In the teeming rain at the National Arboretum Canberra yesterday, a wide-eyed student from Giralang Primary School looked up at Chief Minister Katy Gallagher and asked, ''Are you the princess?''
Ms Gallagher, walking alongside Danish Crown Princess Mary, could only laugh and reply, ''No darling, I'm not.''
Princess Mary did see their point.
''Sometimes I don't look so much like a princess,'' she told the children. ''People normally expect a big dress.''
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Princess Mary and her husband Crown Prince Frederik were in Canberra for barely eight hours but they managed to pack in eight events before flying out to Melbourne - and warm the hearts of many a Canberran on an otherwise cold, dull day in the national capital.
They may have been our third lot of high-profile visitors in a month, after the Queen and United States President Barack Obama, but Canberrans were still thrilled to see them.
PHOTOS: Danish royals visit Canberra
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, addressing the couple at an official lunch at Parliament House, cheekily reckoned there hadn't been ''such excitement in these houses of parliament at least since last week with President Obama''.
''The fact that Prince Frederik and Princess Mary can generate such a buzz in this hard-bitten place is, if I may say so, a tribute to the magic of monarchy,'' Mr Abbott said.
Prince Frederik said at the lunch that ''Australia holds a very special place in our hearts''. ''The Crown Princess and I are truly delighted to be back in Canberra,'' he said.
''We have fond memories of our last official visit here in 2005.''
The 500 winners of a ballot to meet the royal couple at the arboretum waited for two hours in the rain, buoyed by the enthusiastic singing of students from Giralang Primary, which is a friend of the arboretum.
And the royals didn't disappoint, Princess Mary trying to shake hands and speak with as many people as possible.
Isabella Plains twins Sarah and Rachel Stuart, 24, made her a bracelet of freshwater pearls and four-leafed clovers which the princess put on immediately.
''She really liked it and said it matched what she was wearing,'' Sarah said. ''It was cold waiting for them but really exciting when they came along.''
People in the crowd called out ''Thanks for coming out in the weather'', ''It was worth the wait'' and ''We love you Mary'' . Someone gave her a packet of Tim Tams.
Anna Nappo, of Jerrabomberra, said, ''She made an effort to ask the children their names. She was really warm.''
The royal couple dedicated an Acer campestre, more commonly known as a field maple and native to Denmark. It was chosen due to its compatibility with the Canberra climate. The tree was already in the ground but Australian-born Mary showed some good Scandinavian outdoorsy-ness by putting her back in as she shovelled dirt on to the tree. But her real talent was mesmerising the crowd.
Princess Mary told Sarah Yap, of Harrison, her three-month-old daughter Audrey was ''beautiful''. She teased the students by asking if they'd walked to the arboretum. Garth Leggatt, of Wanniassa, was spellbound. ''I think she's absolutely adorable,'' he said.
Giralang Primary year-one student Helena Corkill won a competition at her school to read a section of the Dorothea Mackellar poem My Country. The words ''Wide Brown Land'' from the poem feature in a sculpture at the arboretum.
Helena had some wise words to prepare for her star turn. ''Take big breaths,'' she said.
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