Crown Princess Mary shared a personal story to the Danish Royal Family’s Instagram on International Women’s Day.
The story involves her youngest child, Princess Josephine, seeing a headline about International Women’s Day and wondering what it meant.
“For breakfast this morning my youngest daughter Josephine spotted a headline that it was International Women’s Day. She asked, ‘What kind of day is this?’ I thought briefly about my answer and said that for her it is a day to believe and trust that she can become and do anything she can do dreaming about without anyone or anything stopping her… because of her being a girl.”
Crown Princess Mary continued:
“She didn’t ask any further questions, so maybe my answer wasn’t a surprise to her. Maybe this is something she takes for granted, but it’s not like that for many other girls around the world. And the International Women’s Day has different significance depending on where in the world you live.
“But no matter where you live, it’s an important day where we’re not only talking about how far we’ve come, but also where we’ve come from and where we want to go.”
Crown Princess Mary will carry out three engagements on Monday for International Women’s Day. She wrote:
“On the occasion of the day, I’m attending three meetings today—unfortunately all virtual. A roundtable discussion on diversity and inclusion in leadership with UN Women and Boston Consulting Group and a meeting of UNFPA’s High-level Commission on women’s right to decide on their own body. Tonight, I join Kvinfo’s virtual marking of the day.
“For me, equality is not about everyone being the same, but – as I told Josephine – about gender not being allowed to play a role when opportunities present themselves and decisions are being made… or when you follow your dreams.”
