Frederik of Denmark
Some family members will be missing when the throne changes
Frederik and Mary (r.) with their four children. On Sunday, the new royal couple will enter the balcony of Christiansborg Palace together with the Danish Prime Minister at 3 p.m. Mette Frederiksen will then publicly announce her accession to the throne.
© Alexanderstock23/Shutterstock.com
Like the coronation of King Charles III. Some close family members will also be absent when the throne in Denmark changes.
After the abdication of Margrethe II (83), her son Frederik (55) will ascend to the throne of Denmark on Sunday, January 14th together with his wife Mary (51). However, some family members will miss the historic event in Copenhagen – it is the first change of throne in 52 years.
Prince Joachim comes without his wife and children
When the crown prince becomes King Frederik X, his niece, his three nephews and his sister-in-law will not be there. Because like, among other things the Danish newspaper “Billed Bladet!” reported, Frederik’s only brother Joachim (54) will come without his family. His wife, Princess Marie (47), and their two children, Count Henrik (14) and Countess Athene (11), will remain in Washington, DC. The family has lived there since Joachim became defense attaché at the Danish embassy on September 1, 2023. His two older sons – Count Nikolai (24) and Count Felix (21) from his first marriage – became loud the Danish newspaper “Ekstra Bladet” not even invited to the special event. It is said that the outgoing queen only wants to celebrate the event with the smallest family circle.
According to a palace spokesman, Prince Joachim is scheduled to fly back to the USA one day after the celebrations. This is reminiscent of Prince Harry (39), who attended the coronation of his father King Charles III. (75) only made a short visit to his old home in May 2023 and came without his wife Meghan (42) and the two children.
Dispute over deprivation of title
As in Great Britain, there were tensions within the family in the Danish royal family. In 2022, Queen Margrethe II decided to strip the four children of her youngest son of their royal titles and thus slim down the monarchy. In the following days, Joachim spoke out against his mother’s decision and claimed that it would “harm” his children. Margrethe apologized for the timing of the announcement, but generally stood by the step. Her son complained to local news agency BT that there was “a lack of communication” within the royal family. In the conversation, Joachim and his second wife Marie also stated that their relationship with Prince Frederik and Princess Mary was “complicated.”
Queen Margrethe II surprisingly announced her abdication in her New Year’s speech. She is the longest-reigning monarch in Europe and is now leaving the throne after 52 years in favor of her son. ARD will broadcast the events on Sunday from 2:15 p.m. ZDF will show a 30-minute program with the highlights of the change of throne from 6 p.m.