There’s been a lot of conspiracy-mongering in the wake of Denmark’s Queen Margrethe deciding to “un-royal” four of her grandchildren, seemingly out of the blue. One big conspiracy is as follows: new King Charles pulled Margrethe aside at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and asked her to strip some of her grandchildren’s titles. She agreed, all to give Charles political cover to eventually do the same to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Yeah, all of that feels like bullsh-t? That theory makes little to no sense. That being said, I have no doubt that Margrethe saw the Windsor clan’s shambles and decided to take some actions right now so that Crown Prince Frederik wouldn’t be left with a catastrophe when he becomes king. I also don’t doubt that King Charles has been watching Margrethe’s maneuvers with some interest. Speaking of, the Danish press considers the whole title-stripping thing plus the near “exile” of Prince Joachim to be Denmark’s “Megxit crisis,” at least according to the Mail.
The Danish Royal Family is in the midst of its own Megxit ‘crisis’ and King Charles III will be ‘watching carefully’ amid increasing pressure on him to take ‘decisive action’ on the futures of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and his other relatives, royal experts told MailOnline today. Queen Margrethe, 82, has removed princely titles from four of her eight grandchildren, saying it is ‘for their own good’ – prompting a bitter royal row with her family redolent of when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit the UK and emigrated to California in January 2020.
Jacob Heinel Jensen, royal correspondent for national tabloid BT who has been at the heart of the story in Denmark, told MailOnline that the Danish Royal Family is in ‘crisis’ – and is now in the midst its own Megxit.
He said: ‘The situation we have in Denmark today is what the UK had two years ago. Yesterday we had a Prince Joachim going rogue on TV saying how upset he was, how his children are suffering. The parallels between him and Harry are there for all to see. This slimming down is something we have seen all over Europe. The days of gigantic royal families with prince after prince and princess after princess, all paid for by the taxpayer, are over.’
Mr Jensen said it is possible that she may have spoken about her plans of slimming down the monarchy with Charles at the Buckingham Palace ‘reception of the century’ on the eve of the Queen’s funeral. Mr Jensen said: ‘Margrethe was very close to the Queen. She was one of the few people who called her “Lilibet” – and Her Majesty called her “Daisy”, her nickname in Denmark. I don’t know how close she is to Charles – but her importance as arguably Europe’s most senior royal was reflected in just how close she was to the Queen’s coffin in London’.
He added: ‘Charles has spoken about the need to slim down his family for many years – he will be watching what is happening in Denmark with great interest’.
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, the future queen, has defended her mother-in-law Queen Margrethe’s decision to strip four of her grandchildren of their royal titles, and suggested her own children’s positions might not be secure. Mr Jensen said this is a clear ‘olive branch’ to Prince Joachim because they fear what he will do next.
Mr Jensen said that Queen Margrethe is hugely popular in Denmark – and much like her late cousin Queen Elizabeth II, she is admired for her duty to the throne and the people of her country. But polling suggests that the Danish population is split on her decision – with some branding her ‘The Ice Queen’ – which could spook Prince Charles if he is considering cutting off Harry, Meghan and their children.
[From The Daily Mail]
The Mail also had a piece with British commentators braying for Charles to do the same as Margrethe and cull down the Windsor clan to Charles, Camilla, William, Kate and their children. The British commentators seem to like the look of “the Danish slim down” and former MP Norman Baker said that “it is increasingly absurd that minor bit players like the Gloucesters and the Kents still come as part of the package.” See, that’s my thing too – the focus is too often on Harry and Meghan’s titles and their children’s titles, when really, Charles could use the extended family as political cover and make a larger decision about who counts as a working royal and who doesn’t, and who is an HRH and who isn’t. Because at the end of the day, if Charles is only making a decision about the Sussexes, it will be controversial, and he will look racist and petty. Especially given that the Sussexes have clearly already left – they are taking zero “public money,” they aren’t living in any palace or castle, they’re living in America and building their own empire.
I also think the mixed reaction to the Danish title issue is pretty notable. It isn’t across-the-board praise for Margrethe, and clearly this has not gone down well within the family nor among the Danish public. It will be the same way for Charles, especially if he – like Margrethe – makes a point of only focusing on a handful of royals and not an overhaul of the whole system.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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