King Frederik's Affair Rumors Explained

The Danish monarchy may be a 1,000-year-old institution, but it's far from a stuffy enterprise. For instance, unlike Britain's King Charles III, Queen Margrethe abdicated in 2024 to allow her son, King Frederik X, to rule. Since ascending the throne, Frederik, who has an affinity for rock music and is famed for sporting a five o'clock shadow, has been praised as a relatable royal for the younger generation.

Indeed, the Danish royals are known for being understated and modest in contrast to the British monarchy, which is renowned for its centuries of traditions of grandeur. Notably, Frederik and his wife, Australian former advertising executive Queen Mary, first met at a pub in Sydney before tying the knot in 2004. Their low-key marriage appeared to be a fairytale — or a Hallmark movie — come true. But while they differ somewhat from the opulent British royal family, the Danish royals still lead incredibly lavish lives. This includes schmoozing with celebs, which, for Frederik, blighted his otherwise favorable public image.

King Frederik X's relationship with Queen Mary suffered a blow when the former was accused of having an affair with Genoveva Casanova, a Mexican socialite. Though the rumors have been denied by those involved, it continues to haunt the royal couple. Here are the King Frederik affair rumors, explained.

Rumors of King Frederik X's alleged affair first surfaced in November 2023. Spanish tabloid Lecturas published photos of the then prince cozying up to Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova on a late-night outing. According to the outlet, the pair went for a romantic stroll in a park in Madrid before allegedly spending the night together at Casanova's apartment. 

In a separate interview with Lecturas (via Sky News), TV host Susanna Griso claimed that Frederik and Casanova first met at an exclusive function. Since then, they have reportedly grown close and often have meetings in private, though Griso stated that the two are just friends. "They usually meet several times a year," Griso said. "They tell me that they are private meetings that are with more friends of the group, some members of royalty. They meet and sleep in private houses."

Following the allegations, Frederik was targeted by online trolls who lambasted him for supposedly having his wife, Queen Mary, uproot her life in Australia only for him to allegedly cheat on her. However, communications expert Benjamin Elberth told B.T. that most Danes didn't believe Lecturas' affair story. In a statement to the press, the Danish royal family refused to address the allegations. "We do not comment on rumors and insinuations," the palace stated, as noted in the Evening Standard.

In the wake of the Lecturas story, further details swiftly emerged about King Frederik and Genoveva Casanova's alleged romance. Sources who chatted to Hola! claimed that the two bonded over a shared love of the arts. Frederik was reportedly on a cultural trip to Madrid, intending to take in museums, dance, and fine dining; specifically, he was hoping to check out a Picasso exhibition at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, but his initial plus-one couldn't make it. Subsequently, he reportedly asked Casanova, an avowed art enthusiast, to accompany him to the exhibition.

Moreover, days before the initial story broke, Casanova, who was previously married to equestrian Cayetano Martínez de Irujo, had allegedly lamented her single status, and asked the Spanish press to find her a boyfriend. "I have met people but my number one demand at the moment, and it has been for a while now, is that there's love," she said, according to the Daily Mail.

Shortly after these details broke, Casanova issued a statement denying that she and Frederik were having an affair. "I flatly deny the statements that suggest a romantic relationship between Prince Frederick and me," she said in a statement to Hola! (via Hello!). "Any statement of this type is not only completely untrue but also distorts 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 honor, truth and privacy." Casanova then reportedly went into hiding.

From 2005 until 2007, Genoveva Casanova was married to the son of the Duchess of Alba, Cayetano Martínez de Irujo, with whom she has twin daughters, Luis and Amina. Although Casanova once said that the divorce was one of the hardest things she's gone through, she and her ex reportedly remained close friends. When she sought to escape the media frenzy caused by the scandal, Casanova found refuge at a property owned by her ex-husband.

Throughout the ordeal, Cayetano Martínez de Irujo has remained sympathetic toward Genoveva Casanova, whom he defended against salacious gossip in an interview with 20minutos, published shortly after the Lecturas story. He told the outlet that he was concerned about her well-being, especially considering that she suffered a pulmonary embolism in the summer of 2023.

Moreover, when he appeared on Susanna Griso's show in January 2024, he addressed how the gossip had impacted both his and his children's lives. "Well, that is an issue that will be seen in the courts, they have caused a lot of pain to [Genoveva] and my children, a lot of pain," he said, as reported by the Daily Mail.

Seemingly defiant in the wake of the gossip, King Frederik X and Queen Mary put on a cozy display while attending an event at the Glyptoteket Museum in Copenhagen in November 2023. They were also joined by Queen Margrethe. Their public appearance came in the immediate aftermath of the affair story, as well as Genoveva Casanova's denial of the claims.

Apparently proving her devotion to her husband, Mary wore a necklace with Frederik's initials. It was an interesting move that seemingly dispelled tales of her husband's affair. For instance, following the infidelity claims, Mary's revealing 2004 interview with Danish broadcaster Anne Wolden-Ræthinge (via Lecturas) resurfaced, whereby the royal made it clear that she could not see herself ever accepting an open marriage. She acknowledged that while it certainly works for some people, such an arrangement did not appeal to her — especially after becoming a mother. Such statements appeared to confirm that she wouldn't have stayed married to Frederik if the rumors were true.

On May 14, 2024, Frederik and Mary celebrated 20 years of marriage. To commemorate the milestone, the Danish royal family's Instagram account shared a photo of the two smiling on the Royal Ship Dannebrog in matching vests.

