The enmity of the one who will be proclaimed this Sunday as King Frederick X with his only brother, Prince Joachim, has never been confirmed but has been rumored for years. It was the departure and subsequent establishment of the little brother in Paris with his family in 2020 that sparked rumors of estrangement, and later, due to the withdrawal of the title of prince from Joaquín’s children in January 2023 – for the sake of to reduce the Danish royal family—the family schism became more evident.
The origin of Joaquín’s discomfort with the Kongehuset (Danish royal house) is said to derive from the new king’s desire for prominence and also from a certain disagreement with him, surely added to the submission of his life and that of his family and the rules of the royal house. That would be comparable with the reasons for Megxit, as long as media pressure is subtracted from the equation, since Joaquín is not nearly as persecuted and scrutinized as Meghan Markle and Prince Henry of Sussex were.
Prince Joachim, who has a long military career and was appointed colonel in the Danish reserve army in April 2015, went to Paris to work as a Danish defense attaché at the country’s embassy in the French capital and at that time he was seen as the departure of Henry of Sussex. Since last September 1, Prince Joachim has been sought an even more distant position, in Washington, to also work as a defense attaché at the Danish embassy in the US capital.
“It is not easy to change continents. Paris was our second home and Europe is Europe. We know that. This is something completely different,” he said during his first day of work at the doors of the embassy. “We have had some challenges and we still have a lot to do in terms of moving, but the children started school on Monday and they are loving it. They find it exciting and they have already made new friends,” she added.
Due to distance or the desire not to present a too extensive Danish royal family, it has already been announced that Prince Joachim will travel alone to Denmark for his brother’s proclamation, leaving Mary, his wife, who is his namesake. sister-in-law, and all her children in Washington. Joaquín is also not expected to have any role in the official events and we will see if he is invited to greet from the balcony of the Amalienborg palace complex.
Like Prince Henry of Sussex, he has sometimes described himself as a “second boy.” In an interview with Point de Vue magazine he commented that “for the heir, it is enough to follow the course of events. But no one defines the role of the second and his wife.” And he compared his displeasure with that of his late father, Prince Henry: “My father experienced the same dissatisfaction and never managed to obtain clarification about his place in the royal family.”
Joaquín from Denmark has four children, two from his first marriage to Alejandra Manley, Nicolás and Félix, who seem interested in fashion and social networks; and two others from his current marriage to Marie Cavallier, Enrique and Athena. All of them have been counts of Monpezat since the title of prince was withdrawn from them. With his settlement in Washington, the prince joins the long list of royals living in the United States, such as Prince Henry of Sussex, Princess Mako of Japan, Magdalena of Sweden or Martha Louise of Norway.
