Princess Mary
Icy coldness between her and Marie after the title scandal
© Dana Press
A few weeks ago, Queen Margrethe made a momentous decision about her grandchildren’s titles that shook the Danish royal family. The mood still seems tense, as suggested by Princess Mary’s response when asked.
Princess Mary, 50, is on a trip to Vietnam with Prince Frederik, 54. All sorts of official performances are scheduled during her two-day visit, including the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Denmark and Vietnam at the Hanoi Opera House. But despite the numerous important dates, the traveling journalists are interested in one thing above all: what is the mood like in the Danish royal family. However, when asked about the latest title scandal, the crown princess reacted frostily.
Princess Mary: “I have nothing to add”
“I have nothing more to add than what I have already said,” was the Royal’s brief reply when asked about the family turmoil by a reporter from the Danish newspaper “Ekstra Bladet”. “I hope you didn’t come all this way to ask that question,” Mary reportedly added, slightly annoyed.
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But that was by no means the end of the uncomfortable part for the crown princess. Because a journalist from “BT” also probed again. “Princess Marie told me in Paris that your relationship is complicated,” said reporter Jacob Heinel Jensen, who recently met her and husband Prince Joachim, 53, for an emotional interview in Paris. Again, her sister-in-law’s response was simply, “I have nothing further to add.”
Princess Mary tries to avoid mud fight
Royal house expert Jensen finds Mary’s reaction neither surprising nor inappropriate. “What the Crown Princess is doing here is perhaps the smartest thing to do for the royal family in the current situation. Just switch off completely,” he explains. She is trying to avoid a mud fight, but still faces the big problem that “there is an open wound in the royal family that will take a long time to heal”.
It seems an icy wind is still blowing in the Danish palace after Queen Margrethe, 82, announced at the end of September that her second-born’s children would be stripped of their prince and princess titles. Prince Joachim was angry in an interview shortly afterwards. His children are thus deprived of their identity, he accuses. The nine-year-old Princess Athena in particular seems to be suffering from her grandmother’s decision. “Athena is being bullied at school. They come and say, ‘Aren’t you a princess anymore?'” Princess Marie, 46, said.
Princess Mary, on the other hand, was diplomatic as the wife of the heir to the throne. “Changes can be very difficult and really hurt. I think most people have experienced it. But that doesn’t mean that the decision isn’t right,” she said two days after the monarch’s bang at the appointment in Copenhagen.
Sources used: ekstrabladet.dk, bt.dk