Friday 30 September 2022 08:14 AM Queen of Denmark hints decision to strip grandchildren of their titles was ... trends now

The Queen of Denmark has heavily hinted that the decision to strip relatives of their titles was inspired by Charles III’s plans for a slimmed down British monarchy including cutting the royal purse strings to his son Prince Harry. 

Queen Margrethe, 82, has removed princely titles from four of her eight grandchildren, saying it is 'for their own good' - prompting an unseemly royal row redolent of Megxit when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit and emigrated to California.

Prince Nikolai, fourth in line to the Danish throne, has said that he is sad, shocked and confused by the decision - but his critics claims he has built a reputation for being a 'playboy prince' and is best known for his modelling work for Burberry and Dior. 

At the end of last year, he started training at the Royal Danish Military Academy to become an Army Lieutenant, but in October it was announced that he'd quit after just two months because it 'wasn't for him'. His brother Felix is also a model.

The Danish Crown's statement even addressed this comparison, saying that the Queen's decision is ‘in line with similar adjustments that other royal houses have made in various ways in recent years’. Some have noted Margrethe's warmth towards Charles when they met at Buckingham Palace on the eve of the Queen's funeral - and pondered whether slimming down their royal households may even have been discussed.

Europe's only reigning Queen will also have seen her cousin Queen Elizabeth II's hard line on her son Prince Andrew, who was stripped of all his military titles and royal patronages in January over his links to Jeffrey Epstein and his multi-million-dollar settlement with Epstein's sex slave, Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

And it is not just Britain's royals that will have influenced Margrethe II's decision. Her neighbour King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden announced in 2019 that the children of his daughter  Princess Madeleine would lose their HRH status - with only the heir to the throne Crown Princess Victoria and her children keeping their titles.

The Dutch royal family has also been pared back significantly. King Willem-Alexander's brother Prince Constantijn, and his wife, Princess Laurentien, both work full time jobs and do not receive constitutional allowances from the crown as European royal families battle to remain popular and relevant. 

Queen Margrethe's official reason was to allow the four children of her younger son, Prince Joachim: Nikolai, Felix, Henrik and Athena, to live more normal lives, and follows similar moves by other royal families in Europe, including the Windsors, to slim down their monarchies, the Danish palace said. 

But Prince Joachim, 53, now married to second wife Princess Marie, told Danish news outlet Ekstra Bladet: ‘We are all very sad. It’s never fun to see your children being harmed. They are been put in a situation they do not understand’. He said he had been given only five days’ notice of the decision. Prince Joachim’s four children are: Nikolai, Felix, Henrik and Athena, ranging in age from 23 to 10. They will lose their titles from January 1.

The queen’s four other grandchildren, born to Crown Prince Frederik, 54, will retain their titles but when they come of age only the future king, Prince Christian, will receive government funding, a decision taken in 2016.

In Britain King Charles and his son Prince William, his heir, remain at loggerheads with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, especially over their security while in the UK and also whether their children will be Prince and Princess.

There has still been no announcement on any future titles for Archie and Lilibet. The Prince and Princess of Wales's new titles have already been updated on the Royal Family's website - but Archie and Lilibet's have not.

Following the death of their great-grandmother three weeks ago, the youngsters, who are sixth and seventh in line to the throne, are now entitled to be called prince and princess. But Buckingham Palace have refused to confirm yet as to whether this will officially happen.

And last week a spokesman for King Charles said it was ‘unlikely’ that any announcement would be made until at least September 26, when the period of royal mourning ends. There has still been no statement.

Archie, three and Lilibet, one, became eligible for the titles on the death of the Queen under rules set out by King George V in 1917 limiting the number of royal family members able to claim a HRH title.

His Letters Patent -a written order of the monarch’s wishes- restricted royals allowed to use an HRH title to the children of the sovereign, the children of the sovereign’s sons, and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.

