Is something rotten in the Kingdom of Denmark? The Danish royal family, usually so low-key, has been making headlines in the tabloids since Wednesday. A simple press release from Queen Margaret II, on the throne for 50 years, was enough to create discord in the royal family: the sovereign announced in it “changes of title” for her descendants, and in particular for some of her grandchildren. stripped of their titles. Cataclysm.
• What did Queen Margaret II announce?
On September 28, a press release was published on the royal family’s website, in which Queen Margaret II mentioned these famous “changes of titles in the royal family”. In May 2016, the statement recalls, the queen announced that only one of her grandchildren would receive a state pension once they were adults. This is Prince Christian, born in 2005, the eldest son of Frederik, himself the eldest son of the monarch.
Margarita, who is the longest-serving monarch in Europe since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, now goes further. She announces in this press release that she withdraws her titles of prince and princess from her children, her youngest son Joachim, her four grandchildren, Felix, Nikolai, Henrik and Athena, born to two successive marriages.
“As of January 1, 2023, the descendants of His Royal Highness Prince Joaquín will only be able to use their titles of Count and Countess of Monpezat,” indicates the press release from the royal palace.
“His previous titles of Prince and Princess of Denmark will cease to exist.”
It is not, according to the press release, to intimidate them, but rather to “create a framework” that allows them to shape their lives as they see fit, without being embarrassed by considerations of duty to the royal house.
• How did the young princes react?
Far from being relieved, the young princes and their father Joachim, son of the queen, took it very badly. The atmosphere is more one of wonder and trembling than understanding and liberation.
“We are all very sad,” said Joachim, questioned in front of the Danish embassy in Paris, where he works, and visibly very affected by this decision.
“It’s never fun to see your kids hurt like that. They’re in a situation they don’t understand.”
Prince Nikolai, his eldest son, 23, said he was “sad, shocked and bewildered”. Alexandra Manley, Joachim’s first wife and mother of his two oldest children, also stepped forward to defend his offspring, stating that her children “don’t understand why their identity is being taken away from them.”
• What do the Danes think?
The Danish press feeds on the dissensions within the royal family and counts the points, broadcasting the statements of one and the other, of the young Prince Nikolai, who entrusted his sentence to the tabloid. Ekstra Bladetto Mary of Denmark, Frederick’s wife and future queen consort, for whom the queen’s decision may be difficult, but “that does not mean that it is not the right one”.
Like the royal family, royal commentators are divided. For some, it stems from the desire to restrict the royal house to a few members, to perpetuate it. Another says, in the columns of the conservative newspaper berlin“angry at the Queen”, for the way she treats her family.
The editor of the berlin He points out that if the Danish adherence to the royal house is strong, and that the queen’s decision goes in the right direction, the announcement was poorly prepared and harms the monarchy. Above all, this reveals a “profound crisis” within the royal family, underlines journalist Peter Thygesen, a columnist for the daily politics.
“However, Margrethe’s decision seems to have been well received by her subjects, according to polls published in the Danish media,” says the sunday time.
• Are there precedents in other royal families?
“The Queen’s decision follows similar changes that other Royal Houses have made in recent years in different ways,” the Queen’s statement said.
In fact, other royal houses have lowered the candles in this way. Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, in 2019, deprived the children of his son, Prince Carl Philip, as well as those of his daughter, Princess Madeleine, of his title.
“Prince Alexander, Prince Gabriel, Princess Leonore, Prince Nicholas and Princess Adrienne remain members of the royal family,” the statement said at the time. “However, they will no longer enjoy the title of royal highness and will not be required to perform the functions of head of state,” the royal statement added.
When he announced this decision during his Christmas speech, the King of Sweden stressed, like Queen Margaret today, that he would help his grandchildren “forge their own future”.
Unlike Joachim, Carl Philip and his wife Sofia were delighted with this decision.
“We see this very positively, since Alexander and Gabriel will be freer in their life choices,” they posted on their Instagram account, assuring that they will continue to support the king and queen and participate in the activities of the royal house “as they want”.
In the UK, if such a move is not yet being considered, Prince Charles is watching what happens in Denmark, says a royal columnist speaking in the magazine. Well-informed person. This decision could affect the nieces of Charles, daughters of Andrew, the princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, but also Archie and Lilibet, the children of Harry and Meghan, who became prince and princess after the death of Queen Elizabeth.
Source: BFM TV
