Just when you thought you were safe from hearing more heartbreak about how tough it is being part of a royal family, a new ‘”spare” is heading to America.
Like Britain’s Prince Harry, Denmark’s Prince Joachim (pronounced Yorkin) has created a constitutional crisis in his native country by publicly falling out with his once-beloved brother and his monarch parent.
Unlike Harry, he’s working for his country’s embassy in Washington, DC, on an enormous salary.
The 53-year-old, who is sixth in line to the Danish throne, will become defense industry attaché at the Embassy of Denmark and is moving to the capital with his glamorous wife, Princess Marie, and their two children.
He won’t be paid for the role but instead, the Danish parliament has agreed, he will continue with his royal stipend of 300,000 Danish Krone — some $48,000 a month.
The prince’s mother, Queen Margrethe — who has ruled Denmark for 50 of her 82 years — may be hoping that this move will be the end of a drama which has shone attention on one of the world’s oldest monarchies for all the wrong reasons.
The problems started last year when the queen — who was a third cousin of Britain’s late Queen Elizabeth, Harry’s grandmother, through Queen Victoria — announced that, beginning in 2023, Joachim’s four children would lose their titles of Prince and Princess.
Joachim, who is estimated to be worth $275 million thanks to smart stock investments and substantial property holdings, was openly incensed that his children — models and socialites Nikolai, 23, and Felix, 20, from his first marriage to Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg; and Henrik, 13 and Athena, 11 , from his second marriage to Princess Marie — would all lose their royal titles.
Claiming he’d had just five days’ notice, Joachim said: “I can say my children are sad. My kids don’t know which leg to stand on. What they should believe. Why should their identity be removed? Why must they be punished in that way?”
Princess Marie, 47, added that the decision had “blindsided” the couple adding: “Athena is bullied at school. They come and say: ‘It is you who is no longer a princess?’”
But royal problems have been brewing for some time, with rumors of a power struggle between Joachim and his 54-year-old brother, Crown Prince Frederik, the heir to the throne.
Not only did it sound similar to the tensions between Prince Harry, Prince William and King Charles, as alleged in Harry’s memoir “Spare,” but there have also been rumors of problems between Denmark’s Princess Marie and her sister-in-law Princess Mary — suggesting shades of the reportedly fractious relationship of Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, and her British sister-in-law Kate, the Princess of Wales.
With the Danish princesses, things are unlikely to have been helped by Princess Mary, 51, publicly coming out in support of her mother-in-law’s decision to strip away titles: “Change can be difficult and can really hurt. But this does not mean that the decision is not the right one,” she said.
Of course, Mary’s own four kids, ages 12-17, will retain their titles as the children of the crown prince.
Three years ago, Joachim and his family moved to Paris when he enrolled at an intensive course military course there and ended up staying after the Prince got a job at a military attaché at the Danish embassy.
At the time, Princess Marie told Danish magazine See and Hear that staying in France had not been the couple’s choice, however: “I loved living in Denmark. It is not always us who decide. I think that’s important to know.”
The decision, as with Prince Harry’s choice to leave the UK for California, reflects a changing world for “spares” in constitutional monarchies, which now, more than ever, have to justify their existence
“Ever since the economic crisis of 2008, royal families have realized that their members need to show that they are value for money,” says Danish Royal historian Lars Hovbakke Sorensen. “There is not much patience among populations for royal persons who are getting a lot of [taxpayer] money but not working for it.
“Once upon a time, the younger siblings of the heir to the throne had their parts to play —they would marry other royals in Europe and younger brothers would often become king of other realms. Just going back a few generations in Danish history, younger brothers became kings of Norway and Greece. But, as Prince Harry has found, it is much more difficult to be number two in a royal family than it was a few years ago because you have no clear role to play.”
America has become a firm favorite for royals — with Prince Joachim joining Prince Harry and Japan’s former Princess Mako, who moved to New York City in 2021 after she gave up her royal title to marry her college sweetheart, lawyer Kei Komuro.
Sweden’s Princess Madeleine — Joachim’s second cousin — and her family live in Florida, although they have announced they will be moving back to Stockholm in the autumn. Another cousin, Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, is an investment consultant living in New York City with his socialite wife, Marie-Chantal, and influencer daughter, Maria-Olympia.
“America offers freedom, business opportunities and relative anonymity for royals,” said Emily Nash, royal correspondent of Hellomagazine.com. “Prince Harry has shown how it can be done — he has this fantastic lifestyle in Montecito. They may all want a slice of the American dream.”
Washington is likely to prove a good base for Joachim and his family.
“They will form part of the upper crust of diplomatic circles, because who wouldn’t want to host a nice Prince for dinner?” said royal historian Marlene Koenig. “While the family won’t attract the same kind of attention as Prince Harry … there will be a little ripple of excitement when he comes in the fall.”
Koenig also pointed out that, even though hurt feelings might have driven Joachim away from his home country, he’s still a working member of the royal family.
“While he has spoken out against the way things were handled, it is unlikely we will see him going on Oprah or speaking out about the wider culture of his family,” Koenig said. “Harry chose to leave the royal family and his royal duties. Joachim has not bolted; he continues to work for Denmark.’
