A "shocking" decision... The Queen of Denmark strips four grandchildren of their royal titles
Denmark's Queen Margrethe II has revealed her intention to strip four of her grandchildren of their royal titles, according to The Independent.
The queen's decision came in a statement published by the royal palace yesterday (Wednesday), in which he revealed that the children of the queen's second son, Prince Joachim, will no longer bear the titles of prince or princess, nor the title of "Royal Highnesses."
The change in titles will apply to Prince Nikolai, 23, Prince Felix (20), Prince Henrik (13), and Princess Athena (10), who will instead receive the titles of Count and Countess of Monpezate.
While the titles used by the Queen's grandchildren so far will "discontinue", the statement noted that all four grandchildren "retain their places in the line of succession to the throne".
They are currently occupying the seventh to tenth ranks in the line of succession.
According to the Danish Palace, the Queen's decision was made after she experienced similar changes in other kingdoms;
The palace stated that the ruling "is in line with similar modifications that other royal houses have made in various ways in recent years."
The palace also indicated that the Queen hopes her four grandchildren can continue to live lives not shaped by their royal titles as a result of this decision.
"By her decision, the Queen wishes to create a framework for the four grandchildren to be able to shape their own lives to a large extent without being bound by the special considerations and duties represented by formal affiliation with the Royal House of Denmark as an institution," the statement says.
However, the decision will not affect the four children of Crown Prince Frederick and his wife Marie: Prince Christian, 16, Princess Isabella, 15, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, 11, who will continue to hold royal titles.
After the announcement, Alexandra, Countess of Fredericksburg, mother of Prince Nicholas and Prince Felix, and ex-wife of Prince Joachim, shared her confusion and "shock" about the decision.
“We are all confused by the decision,” she said. “We are sad and shocked. … It comes like a thunderbolt;
Where children feel ostracized.
They cannot understand why their identity was taken from them.”
Joachim is engaged to Prince Henrik and Princess Athena with Princess Mary, whom he married in 2008.
Denmark's Queen Margrethe's decision follows a similar decision by Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf, who announced in October 2019 that the children of Princess Madeleine and Chris O'Neill, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia, would lose the title of "His Royal Highness".
At the time, the Swedish Royal Palace also announced that the king's five grandchildren would not be expected to perform official royal duties.
The Danish palace's decision also comes amid persistent speculation over whether British King Charles III will give royal titles to his two grandchildren, Archie and Lillibet, the son and daughter of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
On the royal family's website, the Duke and Duchess' children are still referred to as "Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor" and "Miss Lilibit Mountbatten-Windsor", despite letters from King George V in 1917 stating that the British monarch's descendants could be princes or princesses.
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