Crown Prince Frederik pictured holding hands with Princess Mary as they reunite with their children

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark returned from their family trip Down Under to celebrate the festive season with the royal family - and made a statement with their body language as they arrived for a church service on Christmas Eve.

All eyes had been on the couple since November, when Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova released a statement denying any romantic involvement with the Crown Prince after being photographed with the future King in Madrid, Spain.

And it appears that Frederik and Mary, pictured smiling and holding hands as they arrived at Copenhagen’s Aarhus Cathedral on Sunday night, are showing a united front and putting the controversy behind them.

© Carlos Alvarez

The couple, who celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary in May, arrived at the religious service with their children Prince Christian, 18, Princess Isabella, 16, and 12-year-old twins Josephine and Vincent.

© JOHNNY PEDERSEN

Mary looked characteristically stylish in a burgundy floral dress with matching leather gloves and suede boots, and a grey belted wrap overcoat to finish the look.

Also joining the couple were Queen Margrethe of Denmark and Prince Joachim, and his wife, Princess Marie. The pair jetted into Denmark from their current Washington DC home, where they moved earlier this year with their young children, Count Henrik,14, and Countess Athena, 11.

© JOHNNY PEDERSEN

On Monday Frederik and Mary were together again, in step with both their happy demeanour and dark tailored outfits, for Christmas Day mass. 

© MIKKEL BERG PEDERSEN

Frederik and Mary’s schedules, though, found them spending some time apart in recent weeks – Crown Princess Mary headed to her home country of Australia with the couple’s younger children as Prince Frederik shared a sombre solo photo of his life back home. But happily, the pair reunited in New Zealand before heading back to Denmark for the Christmas holidays.

Like many of us, Mary seems to be in a reflective mood as the new year approaches. "The transition to the new year is always an opportunity to pause and appreciate everything that has happened during the year,” she wrote in a post for Mary Fonden – the foundation she set up in 2007 to improve the lives of vulnerable women and children.

The royal mother-of-four continued: "Time is a peculiar thing. The more years you have covered, the faster the next year seems to pass by. At the same time, you become more and more aware of how precious every moment - and every year - is."