Prince Joachim and Princess Mary of Denmark will move their family to the US six months after their children were stripped of their royal titles in a saga reminiscent of Megxit.
The 53-year-old royal, sixth in line to the Danish throne, will become a defense industry attaché at the Danish Embassy in Washington DC.
Prince Joachim is the youngest son of Queen Margrethe II, who last September stripped her four children of Nikolai, Felix, Henrik and Athena of their princely titles.
Their move to the US has parallels to when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as British royals in 2020 to start their new lives in North America.
Prince Joachim said: ‘I am proud to have the opportunity to represent Denmark internationally in the area of security and defense. Transatlantic cooperation is a high priority area, and I am honored that I have been found qualified for the task.’
Prince Joachim and Princess Mary of Denmark are moving to Washington DC this summer
(From left) Felix, Princess Marie, Prince Joachim, Athena, Henrik and Nikolai last September
Last year, a rift broke out between Prince Joachim and the Danish royal house when Queen Margrethe decided that her four children should lose their prince and princess titles.
Denmark’s popular monarch later apologized for upsetting her family members with the decision, and Prince Joachim publicly expressed his frustration but refused to change his mind.
The official reason was to allow the children to live a more normal life, and it follows similar moves by other royal families in Europe, including the Windsors, to scale back their monarchies, the palace said.
But Countess Alexandra of Frederiksborg, Prince Joachim’s first wife and mother of his two eldest children, said at the time: “We are all confused by the decision.
“We are saddened and in shock. This comes like a bolt of blue. Children feel marginalized.
“They can’t understand why their identity is being taken away.”
And Prince Joachim himself added in an interview with Danish news outlet Ekstra Bladet that: “We are all very sad.” It’s never fun to see your kids being hurt. They have been put in a situation that they do not understand.
Joachim and Marie pictured with their children Henrik and Athena in December 2022
Prince Joachim, Princess Marie and their children Nikolai, Felix, Henrik and Athena in 2019
It was reported that Prince Joachim was first informed of the decision in May, however he said this was not the case, adding that he had only been given five days’ notice.
Also at the time, a new interview revealed that Prince Joachim had admitted he struggled to find his place in Denmark’s royal family, while his wife Princess Marie said she had “no choice” but to leave Copenhagen for Paris in the midst of an “internal power struggle”.
The queen’s four other grandchildren were born to 54-year-old Crown Prince Frederik, who is Joachim’s older brother.
These four will retain their titles, but when they come of age only the future king, Prince Christian, will receive a pasture, a decision made in 2016.
As for Prince Joachim, he will join the Danish Embassy in Washington on September 1, where he will cover the US and Canada as an attaché.
He will be in office for three years but has the possibility of extending it.
Prince Joachim has extensive military experience with the Danish Armed Forces and elsewhere beginning in 1987.
He completed his military training at the École Militaire de Paris in 2020.
Queen Margrethe II, photographed at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen last October
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior royals in 2020 and left the UK
The prince has held a similar position at the Danish embassy in Paris since 2020, but announced in November that he would step down this summer.
Denmark’s parliament will now have to give its blessing for the prince, who is not paid by the embassy, to receive his royal pasture or maintenance money while abroad.
Queen Margrethe, 82, is Europe’s only reigning queen and the continent’s longest-serving monarch.
Last year he tested positive for covid, just days after attending Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in London.
