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From the New Year only countess and counts, from left to right: Prince Nicolai, Prince Felix, Prince Henrik and Princess Athena
Photo: Martin Sylvest / dpa
The Danish Queen Margrethe II announced that four of her granddaughters and grandchildren would be deprived of the title of prince or princess.
This was announced by the Danish royal family on Wednesday.
The monarch has decided that the children of her younger son Joachim should only bear the titles of Count or Countess of Monpezat from January 1, 2023, it said.
Affected are two sons from Prince Joachim's first marriage to Countess Alexandra and a son and a daughter with his current wife, Princess Marie.
In the affected branch of the family, there is now a feeling of exclusion.
In an interview with the tabloid BT, Prince Joachim expressed his anger at his mother's decision.
“This was announced to me five days in advance.
To tell my children that in the new year they will be stripped of their identities.
I am very, very sad to see them sad and not understanding what is happening over their heads,” he said.
"Why should they be punished like this?"
Unusually open conflict
According to media reports, Prince Joachim contradicts the statements of a spokeswoman for the royal family.
Accordingly, he had known since May that his children should be deprived of their titles.
Prince Joachim now told »BT« that he had been presented with a plan for such a change - which, according to him, should only come into force when the children are 25 years old.
"Athena will be eleven in January," he added.
Before the prince, his ex-wife, Countess Alexandra, had already commented on "BT": "We are all confused about the decision," she said.
“We are sad and shocked.
It comes like a bolt from the blue.” She also spoke on behalf of the prince and princess, it said.
“The children feel left out.
They cannot understand why their identities are being taken away from them.«
Observers consider it unusual for the dispute to escalate publicly.
Countess Alexandra, who has already lost her royal title through remarriage, has always held back and made arrangements with the royal family, said BT's royal house expert, Jacob Heinel Jensen.
“It gives the impression that the royal family is no longer united.
At the moment there are two units.
This is the opposite of what the royal family should be.
They should unite the population,” said Jensen.
It may be a "very targeted attack on Prince Joachim's family".
Meanwhile, Queen Margrethe defended the decision.
She had long thought about depriving Prince Joachim's children of the title of prince and princess, she said, according to "Danmarks Radio" on the way to an event at the National Museum on Wednesday evening.
"Those are considerations I've had for a long time, and I think it's good for her."
The royal family had previously presented the decision as a normal development - as early as 2016 it was decided that only the queen's first-born grandson, Prince Christian, should receive a grant from the state as an adult.
Christian is the eldest son of her first-born son, Crown Prince Frederik.
Role model Sweden?
The statement from the royal family said the queen wanted to give the four grandchildren more freedom.
They are freer to organize their own lives "without being constrained by the special considerations and obligations that formal membership of the royal family as an institution entails".
But the branch of the family concerned, with sons Nikolai, 23, and Felix, 24, from their first marriage, as well as Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10, did not want this freedom at all.
Perhaps the decision has more to do with the fact that the Danish monarchy also wants to organize itself in a leaner way.
The royal house also refers to "similar adaptations" of other royal houses.
In fact, the Swedish one went one step further.
The historian and nobility expert Lars Hovbakke told »Danmarks Radio«: »There Princess Madeleine and her entire family were stripped of their status as part of the royal family.
Denmark is not that far yet.«
After all, even after the titles have been revoked, all grandchildren should retain their place in the line of succession.
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