Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has reportedly been spotted back on Australian soil, visiting friends and doing a spot of shopping in Melbourne.

The 50 year old royal was spotted visiting a number of high end retail stores in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton alongside her friend and former bridesmaid Amber Petty. Mary opted for a casual look for her return, wearing a white blouse and high waisted denim pants.

A Melbourne retail worker told 7 News that her and a colleague “just kind of let it go because we thought that’s not possible!” after spotting Mary.

“I said to my colleague, ‘hmm, that looks like Princess Mary, doesn’t she look like Princess Mary?’ and my colleague looked over and said ‘yeah, that does actually’,” she said.

Danish magazine Billed Bladet contacted the Danish royal family who confirmed Mary’s low-key visit to Australia.

Mary has been unable to return home for some time now due to border closures as a result of the global pandemic, her last visit to her homeland was in 2017 with Crown Prince Frederik and their four children Prince Christian, Princess Isabella and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine.

Mary’s long awaited return home isn’t the royal’s only recent milestone of late. On March 23, she was finally able to celebrate her 50th birthday, after previous celebrations were postponed due to rampant Covid-19 cases in the country.

Mary, whose official birthday was last month, February 5, celebrated the special milestone which was hosted by colleagues from her social and mental wellbeing charity The Mary Foundation.

The special event was held at Christian VII’s Palace in Amalienborg and saw touching tributes to the Princess’s “thorough” efforts to “fight social isolation based on the belief that everyone has the right to belong” as detailed on the foundation’s official site. Mary addressed guests with a sincere thank you for their support and attendance at the special event.