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Princess Mary plays Lego at Birarrung Marr with children from the Art Play facility. Picture: Norm Oorloff
Source: Herald Sun

Catherine Babie, who was born the day before the Danish royal wedding, offers a gift and has a chat with Princess Mary

PRINCESS Mary was queen of the kids at Melbourne’s ArtPlay centre this afternoon.

The Princess and her husband, Crown Prince Frederik, visited the childrens’ activity centre at Birrarung Marr where they watched and chatted to youngsters taking part in a challenge to build a city from Lego.

The royal couple greeted well wishers outside the venue, on the banks of the Yarra River, when they arrived around 2.45pm, with Mary looking fresh and expensive in a white skirt, floral print shirt, and nude heels.

Pictures: See Princess Mary in Melbourne

Dressed in a light grey suit, the Crown Prince looked boyish but handsome.

Inside they mingled with Lord Mayor Robert Doyle and his wife Emma Page Campbell, City of Melbourne CEO Dr Kathy Alexander, ArtPlay creative director Simon Spain, and Lego executives Sandra Googan and Camilla Torpe before joining the industrious children.

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The couple won over the children, taking great interest in their projects, with one youngster shyly giving Mary a Lego version of the Danish flag.

Half an hour after their arrival the couple departed, but not before the thrilled children presented them with a pot of red tulips and a Melbourne tram both constructed from Lego.

As they made their way to the door, several young girls stepped forward for impromptu hugs from Mary and then clung to her legs, momentarily stopping her departure.

The princess laughed and accepted more embraces from other children before thanking them all and waving goodbye.

Earlier today little girls in princess dresses and tiaras, excited students waving Danish flags and admirers bearing flowers greeted Princess Mary at a Melbourne school.

Mary was without her husband when she opened the environmentally friendly building at Pakenham Springs Primary School.

Students waved Danish flags and clapped as the princess arrived, wearing a tan-and-green floral shirt and white skirt.

A relaxed Mary accepted flowers from the children and spoke to them.

After a formal ceremony, Mary toured the new building.

Last night, the royal pair attended a business function at a venue at the Docklands called Peninsula.

Minutes before, MasterChef judge Matt Preston paused to tell the crowd the Crown Princess of Denmark looked “gorgeous” before she entered the function.

“It’s quite exciting,” Preston told the onlookers.

An eight-car motorcade and massive police escort signalled the royal couple’s arrival and a few false alarms kept the crowd guessing before the pair came into sight.

Ian Ravenscroft, on holiday from Moonta in South Australia, said he and his family waited for an hour to see the couple.

“We’re here on a few days holiday and we heard they were going to be in Docklands tonight. We saw the crowd and thought we’d come and have a lot. I think it’s exciting,” Mr Ravenscroft said.

Earlier for three fans of Princess Mary it was a case of bearing flowers and royal doors will open. The three, all bearing bouquets, were each granted a brief meeting with the princess on her first morning in Melbourne.

Seven-year-old Catherine Babie presented her bouquet to the princess on the red carpet, while 17-year-old friends Brooke Snow and Annie Turner presented her an impromptu bouquet between functions.

For Catherine it was a lifelong dream come true as she was born the day before the wedding in Copenhagen of Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary and has grown up looking almost every day at a cut-out picture of Mary in her wedding dress.

Having flown over from Adelaide with her mother Rachael Oliphant to try and see the princess, it was a snap decision to buy a bunch of gerberas, lilies and chrysanthemums that helped Catherine’s dream come true.

“We came here on the off chance that we might be able to see her (Mary) from a distance,” Ms Oliphant told reporters.

“We just happened to buy flowers, and Catherine got the opportunity to present them, so it was very, very lucky.”

Meanwhile, Ms Snow and Ms Turner, from Atherton in Queensland, were down in Melbourne on a schoolies trip, celebrating the finish of their year 12 exams.

Their decision to buy flowers at the florist next to the entrance to the hotel where Frederik and Mary were attending functions promoting Danish trade and gastronomy was the key to an unexpected royal meeting.

After security guards initially told the girls they could not present the flowers, Ms Snow asked them to pass them on to Mary.

“And her Lady in Waiting came over and said `No, no, no, just wait here, just wait and I’ll make sure that you get to meet her’, and we did,” Ms Snow said.

All who met Mary were afterwards delighted and lavished praise on her beauty, warmth and style.

“She’s just so beautiful, the way that she held herself, what she was wearing, she’s just stunning and she was just so nice to everyone there,” Ms Turner said.

VIDEO: Watch Princess Mary in Melbourne

Ms Oliphant said there were several reasons for Mary’s appeal.

“She’s fairly young, she has children, she’s well presented, she’s from Australia and someone to admire,” she said.

Catherine’s answer to the question was simpler: “She’s beautiful.”

Frederik and Mary also attended functions at Denmark House and Corporate Culture in Melbourne’s CBD this afternoon, before heading to the business dinner at the Docklands this evening.

They are in Victoria until the final day of their official tour on Saturday.

– with Angus Thompson and AAP