King Frederik returns to Madrid… this time with Queen Mary! Danish royal household go on vacation to Spanish capital a 12 months after he was photographed alone in metropolis with Mexican socialite

King Frederik and Queen Mary of Denmark have enjoyed a weekend getaway in Madrid with their family ahead of Christmas.

But their decision to travel to the Spanish capital has come as a surprise, considering the monarch’s notorious visit alongside Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova in 2023 that rocked the Danish Royal Household. 

In October last year, Frederik was photographed on a night out in the city with the glamorous TV personality, 48, during a solo ‘private visit’ to Spain.

Following the outing, in which he visited Genoveva’s apartment and stayed there for two hours, the royal couple were plagued with speculation of marital struggles – despite the socialite strenuously denying the affair ‘rumours and insinuations’.

However, Mary and Frederik have appeared to put the drama firmly behind them with their choice of holiday destination.   

The royal couple jetted to the Spanish capital alongside their four children Christian, 18, Isabella, 17, and 13-year-old twins Vincent and Josephine, reported HOLA!.

Accompanied by their security team, the family are said to have stayed at the lavish Hotel Santo Mauro for their private mini-break.

The tasteful five-star establishment is known to be popular with famous faces who want to keep a low profile. 

Now part of the Marriott’s Luxury Collection, the former palace of the Duke of Santo Mauro boasts stunning gardens and unique rooms, reported The Telegraph, after naming it the ‘best luxury boutique hotel in Madrid’ in March 2024.

The hotel is located in the Golden Triangle of Art – the Prado, the Thyssen and the Reina Sofia museums.

During their stay, Frederik and Mary were apparently spotted walking along Marqués del Riscal Street, which is home to several luxury goods stores.

They were reportedly joined by all four of their children, including Crown Prince Christian, who recently returned from a trip to Africa.

In September, it was announced that the 19-year-old would travel to East Africa for part of his gap year and return to Denmark in December.

Mary and Frederik’s weekend away comes just over a year since they were plagued with rumours of marital struggles after he was pictured out in Madrid with Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova. 

During a ‘private visit’ to Madrid, the King, who was then the Crown Prince of Denmark, was seen strolling through the city with the TV personality.

While wife Mary was away on royal business in New York, the King attended a Pablo Picasso exhibit with Genoveva before sharing a private dinner at a traditional Flamenco restaurant until the early hours, as reported by a Spanish publication. 

After visiting the exhibition, Lecturas claimed both Frederik and Genoveva went to her apartment building separately at around 7pm, and both re-emerged at around 9pm, two hours later, both having changed their clothes into evening wear.

In the photos, Genoveva had ditched her chic camel coat with a tie belt in favour of a white shirt, black wide-leg trousers and a black jacket worn on her shoulders.

Meanwhile Frederik appeared to have changed from a navy jacket and brown trousers into a white shirt and dark trousers with a smart dark jacket. Again, they were reported to have emerged from the building separately, but got into the same white car.

The magazine claimed the pair watched a flamenco performance at a Spanish restaurant, El Corral de la Moreria, which finished at midnight.

It also claimed they remained at their table, which had been flanked by two of the Danish royal’s bodyguards, while other customers left, waiters finished up their shifts and the lights were being switched off.

Lecturas claimed the pair did not emerge from the restaurant until 1am, when they walked out onto the street and got in a car.

In a ‘gesture of courtesy’, Lecturas reports Prince Frederik opened the car door for his dinner companion. 

The next day, the magazine claims the Danish royal was taken to the airport via car where he flew home to Denmark.

Following the publication of the photos, Genoveva, who is the former daughter-in-law of the billionaire Duchess of Alba, issued a furious denial that there was any romantic relationship between herself and the Danish royal.

A statement from the socialite said: ‘I categorically deny the statements that suggest a romantic relationship between Prince Frederik and me.’

She added: ‘Any statement of this type not only completely lacks the truth but also misrepresents the facts in a malicious manner.

