Prince Joachim of Denmark and his wife, Princess Marie, have given an interesting interview to the American newspaper The Washington Post in which they talk about what their life is like away from Copenhagen. The couple has resided with their children in Washington for seven months, after having lived four years in Paris, since Queen Margaret’s youngest son assumed his duties as a diplomat abroad.
The younger brother of Frederick
That doesn’t mean he himself is far from the drama. He and his family were the protagonists of a public family crisis in 2022, when her mother, Queen Margaret, decided to withdraw the titles of prince and princess from her four children: Christian, Nicholas, Felix and Athena; Not so for the children of the current king and his wife, Mary Donaldson, who continue to hold their titles.
The four would no longer be called “royal highnesses” and would begin to hold the rank of “excellencies”, although they do retain their respective places in the line of succession. Queen Margaret explained at the time that this decision was “necessary for the future of the monarchy,” and she claimed that it was something that would improve the living conditions of her grandchildren, giving them anonymity for the future.
At first, Prince Joachim and his wife did not take it too well. Neither did Alexandra Manley, the prince’s first wife and mother of his two oldest children. All of them stated that they were “surprised” and “disappointed” with the queen’s decision.
“We were not happy with the way it happened,” confesses Princess Marie, adding in the interview that it was “a family thing” and that it is “complicated.” What some people might consider frivolous is something more, since they consider that for their children “it is also their name. It is their identity since they were born. That is why it is more than what people see as a title.”
Despite the controversy, they accepted the queen’s decision, since she is the one who always has the last word in any discussion. “We have moved on,” says Prince Joachim.
Of course, only he was present at the coronation ceremony of his brother, the now King Frederick More smalls.
