of Countess Danner. Although it was a morganatic marriage, meaning that she could not inherit or share any of his titles or property, the pair were in love. 

Countess Danner was a dedicated partner who was queen in all but name, carrying out extensive charitable works supporting women and children. Despite the Danish aristocracy and royal family refusing to acknowledge her, she carried on with her works and even left her money and belongings to charity in her will. She challenged some accepted norms in Danish society and has become a popular historical figure. 

Queen Mary helps explore Countess Danner’s life in the exhibition film, looking at different personal items, including her birth certificate. 

The current Queen of Denmark also unveiled a statue of the Countess in November 2024.