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Queen Margrethe II: "The whole country has witnessed it"
Photo: Per Morten Abrahamsen / Royal House of Denmark / picture alliance / dpa
The Danish Queen Margrethe II openly addressed the dispute with her youngest son Joachim in her New Year's message.
"It hurts me that the relationship with Prince Joachim and Princess Marie got into trouble," said the 82-year-old in her speech broadcast on Saturday evening.
Difficulties and disagreements can arise in any family, including my own.
The whole country has witnessed it.«
At the same time, the monarch was confident that the royal family could "start the new year together with trust, understanding and new courage".
At the end of September, the Queen announced that four of her eight grandchildren would lose their titles.
The reason given by the royal palace was that this should enable Prince Joachim's four children to lead a more normal life.
The move came into effect at the turn of the year.
Prince Joachim's eldest son said he was "very upset"
Prince Joachim has four children from two marriages who are between ten and 23 years old.
In future, they may only use the title Count or Countess of Monpezat.
The title Prince or Princess of Denmark is dropped.
Prince Joachim's eldest son Nikolai had told the media "very dismayed" about the loss of the title.
Princess Marie, wife of Prince Joachim, said the couple's relationship with Crown Prince Frederik and his wife Mary was "complicated".
"I made my decision as queen, mother and grandmother," Margrethe II had already explained on the issue in October, "but as a mother and grandmother, I underestimated how much my youngest son and his family felt affected."
In addition to her regrets, Margrethe II also emphasized that it was her duty and her wish to develop the monarchy in a contemporary way.
»Sometimes this requires difficult decisions to be made and it will always be difficult to find the right timing.«
mboe/AFP/dpa
