Queen Margrethe of Denmark and her eldest son refused to answer questions regarding the fallout of last week’s bombshell royal titles as they arrived at the state opening of parliament on Tuesday
Queen Margrethe of Denmark and her eldest son refused to answer questions regarding the fallout of last week’s bombshell royal titles as they arrived at the state opening of parliament on Tuesday.
Margrethe, 82, was joined by Crown Prince Frederick, 54, and his wife Crown Princess Mary, 50, at the opening of the Folketing, in Copenhagen.
The assembled press asked a flurry of questions to all three royals on their arrival but the trio ‘chose with big smiles to turn their backs to the press and talk among themselves befo
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Queen Margrethe of Denmark and her eldest son refused to answer questions regarding the fallout of last week’s bombshell royal titles as they arrived at the state opening of parliament on Tuesday
Margrethe, 82, was joined by Crown Prince Frederick and his wife Crown Princess Mary at the opening of the Folketing, in Copenhagen. Princess Mary looked slightly strained as she took her seat, pictured
The royals put on an upbeat display and smiled to each other as they took their seats ahead of the opening.Margrethe opted for a vibrant mint dress and matching hat, while Australian-born Mary looked more sombre in grey
She said she was sorry for hurting her family with the ‘difficult decision’ but insisted it was the right choice.
And according to Danish royal commentators, the public statement is ‘completely unusual’ and shows how serious the conflict within the family has become.
They added the Queen likely fears coming across as an ‘ice queen’, following several emotive public statements from Joachim in which he spoke of how his children had been ‘harmed’ by their grandmother’s decision.
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Speaking to Danish publication , royal house expert Lars Hovbakke Sørensen said: ‘It is a completely unusual situation, it is historic, and it shows something about the seriousness that the Queen feels called to make such a personal announcement in a press release.
‘It is quite unusual and she has never done this before. It shows that there is a huge conflict.’
Queen Margrethe (pictured in blue) made the decision to strip princely titles from Prince Nikolai (left), Prince Felix (second from left), Prince Henrik (right) and Princess Athena (second from right).Also pictured: Prince Joachim and Princess Marie
Prince Joachim and Princess Marie of Denmark (pictured) have admitted their relationship with Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary is ‘complicated’ — and that they still haven’t heard from Margrethe II after she stripped four of her grandchildren of their royal titles
Mr Sørensen added the Queen’s statement was a way of ‘trying to close this conflict’ and draw a line under it, following several days of turbulence between the monarch and her youngest son.
Last Thursday Prince Joachim told Ekstra Bladet his children, Prince Nikolai, 23, Prince Felix, 20, Prince Henrik, 13, and Princess Athena, 10, had been ‘hurt’ by their grandmother’s decision to remove their princely titles and make them counts and countesses as of 1 January 2023, adding he had only had a few days to break the news to them before it was announced publicly.
He also admitted his relationship with his brother Crown Prince Frederik is ‘complicated’ — and that he hadn’t heard from his mother Queen Margrethe II after she stripped his children of their royal titles.
However, according to Mr Sørensen: ‘You cannot have members or former members of the royal house constantly speaking in the press about the Queen’s decision and discussing back and forth with each other in full public view.’
He added Queen Margrethe ‘had to say something’ following Prince Joachim’s public comments.
The appearance from Queen Margrethe came hours after she had released a bombshell statement about her decision to strip her grandchildren of their titles (left and right)
<div class="ima in Copenhagen on Friday, saying that while 'change can be extremely difficult and can really hurt…this does not mean that the decision is not the right one’.
The oldest son of Australian-born Princess Mary, 50, and Frederik is Prince Christian, 16, who is second-in-line to the throne.
Frederick and Mary’s four children — Prince Christian, 16, Princess Isabella, 15, and Welcome Bonus Slot twins Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent, 11 — remain unaffected by the monarch’s decision as they are direct descendants of the future King.
However Princess Mary suggested that might not always be the case, saying they will ‘also look at [their] children’s titles when the time comes’.
Speaking about the monarch’s intention to slim down the Danish royal family, Joachim said: ‘The reality must still be: whether you modernize or slim down, it must be done in a proper way.It’s about children. Orderliness and children. It is a very heavy matter.’
Commenting on Princess Mary’s point that her children may too lose titles in the future, Joachim said: ‘I don’t know how they feel if they have to think it through.Now is preparation time. We didn’t have that.’
Last week, commenting on his children’s reaction to the move to