Crown Princess Mary (Denmark)

[royalwave]

I'm rather surprised that Joachim and Alexandra are playing this out in the press. I guess I wasn't aware of the rancor behind the scenes and assumed the other European royal families were more united than they are. It does seem that the way this news was communicated within the family was not great though and perhaps that's their biggest beef.

But really, both of Joachim's sons are working as models now. It reminds me of Maria Olympia of Greece, and it's not really a profession that one would expect of a working royal. Better that they cut the cord, so no one can complain about their choice of career or of public funding for their activities, and they can do exactly as they please. I get that Joachim is taking it personally and the news wasn't delivered well, but at the end of the day I don't know why he should think that a couple of Dior models who don't carry out official duties (that I know of at least) should remain tied to the royal house.

Originally both boys made a go of serving in the military and enrolled in training academies, but that was short lived for both. I think Nikolai is in business school now but I'm not sure what his goals are. However, he received a pretty big 18th birthday bash from the family so it seems he's been close to his grandmother and that this decision had nothing to do with her personal feelings toward him or anyone in Joachim's family. It's simply that they are not going to be working for the crown. And over time they will fall farther and farther down the line of succession as Fred's four children have families.

As for Charles and Great Britain though, I think all of this is only good news. And if Meghan and Harry loudly complain about it, they won't be unique. Being raised as Americans their children should have even less expectation than Joachim's kids of carrying out any official role in the monarchy.

[americanchai]

Here's my take on this family:
I used to like Fred, before he married Mary. He has proven himself to be not a hard worker, not a great husband, and possibly a drunk.

I used to hate Mary. She really had the stink of gold-digger about her and she's extremely unqualified for many of the positions she's put in. BUT she works a LOT MORE than Fred. I wouldn't give her wife or mother of the year. But I think she hasn't divorced Fred because she likes the position, the title, the perks, and he probably leaves her unburdened with his presence as much as possible so she can ignore him.

I have always thought Joachim was very hard-working, dedicated, good at managing his image in the press, for the most part. He and Alex and Marie have forged a pretty good ex situation with the kids and present a united front most of the time. They were even kind to Alex when she married that nothing-playboy-dude-whose-name-I-forgot. I think Joachim, Marie and the kids would have made a telegenic royal family.

Alas, the burden of inherited titles and royalty! Joachim is the second-born. He must suffer all of the indignities that come from NOT being #1. Fred could probably fall asleep drunk in the middle of Tivoli during high season and people would probably think he was so tired from all of his hard work of being the heir.

And so it goes for all those that live in countries where the first-born gets almost all of the spoils.

I know Joachim and his family will be fine. The one thing I really like about them is that they genuinely like each other. I think at least they have that.

They need to take it up with Margrethe or just let it go because it would be stupid and petty to fight over this in public. Wait a couple days and make a united statement. End.

[Ladybug]

Joachim is saying that he was told in May that they would lose their titles when they turned 25. So the sudden stripping of titles is contrary to what he was told.

Hope King Charles is paying attention and documents any and all communication he has with his relatives who may be affected by any decisions he makes.

[OnyxRose]

Those titles needed to be taken away but the whole thing was not done well, I don’t think you can argue against that point.

[royalwave]

I know nothing about Fred, so the "lazy, possibly a drunk" characterization is interesting. Is that the way he's portrayed in the media in Denmark?

I will say, I did love watching their choreographed "Les Lanciers" dance at the most recent big palace party. Seemed like something out of another time.

[canuckcutie]

Well Joachim was informed of the plan to remove the kids titles in May. Sure the timeline may have been accelerated but he was made aware of what was going to happen. I’d be curious to know if he gave his ex wife and the kids a head’s up regarding what was going to happen or if he thought he could delay and hope things may change.

It may be that the death of QEII made the Queen believe it was better to handle this now rather than punt it down the road and have Frederick strip the titles. I’m guessing Joachim who seems extremely unhappy as the spare would have been even unhappier at the prospect of his brother being the one to remove the titles.

If it’s true that he only had 5 days notice then he still had notice. It’s not like he found out from a press release. I feel like Joachim just hoped it would never come to pass. The idea of waiting until the kids turn 25 or their wedding day to strip their titles is utterly bizarre. Better to pull the titles now and get it over with rather than repeat this performance every time a kid loses their title.

