The Danish Queen traditionally sends her New Year’s message to the people of the country. She also addresses the discrepancies in her own family and is confident about the new year.
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 (his wife) 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 the four children of Margrethe’s youngest son Joachim to lead a more normal life. The move will come into effect at the turn of the year.
Prince Joachim has four children from two marriages, aged between 10 and 23. In future, they may only use the title Count or Countess of Monpezat. The title Prince or Princess of Denmark is dropped.
Joachim’s eldest son Nikolai had told the media “very dismayed” about the loss of the title. Prince Joachim’s wife Princess Marie said the couple’s relationship with Crown Prince Frederik and his wife Mary was “complicated”.
(This article was first published on Sunday, January 01, 2023.)
