In just a few days the history of the Danish monarchy will have changed forever. The current queen, Margaret II, abdicates at the age of 83 to her eldest son, Frederick, who will become King Frederick of Margaret herself.
This was announced by the current sovereign in her New Year’s speech, breaking molds and traditions once again, as has been characteristic of her reign. Abdicating is not customary in Denmark, nor was it the decision to withdraw the titles of princes and princesses from four of her grandchildren, children of Prince Joachim. A decision that did not sit too well with the queen’s youngest son, who has now decided that he will not participate in the coronation of his brother Frederick, or at least not as expected.
Three days after the unexpected change in the Danish royal house and in the midst of controversy over the scandal over photos of the future Federico and his children -Nicolas and Félix, born from the prince’s marriage to Alexandra Manley; and Henrik and Athena, from his current marriage to Marie Cavallier – in Washington, where they reside.
This has been confirmed by the press officer of the Danish Royal Palace, Lene Balleby, who has justified the absence of Princess Marie and the counts and countess of Monpezat from Christianborg Palace. “Prince Joachim will be there, but the children go to school, there is no special reason.” In addition, Prince Joachim is not expected to perform any special functions during the day, leaving Copenhagen on January 15.
It is no secret that the relationship between the two brothers is not exactly good, being even more estranged since Queen Margaret decided to strip Prince Joachim’s children of their titles in an attempt to reduce expenses.
In September 2022, in a statement that no one expected, the queen announced that “the descendants of His Royal Highness Prince Joachim can only use their titles as Count and Countess of Monpezat, as their previous titles as Prince and Princess of Denmark disappear.” “The descendants of Prince Joachim must henceforth be treated as Excellencies.”
With this decision, the queen excused herself by claiming that she wanted to “create the framework so that the four grandchildren can shape their own lives,” but it did not sit well with her son, Prince Joachim, who since then has not spent much time with her. his mother or his brother Federico.
The prince himself expressed how he felt about being the “second boy” of the family in an interview with Point de Vue magazine, comparing his position to that of his own father, Prince Henrik. “For the heir, it is enough to follow the course of events. But no one defines the role of the second and his wife,” he explained. “My father experienced the same dissatisfaction and never managed to get clarification about his place in the royal family.”
