Copenhagen, Denmark ? In a lavish spectacle witnessed by members of every European royal house and hundreds of thousands of Danes, Crown Prince Frederik married Australian commoner Mary Donaldson on Friday.

The wedding, a sumptuous affair that saw unprecedented security throughout the capital, gave Europe’s oldest monarchy a crown princess already adopted by the Scandinavian country as its own. Mary became the first Australian woman to stand in line to become queen.

“It was so beautiful, like a fairy tale,” said Kirsten Persson, 60. “When she walked down the aisle, I cried.”

So did the visibly nervous Frederik when he saw his 32-year-old bride walking down the red-carpeted aisle in her long-sleeved white dress made from duchess satin and wearing a veil of Irish lace that was a gift to Denmark’s late Queen Ingrid’s mother, Crown Princess Margret of Sweden.

Margret used the veil and the lace for her wedding in 1905, her daughter used them at her wedding in 1935 and so did Ingrid’s three daughters — exiled Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Danish Queen Margrethe and Princess Benedikte — for their weddings in 1964, 1967 and 1968, respectively.

As the couple left the church, Frederik, 35, kissed his wife for the first time in public. Outside, a roar of approval erupted from the packed crowd that jammed the streets, Danish and Australian flags in hand, to watch the ceremony on dozens of outdoor video screens.

“It was wonderful, it was everything we had expected, it was perfect for Mary, just perfect,” said Lotta Laanert of Malmoe, Sweden.

Police said an estimated 250,000 people flooded Copenhagen to be part of the celebration. Thousands more watched it live on television throughout Europe, Australia and even in Egypt.

After a 45-minute ride in an open carriage through the capital’s winding streets to the palace, the couple appeared on the balcony of the Amalienborg Palace. Frederik, his arm around Mary’s waist, kissed his wife, causing the jubilant crowd below them to erupt in applause.

Nearly a third of Denmark’s 10,000-strong police force was assigned for the event.

Along the parade route, people hung out from windows to see the newlyweds and royal dignitaries, including Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia; Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito; Spanish Crown Prince Felipe; Britain’s Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie; Australian Governor General Michael Jeffrey and Tasmanian Governor Richard Butler; and France’s first lady, Bernadette Chirac.

Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and his new wife, Crown Princess Mary, leave Our Lady's Church after their wedding ceremony in Copenhagen. Royals from nearly every monarchy in Europe, prime ministers, nobles and diplomats witnessed the commoner, Mary Donaldson from Hobart, exchange traditional Danish vows with Crown Prince Frederik, the heir to Denmark's 1,000-year-old throne.

Crown Prince Nahurito of Japan

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Prince Felipe of Spain and his fiancee, Letizia Ortiz

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