'I was Queen Mary's "princess whisperer". This is what my job entails.'

Before Princess Mary was on course to become the Queen of Denmark, she was a regular Aussie gal living in Bondi.

Mary met her now-husband, Prince Frederik, in a bar in Sydney in 2000, and the pair married four years later, going on to welcome four children – Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine. Now she's Danish royalty, and will ascend to the throne (alongside her husband, Prince Frederik) on January 14.

But before all that, when she was still just Mary Donaldson, she took proactive steps to ensure she'd do a bang-up job of being a beloved leader throughout Denmark (and Australia).

Watch: Teresa Page on how she and Princess Mary met. Post continues below.

Mary undertook extensive lessons to become fluent in the Danish language, got very familiar with the country's rich culture, history and political landscape, and even enrolled in specialised training to prepare herself for life as a princess. 

Before all of that though, Mary took the first step on her journey to royalty by enrolling in an eight-week course at Starquest Studios – a personal and professional development program in Australia and Denmark for which the royal paid almost $2,000. She learned how to walk, connect with people, shake hands properly and perform in front of a camera – and also just how to become a people's princess.

Starmaker's Teresa Page has worked with top executives, creatives, artists and musicians all wanting to learn to embrace the spotlight. And this is exactly what Princess Mary wanted to learn when she undertook classes with Page in December 2000, just a few weeks after meeting Prince Frederik.

The making of a princess, and soon-to-be queen. Princess Mary on her wedding day in 2004. Image: Getty.

"Mary attended my second program ever," Page tells Mamamia, explaining she met the royal when she signed up for one of Page's introductory courses.

"She wasn't [going into] fashion or film but she did ask me what was her potential after completing the program," she continued. 

"I said that I thought she could definitely work on television and that the camera loved her. She has this very playful and fun side. It really came out on film. I haven't released any of the footage of her acting classes."

The kinds of lessons Page helped Princess Mary learn to prepare for life in the spotlight involved developing a good posture, realigning the body to make herself appear more graceful, developing her performance skills and public speaking abilities, and helping her to connect with an audience.

"It's about the expansion of your self-image and internal image," she explains. "You condition yourself for the limelight."

And while Princess Mary wasn't looking to go into the entertainment industry, Page called on the same lessons to give Mary that "star quality" so many of her students seek. 

"Mary had [previously] said she'd never had a good photo taken. She was very pretty and she's had shots taken, but nothing good," Page recalls. 

"I was teaching her [my] photography posing protocol that I had learned from my 20 years of modelling around the world... I was very stern.

"Mary superseded all expectations. I read an article [later] that said she has never had a bad photo taken."

Ahead of Princess Mary and Prince Frederik's January 14 proclamation, Page says she's thankful for the time she spent working with the beloved royal.

"I've had that opportunity because of other people's interest and I'm thrilled. I'm very, very grateful for the way that Princess Mary had the highest outcomes [from] the performance training," she told us.

"I think there's a bit of destiny involved. It was Mary's destiny to be Queen of Denmark."

For more from Starmaker's Teresa Page, you can visit her page here.

Feature Image: Supplied/Getty.

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