King Charles is widely reported to be planning a 'slimmed-down' monarchy during his reign, which would mean he could be focusing on his heirs - rather than his disgraced brother the Duke of York

Royal experts have said that Charles believes there is no longer a role for Prince Andrew in the monarchy, adding that the Duke of York will not be given any of his military titles again after he was stripped of them following revelations about his ties to Epstein emerged.

Buckingham Palace announced in January that the Prince would be stripped of all his military titles and patronages by his late mother the Queen. It is understood King Charles and Prince William were instrumental in influencing the decision.

And in Denmark the turmoil over Queen Margrethe's decision continues.

Prince Nikolai said that he is sad, shocked and confused after his grandmother Queen Margrethe stripped him and his siblings of their titles 'for their own good' as his mother 'says there's no good reason' for the move.

The prince, 23, will no longer be able to use the title His Royal Highness, after he and his three siblings were told by their grandmother the Queen that removing their titles will be 'good for them in the future'. 

It comes as his mother Countess Alexandra's press secretary questioned why the change could not have waited until their wedding day, when they would 'lose their titles anyway'.

'My whole family and I are of course very sad. We are, as my parents have also stated, in shock at this decision and at how quickly it has actually gone,' Prince Nikolai, Prince Joachim's eldest son, told Danish newspaper Extrabladet.

'I am very confused as to why it has to happen like this,' he told reporters from outside the Copenhagen apartment where he lives with his girlfriend.

Countess Alexandra, mother to Prince Nikolai and Prince Felix, 20, is also 'very sad' and 'shocked' about the decision.

'She can't believe why and why now, because there's no good reason.' Helle von Wildenrath Løvgreen, press secretary to Countess Alexandra told CNN.

'They would lose their titles anyway when they get married one day. Her sons are young men so maybe they might get married in the near future so why shouldn't it wait until that day so that the titles would disappear on a happy day?'

On Thursday morning, the Danish royal household hit back after Prince Joachim claimed his four children were only given five days' notice that they would be stripped of their titles by their grandmother Queen Margrethe. 

The palace said in a statement today that there are a 'lot of emotions' but that the decision had been a 'long time coming' and was designed to 'future-proof' the monarchy.  

Prince Joachim, 53, the youngest of Margrethe's two sons, said his children Nikolai,  Felix, Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10, had been 'harmed' by the news that they will have prince and princess removed from their titles, and will no longer be able to use His or Her Royal Highness. 

'We are all very sad. It's never fun to see your children being harmed. They are been put in a situation they do not understand,' he said in an interview with Danish news outlet Ekstra Bladet. 

Prince Joachim, who is sixth-in-line to the throne behind his brother and his children, was speaking outside the Danish Embassy in Paris, where he lives with his second wife Marie and their children Henrik and Athena. 

Nikolai and Felix, who are both models, are the product of his first marriage to Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg. 

Alexandra, 58, who was married to Prince Joachim for 10 years until 2005, said the news came like a 'bolt out of the blue' and her sons now feel 'ostracised' from their family. Her spokesperson also claimed Joachim learned the news through a royal aide, rather than from his mother directly. 

Margrethe's other four grandchildren - Prince Christian, 16, Princess Isabella, 15, and 11-year-old twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine - born to her eldest son and heir Crown Prince Frederik will maintain their titles. 

The move has created an 'icy' atmosphere within the Royal Family, according to one local media report, and has driven a wedge between a seemingly united family. 'There has never been a public conflict between the Queen and Prince Joachim,' Danish royal reporter Kenth Madsen told FEMAIL. 

Indeed, they put on a united front just weeks ago when they celebrated Queen Margrethe's Golden Jubilee. 

Queen Margrethe, 82, who attended the funeral with her eldest son Crown Prince Frederick, said she hoped the move would allow her grandchildren to 'shape their own lives without being limited by the special considerations and duties' that come with a formal affiliation with the Danish Royal Family. 

The statement also hinted that it is a move designed to streamline the monarchy - in echoes of King Charles' desire for the British Royal Family, and those of other European royal

read more from dailymail.....