Olympic Games 2024: Queen Mary gives Aussie swimming champions ‘royal hug’ in Paris

Queen Mary has sent Australia into a tizz with a touching move for our newest champions at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Tasmania-born Queen of Denmark showed her support for the relay swimmers after they snatched up a gold medal. Mollie O’Callaghan, Ariarne Titmus, Katie Ledecky, and Brianna Throssel won the 4x200m freestyle relay race. Queen Mary delivered a “royal hug” after the win, and even opted to take selfies with the winners. “A gold medal in Paris and a royal hug. Does it get any better!” Karl Stefanovic said on the Today Show on Friday morning. “And at the end of the day, it’s two Tasmanians. Look at her taking photos on her phone, I love this, this is such a special moment,” Sarah Abo added. Stefanovic also said “it’s not every day you get a Queen getting a selfie with you”. “That is just stunning. We know Queen Mary’s presence has been felt. She was in the athletes village with Team Australia taking those selfies and hugging the athletes,” Abo said. It comes after the first official royal portraits of Queen Mary and her husband King Frederik X were released in April. Margrethe II previously announced her abdication on New Year’s Eve 2023, with Queen Mary and King Frederik officially succeeding to the throne on January 14 this year.