Prince Joachim of Denmark announces move to America after fallout of royal titles – World Time Todays

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America has cemented its reputation as the country of choice for pissed off escaped European royalty.

The Sussexes of Montecito will soon be joined by, well, let’s call them the Danes of DC, after Prince Joachim of Denmark announced he, his wife Princess Marie and their children will move to America’s political capital this summer, months after his Mother, Queen Margrethe II, stripped his four children of their prince and princess titles.

Joachim, sixth in line to the Danish throne, complained his family was “mistreated” in the decision-making process, which eventually led to his children – Nikolai, 23, Felix, 20, Henrik, 13, and Athena, 11 – known as “His Excellency Count of Monpezat” and “Her Excellency Countess of Monpezat”.

A message on the Danish Royal Family’s website indicates that Prince Joachim will take up a new role as Defense Industry Attaché at the Danish Embassy in DC, where he will focus on maintaining defense industry links between Denmark, the US and Canada. The move, the message said, follows the family’s move to Paris four years ago so the prince could complete France’s highest-ranking military training course, with the prince and his wife subsequently taking on roles at the Danish embassy in Paris.

While the Danish royal disunity was visibly on display throughout the drama, it has yet to reach the very public, operatically dysfunctional highs – or lows – of Harry, Meghan and the British royals.

Last year, People reported that Joachim was originally told that the children would have their titles revoked when they reached 25; he also spoke of his “pain” over Margrethe’s decision, which was made to “future-proof” the monarchy.

Ritzau Scanpix/Mads Claus Rasmussen via REUTERS

Joachim said such changes should be made “in a decent way”. He told an outlet: “To tell my kids that on New Year’s they will be stripped of their identities. I am very, very sorry to see that they are clueless as to what is happening over their heads…I can tell my children are upset. My kids don’t know which leg to stand on. What are they supposed to believe? Why would her identity be removed? Why do they have to be punished like this?”

His wife, Marie, said there was “nothing modern about hurting children’s feelings.”

“We are, as my parents said, shocked by this decision and how quickly it actually happened,” said Prince Nikolai Extra Bladet. “I’m very confused as to why this has to happen this way.”

A statement from the palace said at the time that Queen Margrethe wanted to “create the framework for the four grandchildren to be able to organize their lives on a much larger scale, without being constrained by the special considerations and duties that formal membership of the royal family entails of Denmark as an institution.” Margrethe told reporters she thinks the decision is “good” for the children “in the future.”

Margrethe, now Europe’s longest reigning monarch, later said she was “sorry” that she “underestimated how affected my youngest son and his family felt”.