Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark supports the shift within the royal family.
The heir to the throne, 54, spoke about mother Queen Margrethe II's decision to strip four of her grandchildren — the sons and daughter of his younger brother, Prince Joachim — of their prince and princess titles for the first time Thursday. Addressing the press, Frederik said he agreed with his mother's move and larger vision of a slimmer modern monarchy.
"My mother has made this decision alone, because it is what she can do and it is what she wants, and she thought now was the time to make a decision that I also support and see as the right thing to do," Frederik said outside of a Copenhagen school where he attended an event, B.T. reported.
"I myself am interested in the Danish monarchy staying lean over time, so I, therefore, support my mother's decision, which she has chosen to make," he added.
The Crown Prince also claimed that contrary to his brother's comments, there had never been a silence between the siblings after the title news broke.
"I am in continuous contact with my brother, I always have been, funnily enough, so there is nothing new in whether I have been in contact with him, I am in continuous contact with him," Frederik told B.T.
The royal admitted, however, that the update gave way to "a discrepancy in my family" which he said was "a family matter."
Later, the Danish Royal House declined to comment to the national newspaper for clarification on whether Joachim and Frederik had indeed spoken.
The update comes four weeks after Queen Margrethe, 82, announced that Joachim's four children — Prince Nikolai, 23, Prince Felix, 20, Prince Henrik, 13, and Princess Athena, 10 — will lose their royal titles at the start of the new year. As of Jan. 1, 2023, the siblings will instead be known by His Excellency Count of Monpezat or Her Excellency Countess of Monpezat. The palace announced the major shakeup in a statement on Sept. 28.
Prince Joachim, who is sixth in line to the Danish throne, said that he felt blindsided by the bombshell and was given "five days' notice" before the news dropped. His mother, however, has maintained that the plans had been in motion for a while and that the decision was made in the best interests of her grandchildren.
Joachim's wife Princess Marie previously told B.T. that he and her husband "would have liked to have had time to talk about it" with their family. Joachim shares sons Nikolai and Felix with his first wife, Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg. He got remarried to Marie in 2008, and they went on to welcome Henrik and Athena.
Earlier this month, the Danish paper reported that Joachim traveled to meet the Queen to discuss the sensitive subject, though Frederik was not present for the meeting at Fredensborg Palace.
While their first cousins prepare to navigate a new future, things remain the same for the four children of the future King and his wife, Crown Princess Mary.
As the children of the Crown Prince couple, Prince Christian, 16, Princess Isabella, 15, and 11-year-old twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine will retain their prince and princess titles for the foreseeable future. However, Princess Mary did hint that may change in the future — while Frederik and Mary's son Prince Christian is second in line to the throne behind his father, their other children may not keep their royal titles forever.
"We will also look at our children's titles when the time comes," Crown Princess Mary, 50, said last month. "Today we do not know what the royal house will look like in Christian's time, or when Christian's time begins to approach."
:focal(614x248:616x250)/prince-frederik-princess-mary-5-c000e549a79249c99db1e8db0718e327.jpg){kind=link}
