The common touch

The tiaras were out in force as the royal families of Europe - or at least what remains of them - gathered in Copenhagen to celebrate today's wedding of Danish Crown Prince Frederik to Australian Mary Donaldson.

The men looked dashing and handsome, the women looked as lovely as princesses are meant to be at a glittering eve-of-wedding gala.

But beneath all the glamour it was hard to escape the feeling that royal weddings are not what they used to be.

Ms Donaldson is a 32-year-old Tasmanian estate agent who met her Prince in a bar in Sydney during the 2000 Olympics.

But judging by last night's guest list for a concert of rock, jazz and classical music, the trend for princes to marry commoners seems to be catching on.

Spain's Crown Prince Felipe was at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen with his fiancée Letizia Ortiz, whom he is due to marry next week.

She is a striking brunette whose humble origins and previous marriage have made her the focus of Spanish media attention.

Letizia, a nurse's daughter, is a former reporter and television presenter. The couple's romance flourished after she met the Prince on a beach when she was filming a report on an oil slick

And the Countess of Wessex used to be plain Sophie Rhys-Jones, a PR girl from the Home Counties.

After Copenhagen Bishop Svend Norman Svendsen weds the couple today, Ms Donaldson will become Crown Princess Mary, a Danish citizen and member of Denmark's state Lutheran Church. She may be a commoner, but she has - as far as anyone has been able to establish - a reputation as spotless as that of any pure-born princess.

"Mary has been selected with great precision," said Claus Bjorn, royal expert and professor at Copenhagen University. "There is hardly any risk she or her family will bring the royal house into disrepute, in fact she may strengthen it."