Denmark’s Royal Family: Joachim’s U.S. Posting and the Changes at Home

Why Joachim went to Washington

Prince Joachim had a job to do in Washington. On March 17, 2023, the Danish Royal House announced his appointment as defence industry attaché at Denmark's embassy, starting September 1. He'd work under the Ministry of Defence, helping Denmark strengthen its defence industry ties with the United States and Canada. The announcement said he and Princess Marie would move with their family that summer. At the time of that announcement, his older brother, Frederik, was still Crown Prince.

Joachim is the younger of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik's two sons. His older brother is Frederik, who became King Frederik X in January 2024. Each brother has four children. Frederik and Mary are parents to Christian, Isabella, Vincent and Josephine; Joachim's children are Nikolai, Felix, Henrik and Athena.

If you're looking at older family photographs, the titles won't always match those used now. Margrethe announced in September 2022 that Joachim's children would stop using prince and princess from January 1, 2023. They kept their count and countess of Monpezat titles and their places in the succession. Frederik's four children kept their princely titles. The decision concerned four grandchildren, not all eight.

A year after that change took effect, Denmark had a new king. Margrethe had announced the handover in her New Year's address on December 31, 2023. She explained that the major back surgery she'd undergone that February had made her think about the future and passing responsibility to the next generation. She chose January 14, 2024, to step down.

That date completed 52 years on the throne. Margrethe had succeeded her father, Frederik IX, on January 14, 1972, after his death. A 1953 change in the succession law had opened the throne to women, though sons still took precedence. Before that, only male descendants could inherit. The rules changed again in 2009: the sovereign's oldest child now comes first regardless of gender.

Frederik became king inside Christiansborg Palace, when Margrethe signed her abdication declaration at the Council of State meeting. Christian became Crown Prince at the same moment. By the time Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen proclaimed Frederik king from the balcony, the throne had already passed to him.

Being King doesn't let Frederik make political decisions on his own. The King signs Acts of Parliament, which also need a cabinet minister's countersignature before they take effect. He presides over the Council of State, where legislation passed by the Folketing is signed, and formally appoints governments after consultations with political party representatives. Much of his public work is representing Denmark: receiving ambassadors, hosting heads of state and making state visits abroad. At home, that includes opening exhibitions and attending anniversaries. Other family members also join overseas events promoting Danish business.

What the title changes meant

Joachim's children became known as Count Nikolai, Count Felix, Count Henrik and Countess Athena of Monpezat. The Monpezat titles weren't new: Margrethe had granted them to her sons, their spouses and their descendants in 2008. The 2022 decision changed which titles Joachim's descendants could use, along with their form of address. They would be addressed as excellencies, while keeping their places in the succession.

The Royal House's September 28 announcement gave Margrethe's stated reason. She wanted the four grandchildren to have more freedom to shape their lives without the expectations and duties attached to a formal place within the royal institution. That was the intention described in the announcement. It wasn't a statement that the family had agreed on the change.

On October 3, Margrethe issued another statement. She said she had underestimated how deeply her younger son and his family felt affected, and apologized for that. She also explained that royal titles came with commitments which would fall to fewer family members in the future. Her statement acknowledged the reaction while continuing to explain why she considered the adjustment necessary. It didn't withdraw the decision.

Frederik's preparation for his own role included university studies and military training. He earned a master's degree in political science from Aarhus University in 1995, having also studied at Harvard in 1992–93. His official biography records army training beginning in 1986, completion of the Navy's frogman training in 1995, and an air-force appointment after flight-school training in 2000. He also worked at Denmark's UN mission and later at its embassy in Paris.

Frederik and Joachim's father, Prince Henrik, had made a separate public decision about where he wished to be buried. In August 2017, the Royal House announced that he didn't want to be buried at Roskilde Cathedral under the sarcophagus prepared for him and Margrethe. The announcement said she knew of his decision and acknowledged it. Her own funeral plans were unchanged. After Henrik died in 2018, the published funeral arrangements provided for half his ashes to be scattered over Danish waters and half placed in an urn in Fredensborg Palace's private garden.

Joachim's diplomatic work took him abroad. Before Washington, he completed senior military studies in France and served as defence attaché at Denmark's embassy in Paris. Joachim and Marie had moved to France with their two children in 2019, when he began the military course. His embassy role there followed that training. The March 2023 announcement of his U.S. posting said he and Princess Marie would move with their family that summer. It described a job under the Danish Ministry of Defence, strengthening defence industry cooperation with the U.S. and Canada. Marie had also held an embassy role in Paris, as Special Cultural Representative.