The Danish royal family have shared a pointed photo of Prince Christian, Princess Mary’s eldest son, on his 17th birthday – and it’s purposefully casual for a reason.
European royals have been in the spotlight recently after Queen Margrethe, 82, revealed she would strip the princely titles of her youngest son Joachim’s four children Nikolai, 23, Felix, 20, Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10.
Prince Frederik’s four children have managed to keep their titles – for now – as he is heir to the throne, despite royal experts predicting they could soon be up for debate.
On Sunday, the family’s official Instagram account shared a black and white photo of Prince Christian ‘taken by his friend’, which stands in stark contrast to some of the more official portraits the Danes have previously shared.
The Danish royal family have shared a pointed photo of Prince Christian, Princess Mary’s eldest son, on his 17th birthday – and it’s purposefully casual for a reason.
Royal house expert and historian Lars Hovbakke Sørensen told BT that it is a brilliant tactic to try to paint the young prince as ‘ordinary’.
Royal house expert and historian Lars Hovbakke Sørensen told BT that trying to paint the young prince as ‘ordinary’ is a brilliant tactic.
‘It is clear that they want to signal more relaxedness and people-ness, and that he is a completely ordinary young man. It signals that he is a prince who lives a completely ordinary everyday life – and that fits the image that you want to paint of him in public,’ he said.
The royal title changes were announced news through a palace statement earlier this month, which said: ‘From 1 January 2023, the descendants of His Royal Highness Prince Joachim will only be able to use their titles of Count and Countess of Monpezat, their previous titles of Prince and Princess of Denmark ceases to exist.’
Queen Margrethe said she wants the four children to lead more normal lives, but her decision upset Joachim and his four children, with the prince insisting his mother only gave him five days’ notice – despite the royal family claiming that the decision ‘has been long. the time will come’.
Now attention has turned to the Queen’s remaining grandchildren after Princess Mary told reporters on Friday: ‘We will also look at our children’s titles when the time comes’.
Historian and royal house expert Lars Hovbakke told BT that he imagines that Frederik and Mary’s children will be split into two groups – with the twins (pictured) potentially losing their titles
Without giving further details, royal experts believe the princess may say her youngest children – twins Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent – could lose their titles in the future.
Historian and royal house expert Lars Hovbakke told BT he imagines Frederik and Mary’s children being divided into two groups.
‘You can easily slim down the royal house by, for example, looking at the titles of the twins. It would be similar to the process underway in other European royal houses,’ he said.
The Danish royal family has found itself in the midst of a real crisis, according to an expert who said the highly public row sparked by Queen Margrethe (pictured) stripping her four youngest grandchildren of their titles has shown people a different side
Prince Joachim (centre) has publicly expressed his dismay at his mother’s decision to strip her children of their titles (pictured L-R: Prince Felix, Princess Marie, Prince Joachim, Princess Athena, Prince Henrik and Prince Nikolai in September)
But he believes Prince Christian, who is third in line to the throne, and Princess Isabella will keep theirs.
‘I don’t think it will affect [Princess Isabella] because titles are needed at the top of the legacy,’ he said.
After the public announcement was made, Prince Joachim told Ekstra Bladet that his children had been ‘hurt’ by the decision and that he had only had five days to tell them the news before it was published.
In the midst of the scandal, Joachim and his second wife Marie admitted that their relationship with his older brother Crown Prince Frederik and his sister-in-law Crown Princess Mary is ‘complicated’.
A Spanish magazine reported that the prince had been ‘deeply in love’ with his sister-in-law and Crown Prince Frederik’s wife, Princess Mary. The picture in 2014
The Danish royal family tree. Prince Joachim’s children Nikolai, 23, Felix, 20, Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10, will lose all their titles on January 1, 2023
And Spanish magazine Vaniatis Elconfidencial has since sparked more speculation surrounding the break-up, after reporting that Joachim ‘was deeply in love with his sister-in-law Mary’.
While Prince Joachim has reportedly since met with his mother to discuss the breakup, reports say Crown Prince Frederik was not part of the meeting.
After the meeting, the palace confirmed that the monarch and Joachim want to ‘look forward’ and are trying to ‘work through’ their differences amid the very public dispute.