In December 2023, Queen Mary (then known as Princess Mary) posted a cryptic Christmas message on her Mary Foundation website. In it, she hinted at a difficult and challenging year. "Over time you become more and more aware of how valuable every moment – ​​and every year – is," she wrote. "The transition to the new year is always an opportunity to stop and appreciate everything that has happened during the year ... so much has happened that it is impossible to put it all into words." Tellingly, she ended her message by urging people to appreciate their loved ones, never taking them for granted. "We need each other if we want to succeed ... It applies to all of us. People need people," she added.

Earlier that month, Mary and her twins, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, had traveled to Australia and New Zealand without King Frederik. The king later joined his wife and twins, along with the couple's daughter, Princess Isabella, in Queensland, New Zealand. Following her reflective Christmas message, Mary was spotted crying while leaving Queenstown and heading back to Denmark. Despite the bad publicity, royal reporter Kenth G. Madsen told the Daily Mail that the Danish public still supported Frederik. "Frederik has maintained his popularity, and the case with the Spanish woman has apparently not influenced his popularity," Madsen explained.

In January 2024, Queen Margrethe chose to step down from the throne, allowing her son, King Frederik X, to take over. Though her health concerns were cited as a possible reason for her abdication, there have been suggestions that she actually stepped down for the sake of her son's marriage. According to royal experts who spoke to the Daily Mail, Margrethe believed that her son's ascension to the throne would strengthen his marriage to Mary, whom Margrethe believed to be one of the Danish royal family's greatest assets. "I never thought the Queen would abdicate and this has come as a total shock to many Danes," royal biographer Phil Dampier said. "I can't help thinking that it has something to do with the recent rumors about Crown Prince Frederik spending a night with a Mexican socialite."

Moreover, in a separate Daily Mail scoop, sources alleged that Margrethe's abdication was a form of damage control, as the former monarch feared the reputation of the centuries' old Danish royal family was at risk of being tarnished. As such, her abdication was allegedly a means of ensuring that Mary did not divorce Frederik in the wake of the scandal. "It can be difficult to forgive alleged infidelity in a relationship unless the price for turning a blind eye is suitably high," explained royal reporter Kenth G. Madsen.

Days after ascending the throne, King Frederik X published his book, "The King's Word." In it, he opened up about his marriage to Queen Mary and seemingly hinted at potential marital woes, noting that he and his wife had reached a stable point in their marriage. "I love marriage, my wife, our children and the whole happy base that arises for the people who manage to stay together and persevere," he wrote. Elsewhere, he revealed that his wife helped challenge a patriarchal view of the world bestowed by his father, the late Prince Henrik, with whom he admitted to having a difficult relationship in the book. "[Mary] reminds me that of course I am not always right, and that my words are not automatically believed, just because I am the man of the house," he wrote in a segment that's undoubtedly open to interpretation and further conjecture.

The timing of the book, released just two months after the king was accused of being unfaithful to his wife, provoked much speculation. "Certainly eyebrows raised at the timing of it because there has been these rumours circulating over the past few months of an affair that the Crown Prince Frederik, as he was then, was engaging with Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova," royal commentator Russell Myers told Sky News Australia. "But this new book is sort of celebrating his new found stardom."

With negative publicity mounting, Genoveva Casanova took a lengthy break from social media. Days after the affair rumors surfaced, she uploaded her final Instagram post of 2023, a tribute to her former mother-in-law the Duchess of Alba, before going AWOL on the app. By January, she had deleted her Instagram.

In March 2024, she returned to Instagram following a four-month break, uploading photos of herself cuddling her dog, whom she has referred to as her guardian angel, while opening up about her personal struggles. "I want to thank all the people who have cared about me this past year," she wrote, "those who have understood my absence and my silence ... It's been a few months where I needed peace and quiet, but I'm already doing my best to slowly be able to return to my normal life and meet my work commitments." On her Instagram story (via Tatler), she further alluded to her very public ordeal in a lighthearted manner. "Once upon a time ... there was someone who really needed a shot of tequila. It was me. The end," she wrote in one of the posts.

That month, insiders told Hola! that Casanova was devastated by the affair allegations, and had been suffering from anxiety as a result. However, it also appeared that she was finally returning to public life and putting the scandal behind her, having been cast in the game show "El Desafio."

Since the cheating rumors surfaced, one can't help but notice red flags in King Frederik and Queen Mary's relationship, such as the lengthy time the couple has spent apart in the past and Mary's aforementioned solo vacation. By January 2024, there were claims that the couple had grown distant.

Speaking to The Sun, body language expert Judi James argued that ascending the throne had given Mary newfound confidence and power, whereas her husband was appearing increasingly awkward during his public appearances. "Wearing their formal attire here it seems almost natural for Mary and Frederik to walk in a way that shows an almost total disregard for each other," James said, adding, "There are no signs of any connection between the two in these photos when there might have been some exchanged glances or tie-signs."

Though the king and queen appeared to compensate for the bad publicity by engaging in some PDA during a visit to Sweden in May 2024, some questioned how genuine these loved-up interactions were. Communications expert Scott Taylor told the Daily Mail that the royal couple's body language indicated that they had little affection for one another, and their PDA appeared performative. "There isn't a strong show of closeness, of even the natural physiological things we would see from people who like each other strongly or are attracted to each other," Taylor posited. We'll just have to wait and see how this all plays out.