The Danish royal family is in turmoil after the Queen stripped four grandchildren of their royal titles

A rift has emerged in the Danish royal family after Queen Margrethe decided to strip four of her eight grandchildren of their royal titles in a bid to “future-proof” the monarchy.

The 82-year-old monarch, who celebrated half a century on the throne this year, announced on Thursday that the children of her younger son, Prince Joachim, will no longer be referred to as prince and princess from next year.

The reason for the move, according to an announcement from the Danish royal family, is to allow the junior royals to lead more normal lives, while following a similar decision by other royal families to slim down the monarchy.

The announcement read: “The Queen’s decision is consistent with similar adjustments made in various ways by other royal houses in recent years.

“With her decision, Her Majesty the Queen wants to create the framework for the four grandchildren to be able to organize their own lives to a much greater extent, without being restricted by the special considerations and duties that formal membership of the Danish royal family entails it entails an institution.”

Joachim, the Queen’s second son, lives in Paris with his wife, Princess Marie, and their two children, Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10. The prince has two older sons from his first son, Nikolai, 23, and Felix, 20. He married Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg.

The Royal Household said their HRH titles would be “retired”, adding: “Prince Joachim’s descendants must therefore be addressed as Excellencies in the future.”

All four of Joachim’s children retain their places in the line of succession.

Speaking to CNN on the phone, Helle von Wildenrath Løvgreen, Countess Alexandra’s press secretary, said the Countess was “very sad and shocked.

“She can’t believe why and why because there’s no good reason. They would lose their titles anyway if they got married one day. Your sons are young men so maybe they could get married in the near future, so why not wait until that day for the titles to go away on a lucky day?”

The palace said the latest development was a “natural extension” of previous steps to slim down the monarchy, saying: “In April 2008, Her Majesty the Queen bestowed on her sons, their spouses and their descendants the titles of Count and Countess of Monpezat. It was also announced in May 2016 that His Royal Highness Prince Christian, as the Queen’s only grandson, is expected to receive an adult pension from the State.”

Joachim’s older brother, Crown Prince Frederik, is first in line to the throne. Second in line is his eldest child, Prince Christian. All four of Frederik’s children retain their titles.

Countess Alexandra emailed CNN that von Wildenrath authorized Løvgreen to speak on behalf of Joachim and Marie as well as theirs.

Von Wildenrath Løvgreen said: “Your father told his children. They were pretty shocked.

“He really is a man of honour. He has lived his whole life in his family with this title and he was shocked and almost cried this morning when one of the European tabloids in Paris addressed him.

She said the children only found out about the change in their titles in the past few days, adding: “In May he (Prince Joachim) was told they could remove their titles when they turned 25 and then he heard nothing until a few days ago.”

Von Wildenrath Løvgreen explained that the renaming was a mere formality, since Joachim’s children receive no money from the public purse.

“It’s just their loss of identity and it’s very difficult for young children and young men. As Prince Nikolai said to me, ‘What are you going to write in my passport now?'”

The four children have not spoken to their grandmother since the announcement, she said.

Responding to the palace’s statement that this will allow the youngsters to lead more normal lives, she added: “You will never have a normal life. If they do something very stupid, it will always backfire on the family.”

Lene Balleby, the royal household’s communications director, told CNN in an email: “As Her Majesty the Queen said yesterday, the decision has been a long time coming. The Queen’s decision has taken various forms over time, but Prince Joachim has been involved and informed about the process since May 5. We fully understand that there are a lot of emotions at play at the moment, but we hope that the Queen’s desire to future-proof the Danish royal house will be respected.”

This isn’t the first time titles have been disputed for the family. The Queen’s husband, Prince Henrik, said he did not want to be buried on his wife’s grave in Roskilde Cathedral because he had not been granted the title of king.

The French-born prince, who died in 2018, had been unhappy with his title since he was made Prince Consort – rather than King Consort – at the couple’s wedding in 1967.