The Queen of Denmark, Margethe II has apologised for stripping four of her eight grandchildren of their royal titles.
According to CNN, the queen apologised for depriving her grandchildren of their royal titles but has not changed her mind.
The 82-year-old monarch declared in late September that her younger son Prince Joachim’s children will no longer be referred to as prince and princess starting in 2019.
As their HRH titles will be “discontinued,” the royal family says they will only be entitled to use their titles as counts and countess of Monpezat and will be addressed as excellencies.
Countess Alexandra, the former spouse of Prince Joachim, and her press secretary, Helle von Wildenrath Lovgreen, told CNN that Joachim and his children were “sad” and “shocked” by the decision, which Queen Margrethe sees “as a necessary future-proofing.”
According to CNN, the queen apologised for depriving her grandchildren of their royal titles but has not changed her mind.
The 82-year-old monarch declared in late September that her younger son Prince Joachim’s children will no longer be referred to as prince and princess starting in 2019.
“There are a number of tasks and responsibilities that come with holding a royal title that, in the future, will lie with fewer members of the royal family,” she said.
First in line to the throne is Crown Prince Frederik, the older son of the Queen. Prince Christian, his oldest child, is the next in line. The titles of Frederik’s four children are all still in effect.
The monarch said, “I have made my decision as Queen, mother and grandmother, but, as a mother and grandmother, I have underestimated the extent to which much my younger son and his family feel affected. That makes a big impression, and for that I am sorry.”