The family of the next Queen of Denmark have said they are "ferociously proud" of their Scottish roots ahead of her and her husband's ascendency to the throne.

This comes after the shock abdication of Queen Margrethe II who announced she would be stepping down from the role after 52 years.

Her son, Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary will become King and Queen of the Scandinavian country.

Family of Denmark's next Queen say they are 'ferociously proud' of their Scottish and East Lothian heritage

Stirling News: Queen Margrethe II announced she would be abdicating on January 14.Queen Margrethe II announced she would be abdicating on January 14. (Image: Jacob King/PA Wire)

Princess Mary, who will become Denmark's next Queen, grew up in Australia but both of her parents were from Scotland.

She is the youngest daughter of mathematician John Dalgleish Donaldson and Henrietta Clark Donaldson who both grew up in Port Seton in East Lothian before emigrating in 1963.

Princess Mary met Prince Frederik in a Sydney bar during the Olympics with the couple keeping their romance a secret until a Danish celebrity magazine reported on it in 2001.

Her mother, an executive assistant to the vice-chancellor of Tasmania University, sadly passed away in 1997.

Her father went on to marry British crime novelist Susan Moody with him later becoming the Dean of Tasmania University.

Speaking of his daughter's engagement to Prince Frederik in 2003, a spokesperson for Tasmania University said: "He is very proud of all his children and his other daughters still stay in Hobart. Despite emigrating he is a ferociously proud Scot and takes a great interest in Scotland."

In 2004, Mary became Crown Princess Mary Elizabeth of Denmark when she and Frederik married in 2004.

They then had their eldest son Christian in 2005, a daughter called Isabella in 2007 and twins Vincent and Josephine in 2011.

Denmark's current monarch Queen Margrethe II, who is 83, will officially abdicate on January 14.