Affair rumours will haunt King Frederik of Denmark for the rest of his life, experts claim, as the royal house brace for the one-year anniversary of the ‘Madrid scandal’.
In November 2023 the then Crown Prince, 56, was spotted on a night out in Madrid, Spain with glamorous Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova, 47.
The Palace have dubbed it a ‘private visit’ but otherwise refused to speak about the nature of the now infamous incident. Meanwhile his wife, Mary, was over 5,000km away on official royal business in New York.
Now royal experts have claimed there will always be damaging remnants of the story which threw King Frederik and 52-year-old Queen Mary‘s ‘fairytale’ relationship into the spotlight.
‘It was a huge case, and in principle it will never be forgotten either. It will lie lurking just below the surface for many years,’ communications expert Anna Thygesen told Danish tabloid B.T.
‘It doesn’t take much for it to flare up again.’
Historian Lars Hovbakke agreed and explained the only way to kill the story was to be open about what happened that night in Madrid.
‘But the Royal House has since the beginning clearly said that it was a private matter, which they are not obliged to inform about, and they are not visibly changing their position,’ he said.
Both experts added that the first year following a scandal is often the most difficult and things should get easier for the royal couple.
But any misstep from King Frederik could remind people of the affair and bring the conversation to the surface again.
Or the ‘unthinkable’ could happen and Genoveva Casanova could tell her side – despite previously slamming the affair rumours as hurtful and wrong.
The rumour mill was set alight after Lecturas magazine published the photos in mid-November last year.
The photos showed the friends exploring Madrid. They also showed the then Crown Prince disappear into Genoveva’s apartment before re-emerging in different clothes sometime later.
The friends then went to dinner and didn’t emerge from the restaurant until 1am.
From there everything the royal couple did was under a microscope.
The next time Frederik and Mary appeared in public something was different.
The couple who had been known for their playful, tactile display of affection appeared be ‘blocking each other out’. Spectators also noticed a ‘coldness’ between them.
Mary appeared angry at her husband, and the hand-holding all but stopped.
Then the Australian-born royal was spotted on holiday in Sydney without her husband. She was instead photographed alongside her two youngest children, Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent, both 13.
This sparked separation rumours with thousands of fans fuming over Frederik’s alleged behaviour and treatment of his wife, the mother of his four children.
Then, as the rumours continued to boil over, Queen Margrethe stepped down from the throne, making way for the newly controversial couple to become King and Queen of Denmark.
People questioned whether the elderly monarch had stepped down in a desperate attempt to keep the couple’s marriage alive, and to take heat out of rumours their relationship was on the rocks.
King Frederik and Queen Mary put on a united display after stepping up to the throne, but body language experts told FEMAIL there was anger, mistrust and disconnection beneath the surface.
Dr Louise Mahler said while they were both committed to playing King and Queen alongside one another, the personal relationship appeared stretched.
‘She is completely blocking Frederik out,’ Dr Louise told FEMAIL following the couple’s first official interview as King and Queen.
‘Queen Mary faces towards Frederik, but her head is tilted away, while her hands are also clasped with her left hand over her right and shielding from Frederick,’ she said.
‘Given previous tactile behaviour and the rumours, one senses a challenge.’
Then in March the royal couple were photographed on a ski holiday, where they appeared very ‘frosty’ toward each other.
Months later they decided to ‘work through’ their 20th wedding anniversary.
This choice was a surprise to royal watchers – as the King and Queen have previously been very firm with their boundaries around work and pleasure.
Rumours of a fractured relationship intensified every time the King ‘deflected’ when asked about the big day, instead choosing to talk about the weather.
Fans couldn’t help but point out every inconstancy in the couple’s relationship.
The official ‘anniversary’ photograph shows the pair smiling on their boat, wearing matching puffer vests and looking every inch the perfect couple.
But candid shots revealed a seemingly uncomfortable under current and show them both with frowns on their faces.
Then in September, just as rumours had begun to subside and the couple appeared to be at ease in each other’s company, two glamorous blondes revealed they had also partied with the prince in the months before he took the throne.
Danish television star Janni Ree, 54, and her friend Camilla Dalsgaard, a dancer, met the Frederik in July, before his infamous night out in Madrid.
They partied with him during Denmark’s famous summer booze-up in the coastal city of Skagen.
It was during Denmark’s infamous ‘Week 29’ or Hellerup Week, a time where wealthy youngsters flock to the small city in their million-kroner cars and fancy boats for a week of fun and heavy drinking.
The women have both admitted they were thrilled to see the ‘party prince’ out and in action.
‘Camilla and I ended up partying with him. Just the three of us. It was insanely nice,’ Janni revealed.
In recent times there have been more positive comments on photos of the King and Queen, with less obvious chatter around the rumours.
Though their troubles from the last year remain the undertone of the conversation.
‘More lovely pictures from our royal couple. Where they represent our little Denmark in the most beautiful way. They always present empathetic, smiling. And now they’re a beautiful couple,’ one woman said.
Others simply refuse to see the ‘fairytale’ anymore.
‘Just see the queen’s reaction when the king touches her. It’s just a business,’ one person wrote on a new photo.
While another pleaded for them to hold hands, even if it’s just for appearances.
