A prince whose four royal children have been stripped of their titles as part of a bid to slim down a monarchy has hit back at the move and says they've been 'harmed' by the situation.
The Danish Royal Family announced that four grandchildren of Queen Margrethe will lose their prince and princess titles and highness styles from January 1, 2023 - and says it is in line with "other royal houses". The move affects the children of the Queen's second son Prince Joachim - Prince Nikolai, 23, Prince Felix, 20, Prince Henrik, 13, and 10-year-old Princess Athena. Instead, they will have to use titles of count or countess and be referred to as their excellencies from next year.
But today Prince Joachim has hit back at the move approved by his mother, saying his children have been hurt by it and claims he was only give five days notice to tell his three sons and one daughter.
Joachim made the comments outside the Danish embassy in Paris where he lives with his wife Princess Marie and their two youngest children Henrik and Athena. His two older children Nikolai and Felix, who are both models, are from his marriage to his first wife Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg.
He told Danish news organisation Ekstra Bladet : "We are all very sad. It's never fun to see your children being harmed. They themselves find themselves in a situation they do not understand."
He added: "I was given five days' notice to tell them. In May, I was presented with a plan which, by and large, was that when the children each turned 25, it would happen. Now I had only five days to tell them. Athena turns 11 in January."
Yesterday, the Danish Royal House said in a statement: "The Queen’s decision is in line with similar adjustments that other royal houses have made in various ways in recent years.
"With her decision, Her Majesty The Queen wishes to create the framework for the four grandchildren to be able to shape their own lives to a much greater extent without being limited by the special considerations and duties that a formal affiliation with the Royal House of Denmark as an institution involves. All four grandchildren maintain their places in the order of succession."
The move will not affect the children of Margrethe's eldest son and heir to the throne Crown Prince Frederik, who has two sons and two daughters with his wife Crown Princess Mary.
And last night Queen Margrethe explained her decision, saying: "It is a consideration I have had for quite a long time and I think it will be good for them in their future. That is the reason."
The Danish royal row comes amid speculation about titles for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's children Archie and Lilibet - the youngest grandchildren of King Charles.
Following the Queen's death, Harry and Meghan's children are entitled to royal titles following rules set out by King George V in 1917.
As the children of a son of a sovereign – grandchildren of King Charles – they can now have an HRH-style title if they wish to use it and are technically now a prince and a princess.
However, it has not been confirmed by their parents or Buckingham Palace whether they will use the titles.
And one royal expert has claimed the King will wait on Harry's upcoming memoir before making a final decision over Archie and Lilibet's titles.
Ms Nicholl, Vanity Fair's royal correspondent and author of The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown, believes Charles will keep his cards close to his chest until the publication date.
She writes: "Now that Charles is king, Harry and Meghan’s children automatically become Prince Archie of Sussex and Princess Lilibet of Sussex; however, the royal family’s website still has them listed as Master Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor and Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.
"Would Charles go as far as barring Archie and Lilibet from becoming a prince and a princess now that the Sussexes are no longer working royals?
"According to a source close to the king, it depends a lot on what happens in the coming months, particularly with Harry’s book and their TV show."
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Sweden, five grandchildren of King Carl XVI Gustaf from his younger children Princess Madeleine and Prince Carl Philip have also had their royal titles stripped.
This came in 2019, however, Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar, the children of heir to the Swedish throne Crown Princess Victoria, retained their titles.