‘This is already in the hands of my lawyers, who will take care of the pertinent steps to protect my right to honour, truth and privacy.’

After the photos emerged, those in the know claimed Genoveva and Frederik were good friends who ‘meet several times a year,’.

‘They have a friendship. They know each other and have friends in common. They usually meet several times a year,’ Susanna Griso, who presents Spanish TV show Espejo Público, claimed.

Griso alleged Genoveva had become close to the royal after they met on a high end mountain hunting trip.

The presenter explained: ‘These are exclusive meetings, where you have to pay a lot of money to attend. All of the royals and children of the major families are there. The trips are organised mostly in Germany and Austria.’

On trips of this kind, usually in mountainous regions, guests pay thousands of Euros to be able to hunt European big game animals like red deer, Alpine Ibex, wild boar and mouflon wild sheep.

After the Madrid scandal, Frederik and Mary, who have been married for 20 years, began to display what looked like frosty body language towards each other in public appearances.

But only months after the couple were thrust into the limelight following Frederik’s visit to Spain, they became the King and Queen of Denmark.

Queen Margarethe, 84, made the shock decision to abdicate the throne on New Year’s Eve in 2023, allowing her son and his wife Mary to succeed her.

Speculation soon began that the decision was made to keep Frederik’s wife of 19 years Princess Mary, who is extremely popular with the public, on side. 

Indeed, royal commentators told MailOnline in January 2024 that Margrethe ‘deliberately’ dropped a ‘massive bombshell’ at the right time to secure the future of the Danish Royal Family, and its ‘greatest asset’, Mary.

British royal author Phil Dampier, also an expert on European monarchies, said: ‘I think Margrethe may have worried that their marriage was in trouble and therefore she had to act.

‘The Queen always thought Mary was a fantastic asset to the royal family and if she thought she might leave it would have been a disaster. She will now hope that Frederik and Mary patch up any differences and work together as the new King and Queen.’

But this week, experts have warned that the ‘affair’ rumours will likely haunt King Frederik and Queen Mary for the rest of their lives. 

‘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.

It’s unclear where exactly King Frederik was on Wednesday as the Queen jetted to Australia.

However, the pair were spotted together just last week as they visited German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and First Lady Elke Büdenbender in Berlin. 

The royal couple first met at The Slip Inn during the 2000 Summer Olympics, with it previously reported Mary supposedly had no idea the handsome European tourist she had been chatting to for hours was actually the future king of Denmark.

‘The first time we met we shook hands. I didn’t know he was the Prince of Denmark.

‘Half an hour later someone came up to me and said, “Do you know who these people are”?’ Mary revealed in an interview about meeting the heir to the Danish throne.

They maintained a long-distance relationship for a year, with Frederik making secret trips Down Under before Mary moved to Denmark to study Danish language at Copenhagen’s Studieskolen in 2001.

In early 2003, Frederik’s mother Queen Margrethe publicly acknowledged the relationship and the couple announced their engagement at Amalienborg Castle later that year on October 8.

Frederik and Mary married on May 14, 2004 at Copenhagen Cathedral, with the newly minted Crown Princess opting for a beautiful gown by Danish designer Uffer Frank and a veil first used by Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden in 1905.

In a nod to her heritage, Mary carried a bouquet of Australian snow gum eucalyptus interspersed with blooms from the Palace garden.

At the altar, Frederik announced: ‘From today, Mary is mine and I am hers. I love her, and I will protect her with all my love.’

Their first child, Prince Christian Valdemar Henri John, was born October 15, 2005; Princess Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe followed on April 21, 2007.

Almost four years later Mary and Frederik welcomed twins, Princess Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda and Prince Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander at the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen on January 8, 2011.

Gossip magazines in both Denmark and Australia have published speculation about the state of the royal couple’s marriage over the years, but there is nothing concrete to suggest they are anything but happily married.