Queen of Denmark Margrethe II strips grandchildren of royal titles. Why?
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has stripped her grandchildren of HRH titles. Photo: AFP
Do you dream of having a whirlwind romance with a real Prince of some faraway foreign land and being swept into a Cinderella-type fairytale life? But it may not all be sunshine and rainbows being in a royal family.
There's a new royal drama brewing in another part of the world. And this time it's not the British Royal Family (Ha, what a breather!). This time it's the Danish Royal Family that is reportedly "feuding".
What happened? Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II has stripped her grandchildren of their Prince and Princess titles or the HRH titles.
- Most importantly, she has stripped the titles of only SOME of her grandchildren (does anyone smell favouritism?)
- And their mother, the ex-daughter-in-law is NOT happy.
Whose titles have been stripped? The Queen's second son Prince Joachim's four children have been stripped of their HRH (His/Her Royal Highness) titles.
- Nikolai, 23,
- Felix, 20,
- Henrik, 13, and
- Athena, 10
Instead, they will be known as His Excellency Count of Monpezat or Her Excellency Countess of Monpezat starting January 1, 2023. They do, however, maintain their position in the Royal family hierarchy, as in they are still seventh through tenth in line of succession.
Why? Hello! Magazine quoted Queen Margrethe saying that she took the decision for the good of her grandchildren.
The Palace also put out a statement saying, "With her decision, Her Majesty The Queen wishes to create the framework for the four grandchildren to be able to shape their own lives to a much greater extent without being limited by the special considerations and duties that a formal affiliation with the Royal House of Denmark as an institution involves."
Who is not happy? Alexandra Countess of Frederiksborg, the Queen's ex-daughter-in-law or Prince Joachim's first wife and mother of Nikolai and Felix, is not happy about the decision.
- She said that she was shocked and saddened by the sudden decision.
- Prince Joachim also did not seem very happy about the decision. When asked by the media, he said that he was told just 5 days before the decision was taken.
Prince Joachim of Denmark comments on his children being removed from the royal household & stripped of their HRH Prince & Princess titles. Of note is the fact that the royal household tried to lie to the public about how this was executed & Joachim refused to let the lie stand. https://t.co/YFn4wMhbdT
— R.S. Locke / Royal Suitor (@royal_suitor) September 29, 2022
What does it mean for the structure of the Danish Royal Family? With the decision, the Danish Royal Family got a LOT smaller.
- It needs to be noted that not ALL of the Queen's grandchildren have been stripped of their HRH titles.
- Queen Margrethe's first child and heir apparent to the throne, Crown Prince Frederik's children will continue to be Princes and Princesses.
Not uncommon: The Danish Royal Family also said that such a practice is quite common in other royal families too.
- In 2019, Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf announced that the children of Princess Madeleine and Chris O'Neill as well as Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia would cease to be official members of the royal house.
- In Britain, a drama is still brewing over seemingly lost un-updated titles. Following Queen Elizabeth II's death, the titles of royal members from King Charles, Prince William, Princess of Wales Kate Middleton to their children have all been updated on the royal family's website;
- except for the children of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who are still called "Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor" and "Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor".
- Reportedly, there are arguments raging in the British Royal Family behind the scenes over Archie and Lilibet's titles.
Royal titles can be confusing to peasants like us. Like why was Prince Philip not called King consort while Camilla is called the Queen consort now and why HRH titles are important… Nonetheless, the drama within Europe's Royal Families, who are monarchs without any real power, put the cringe-y drama of Ekta Kapoor's Saas-Bahu serials in India to shame.