Her late mother used to call Mary Donaldson "princess" but soon all of Denmark will call her queen.
Her Tasmanian hometown was celebrating today, hours before the Australian-born royal was to ascend the throne.
At heart, Princess Mary, queen in waiting, will always be the girl from Taroona in Tasmania.
The youngest of four children grew up on the idyllic coastline south of Hobart.
Her one-time neighbour Michael Long said the a big moment.
"It's something special you don't see quite often in Tasmania," he said.
"You never know what's gonna happen when you least expect it, you've got a princess close by and now a queen."
From hockey to horse riding, Mary wanted to do it all.
David Perkins was her year 10 science teacher.
"Taroona High School was four years of when you really start to grow up I think," he said.
Little did he know 37 years ago, he was passing knowledge on to a future queen.
"She was a very good student. Capable, conscientious, hard working and achieved very good results in the class," he said
Mr Perkins' wife, Judy, taught at Mary's infant school.
"We're just very proud that Tasmania's the birthplace of a beautiful queen," she said.
The princess' year eight home economics cookbook is still a favourite in the Perkins' household.
"There's the famous lamb chop casserole by Mary Donaldson," Ms Perkins said.
On behalf of all of her former schools in Tasmania, the Department of Education wished the royal "all the best in her new role".
Princess Mary's path from Tassie girl to Queen of Denmark
"We hope the richness of her education and experiences at school helped play a part," it said.
Locals having a picnic today wanted to let Mary know how proud they were.
Michael, who knew her as a child, said he had seen her since she joined the Danish royal family.
"[I] an into her at Customs House Hotel actually and just had a quick chat to her there and she's still very down to earth," he said.
"But it's hard to sort of fathom that she's now going to become queen.
Tasmania's NBL team is hoping Denmark's new queen will become their official patron.
"We cant be prouder of her. It's such a fairytale story," CEO Christine Finnegan said
From the shores of Taroona to the mainland, celebrations were kicking off right around the country today.
Tasmania was marking the ascension by lighting up the Tasman Bridge, Launceston Town Hall, Devonport's paranaple convention centre and other public buildings in the colours of the Danish flag.
