These photos are from Wednesday, at a New Year’s reception in Denmark’s Christiansborg Palace. Queen Margrethe attended, as did Prince Frederik and Princess Mary. They will not officially be king and queen until January 14th. Rumors have been circulating all week about why Margrethe is abdicating and whether she’s trying to protect Fred and Mary’s marriage and force them to stay together. While Fred and Mary looked happy on New Year’s Eve, apparently their vibe was “frosty” at this reception.

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark put on a frosty display this morning as they arrived at the Christiansborg Palace for a New Year reception. Frederik, 55, dressed in military regalia, while Mary, 51, looked chic in a navy dress as they met with Queen Margrethe, who will step down in 11 days time.

Walking side-by-side into the palace, the couple appeared tense as they walked to greet the diplomatic corps

Insiders told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet that the ‘the couple did not look they were enjoying themselves’ and described the atmosphere as being at ‘freezing point’.

‘Words were exchanged between the two, and it didn’t look like they wished each other good luck’ the paper claims.

The couple kept a polite distance and barely exchanged words as they walked towards the Knights’ Hall, flanked by soldiers. The atmosphere remained cold when they took their place beside Queen Margrethe inside the hall, both dressed formally for the occasion.

[From The Daily Mail]

Judging solely from the photos, this looked like a pretty serious reception for (I think?) the diplomatic corps or something. It was work – it would have been inappropriate for Fred and Mary to be laughing or partying. Now, I believe that things are generally “frosty” between them and that the chill is all about Fred’s alleged affair with Genoveva Casanova. Interestingly enough, the Mail also has a story about how Casanova is in the wind. The Spanish media outlet Lecturas (which broke the affair story with photos) says that Casanova went to London for Christmas and she’s only been seen out a couple of times in northern Spain since the story broke. I wonder if she’ll stay silent throughout all of this abdication drama.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty.