They adhered to the dynastic arrangement usually stipulated in the marriage contract in such circumstances: sons were to be raised in the faith of their father, daughters in that of their mother.

Feeling abandoned by his father on this occasion, George would later describe to his fiancée, Princess Marie Bonaparte, the profound attachment he developed for his uncle from that day forward.

In 1907, when George brought his bride to Bernstorff for the first family visit, Marie d'Orléans was at pains to explain to Marie Bonaparte the intimacy which united uncle and nephew, so deep that at the end of each of George's several yearly visits to Bernstorff, he would weep, Valdemar would feel ill, and the women learned to be patient and not intrude upon their husbands' private moments.

[citation needed] During the first of these visits, Valdemar and Marie Bonaparte found themselves engaging in the kind of passionate intimacies she had looked forward to with her husband who, however, only seemed to enjoy them vicariously, sitting or lying beside his wife and uncle.

On a later visit, George's wife carried on a passionate flirtation with Prince Aage, Valdemar's eldest son.

[5] Marie was described as impulsive, witty, and energetic, and introduced a more relaxed style to the stiff Danish court.

She was informal, not snobbish, believed in social equality, expressed her own opinions, and performed her ceremonial duties in an unconventional manner.

She belonged to the political left and participated in convincing the king to agree to the reforms of 1901, which led to an appointment of a Venstre government,[6] and the de facto introduction of parliamentarism.

She also saw to the interests of France: she was credited by the French press with having influenced the Franco-Russian alliance in 1894 and the peace in the French-German Colonial conflict over Morocco in 1905.

[8] The couple had five children: Princess Marie is commemorated with a monument at Langelinie, near St. Alban's English Church in Copenhagen.