Queen Margrethe of Denmark last night apologised to her family for the ‘difficult’ decision of stripping them of their royal titles – but insisted that it was the right choice.<br>A bitter royal row within the Danish Royal Household has unfolded in recent days after Margrethe, 82, announced on Wednesday that she would be removing princely titles from Prince Nikolai, 23, Prince Felix, 20, Prince Henrik, 13, and Princess Athena, 10.<br>As of January 1, 2023, they will become Counts and Countesses, and will be known as Their Excellencies, rather than His or Her Royal Highness. <br>Days ago, Prince Joachim admitted his relationship with his brother Crown Prince Frederik is ‘complicated’ – and that he hadn’t heard from his mother Queen Margrethe II after she stripped his children of their royal titles. <br>In a statement last night, the monarch admitted she had ‘underestimated’ the impact of her actions but said was ‘a long time coming’ and it had been made as ‘a Queen, mother and grandmother.'<br> Queen Margrethe of Denmark last night apologised to her family for the ‘difficult’ decision of stripping them of their royal titles – but insisted that it was the right choice <br> In a statement released online, the Queen said she had made the decision as ‘a mother, grandmother and monarch’ and ‘no one should doubt’ her family are ‘her great pride and joy'<br>The statement read: ‘In recent days, there have been strong reactions to my decision on the future use of titles for Prince Joachim’s four children. It obviously affects me.<br>’My decision has been a long time coming.
With my 50 years on the throne, it is natural both to look back and to look forward.<br> RELATED ARTICLES
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‘It is my duty and my wish as Queen to ensure that the monarchy continues to shape itself in keeping with the times.<br>’It sometimes requires difficult decisions to be made, and it will always be difficult to find the right moment.<br> Prince Joachim (right back), 53, the youngest of Margrethe’s two sons, said he was only given five days’ notice that Nikolai (left), 23, Felix (second from left), 20, Henrik (far right), 13, and Athena (second from right), 10, will have prince or princess removed from their titles, and will no longer be able to use His or Her Royal Highness.
Pictured with their grandmother Queen Margrethe (centre) and Princess Isabella (behind Prin in Copenhagen on Friday, saying that while ‘change can be extremely difficult and can really hurt…
this does not mean that the decision is not the right one’.<br>The oldest son of Australian-born Princess Mary, 50, and Frederik is Prince Christian, 16, who is second-in-line to the throne. <br>Frederick and Mary’s four children – Prince Christian, 16, Princess Isabella, 15, and twins Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent, 11 – remain unaffected by the monarch’s decision as they are direct descendants of the future King. <br>However Princess Mary suggested that might not always be the case, saying they will ‘also look at [their] children’s titles when the time comes’. <br>Speaking about the monarch’s intention to slim down the Danish royal family, Joachim said: ‘The reality must still be: whether you modernize or slim down, it must be done in a proper way.
It’s about children. Orderliness and children. It is a very heavy matter.'<br>Commenting on Princess Mary’s point that her children may too lose titles in the future, Joachim said: ‘I don’t know how they feel if they have to think it through.
Now is preparation time. We didn’t have that.'<br> Last week, commenting on his children’s reaction to the move to
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