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Denmark’s Royal Family has updated their website to show the new status belonging to four of Queen Margrethe’s grandchildren after they were stripped of their HRH titles.
The 82-year-old monarch announced in September that the four children of her younger son, 53-year-old Prince Joachim, would no longer be able to use the title of prince and princess after January 1.
She has said the decision was intended to allow Nikolai, 23, Felix, 20 – born from Joachim’s first marriage – and Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10, to live normal lives without royal obligations.
Instead of being Princes and Princesses, they are Counts and Countess and referred to as Their Excellencies – a change which is now reflected on the household’s website.
Denmark’s Royal Family has updated their website to show the new status belonging to four of Queen Margrethe’s grandchildren after they were stripped of their HRH titles. Pictured, Count Nikolai, left, and right, Count Felix
Under the Royal Family and Succession To The Throne pages of the website, the four young royals – who have maintained their positions in the line of succession – are mentioned with their new titles.
It was a tumultuous autumn for the Danish Royal Family after the monarch stripped Joachim’s four children of their prince and princess titles – a move which he publicly spoke out against.
But speaking in a televised New Year’s address on Saturday, Margrethe admitted: ‘That the relationship with Prince Joachim and (his wife) Princess Marie has run into difficulties hurts me.
‘Difficulties and disagreements can arise in any family, including mine. The whole country has witnessed this.’
The 82-year-old monarch announced in September that the four children of her youngest son, 53-year-old Prince Joachim, would no longer be able to use the title of prince and princess after January 1. Pictured, Countess Athena, left, and right, Count Henrik
The Danish Queen (pictured with her sons and their wives) has said the decision to was intended to allow Nikolai, 23, Felix, 20 – born from Joachim’s first marriage – and Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10, to live normal lives without royal obligations
She added that she was ‘sure that the family can enter the new year together with confidence, understanding and new courage’.
And last night, the Royal Family appeared to put the drama far behind them as they arrived for their glamorous New Year’s dinner at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen.
Despite the fallout, Prince Joachim was seen stepping out at the lavish event alongside his wife Princess Marie, as were his brother Crown Prince Frederik and wife Crown Princess Mary, as well as the Queen’s sister Princess Benedikte.
Last year, Prince Joachim publicly spoke out against his mother’s decision in the days that followed – claiming that his children had been ‘harmed’ in the process.
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark pictured attending the annual New Year’s dinner last night
Months later, the sixth-in-line to the throne admitted that ‘communication was missing’ within the Royal Family in the lead-up to the shock announcement.
Joachim told local news outlet B.T.: ‘There is a lot to work on. Communication was what was missing. Now we have met and we are on the right track.’
Shortly after his children were stripped of his titles, Joachim claimed that he had only been given five days’ notice before the news was made public.
Following the Queen’s announcement, Joachim spoke to Danish publication Ekstra Bladet outside the Danish Embassy in Paris, where he lives with his French-born wife Princess Marie and his two youngest children, and said his four children had been ‘hurt’ by their grandmother’s decision.
Prince Joachim’s children Nikolai, 23, Felix, 20, Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10, all lost their titles on January 1 2023
Denmark’s Prince Felix, Princess Marie, Prince Joachim, Princess Athena, Prince Henrik and Prince Nikolai in September
‘I was given five days’ notice to tell them. In May, I was presented with a plan which, by and large, was that when the children each turned 25, it would happen. Now I had only five days to tell them. Athena turns 11 in January,’ he clarified
Meanwhile, his ex-wife Alexandra, 58, who was married to Joachim for 10 years until 2005, said that her sons, Nikolai and Felix, had been left feeling ‘ostracised’ from the institution and the decision had come like a ‘bolt out of the blue’.
The Royal Household released a further statement, saying: ‘As the Queen stated yesterday, the decision has been a long time coming.
‘We understand that there are many emotions at stake at the moment, but we hope that the Queen’s wish to future-proof the Royal Household will be respected.’
Last year, it was said that Joachim and his family are relocating to the US after he landed a new job in the defence industry in Washington, according to local media reports.
The Danish royal, 53, has decided to move to Washington DC with his wife and their two young children, Henrik and Athena, Danish newspaper BT reported.
The royal couple are currently based in Paris, where the prince has worked as defence attaché since 2020. However that job is expected to come to an end in June, meaning they are likely to up sticks in the second half of the year.
The Danish Royal Court’s communications department did not confirm Joachim’s reported upcoming move.
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