Princess Mary ditches heels for helmet on Sydney tour

When Danish Crown Princess Mary was planning her visit to Sydney, she had one request: to pop on a helmet and take to the city on two wheels.

The royal barely broke a sweat on Friday morning as she rode from Hyde Park to Customs House, where she was met by Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore.

The pair then boarded the light rail - a project led by a Danish architect - to Town Hall, accompanied by a group of Danish delegates.

Mary led the delegation from her adopted country to discuss Australia's "green transition" while visiting a number of Danish-led projects related to sustainable construction and transportation.

Ms Moore said she was thrilled to welcome the Tasmanian-born royal on her first trip home in ten years.

"The wonderful things they've been doing in Copenhagen for thirty or forty years, we've been doing successfully in Sydney since about 2008," she told reporters on Friday.

The lord mayor also told the princess about the challenges of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic and the city's outdoor dining solution.

"I think she was very excited to see the transformation in Sydney and I was very excited to show her," Ms Moore said.

In 2007, Ms Moore handed the keys to the city to Danish architect Jan Gehl to make Sydney a greener, more connected and more attractive place to live and work.

His work has been credited for pedestrianising George Street in Sydney's CBD and bringing inner-city laneways to life as well as inspiring urban design in Perth, Adelaide and Hobart.

Mr Gehl was the second Dane to be awarded the keys to the city after architect Jørn Utzon in 1998, who won a competition in 1957 to design the Opera House.

The Danish urban influence extends to Quay Quarter Towers, a 206-metre high building recently erected in the CBD. 

The project, co-designed by Danish company 3XN and BVN architects in Sydney, cinched the World Building of the Year award last year.

Mary has long touted the connections between Denmark and her homeland since marrying into the Danish royalty in 2004. 

She met Crown Prince Frederik at a pub during the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

"I was asked by a journalist what did I know about Denmark before meeting my future husband?" she said during her last official visit to Australia in 2013.

"I replied, 'Hans Christian Anderson and the Sydney Opera House was designed by a Dane'."

Mary's visit follows a trip to Vanuatu and Fiji aimed at shining a light on the impacts of climate change on Pacific island nations.

After leaving Australia, she will head to London for the coronation of King Charles III on May 6.