I’m betting the parents are more upset about the loss of titles and are playing up the, “this means grandma doesn’t love you as much” angle to the kids.

They just sound insufferable and spoilt.

[featherhat]

Sept 29, 2022 19:56:22 GMT -4 canuckcutie said:

Well Joachim was informed of the plan to remove the kids titles in May. Sure the timeline may have been accelerated but he was made aware of what was going to happen. I’d be curious to know if he gave his ex wife and the kids a head’s up regarding what was going to happen or if he thought he could delay and hope things may change.

It may be that the death of QEII made the Queen believe it was better to handle this now rather than punt it down the road and have Frederick strip the titles. I’m guessing Joachim who seems extremely unhappy as the spare would have been even unhappier at the prospect of his brother being the one to remove the titles.

If it’s true that he only had 5 days notice then he still had notice. It’s not like he found out from a press release. I feel like Joachim just hoped it would never come to pass. The idea of waiting until the kids turn 25 or their wedding day to strip their titles is utterly bizarre. Better to pull the titles now and get it over with rather than repeat this performance every time a kid loses their title.

I’m betting the parents are more upset about the loss of titles and are playing up the, “this means grandma doesn’t love you as much” angle to the kids.

They just sound insufferable and spoilt.

Waiting until they were 25 wouldn't work. Why drag it out? Unless they plan to make as much use of them as possible via modelling that they don't think they can do as "Count" it doesn't make sense. Besides, what if one of them marries or has kids before turning 25, you've got to deal with another 1-2 people potentially "being stripped" of their titles.

And whilst doing it on their wedding day was how previous Danish and Swedish Kings did it (via relatives marrying commoners) it wouldn't work these days. What if one of them married a "controversial" person, the narrative then would be that they were being punished and would cause more uproar. I do think Joachim hoped that if he encouraged his mother to punt it down the road long enough then it would just never come to pass.

Some commentary suggests that since Margarethe is a very practical person who's not big on big emotional family discussions and has been considering this for at least a few months, she didn't want fuss over it and just told Joachim that was that (but not the grandkids). And did not expect either him or Alex to blow up about it.

I definitely think she could have told the older ones in person at least. They would still probably be hurt and angry but it would be a mark of respect and better PR.

Personally if I was Felix or Nikolai, I would issue a statement acknowledging the change, saying it freed me up to do whatever I want to do whilst still being a family member and ask people to start calling me Count right away. That would be good PR, even if I was feeling shit about it, it's better to rip the band aid off and act like you're a person who's above titles and get the positive press since she's not going to rescind her decision.

[peaches130]

Do Fred and Mary not get on? Is Fred a cheater? I remember him having tears in his eyes when she arrived at the wedding. So there had to be real feeling there at some point. Unless he was just upset thinking about all the babes he wouldn’t be able to bang for a while.

[royalwave]

Yeah, I'm not sure what good Joachim and family think will come from complaining about this to the press. These are remarkably privileged people no matter how you slice it, and playing "woe is me" because the kids are no longer princes and princesses is not a good look. I doubt that public sentiment in any country is supportive of a "the more the merrier" approach when it comes to doling out fancy honors to extended family members who will be doing little to no public duties. No one is going to organize a march to the palace to demand that Nikolai gets his title back.

Air your grievances to Margarethe in private if you must, but time is marching on whether you like it or not. This day and age, it's pretty remarkable in and of itself that your family still has a throne to hold on to and that you're going to continue to enjoy the benefits of close association.

[mshairylegs]

I'm only briefly aware of the DRF, but had thought Joachim was really unpopular with the Danes on account of being an arrogant pompous buffoon?

I'd read some comments about Fred being lazy and F and M hating each others guts, but he and Mary must be brilliant actors because they always come across as being very fond of one another in press photos. (Kate is from a similar mould as Mary in terms of hitting all the KPIs as a future queen consort. They also look and dress very similarly.)

Re Felix and Nikolai, they were adorable children!! It's kind of disappointing that with all that access to influence, privilege and the best education and experiences money can buy, they opted to be... models.