Prince Joachim, Now Living in the U.S., Reveals If His Family Will Ever Return to Denmark After Royal Title Drama
Prince Joachim and his wife, Princess Marie, moved to the U.S. in 2023 with their two children after Joachim's mother Queen Margrethe stripped all four of his children of their royal titles for "future-proofing" of the monarchy
Queen Margrethe later apologized and her son and successor, King Frederik, recently bestowed Joachim's elders sons, Count Nikolai and Count Felix, with a special honorPrince Joachim of Denmark is weighing in on his family's future plans regarding whether they'll continue living in the U.S.
The younger son of Queen Margrethe opened up in a rare interview shared on June 6, where he directly addressed what the future might look like for his family. Prince Joachim, 55, and his wife Princess Marie moved from France to Washington, D.C. with their two children in the summer of 2023 as he took on a three-year job with the Danish Embassy under the Ministry of Defense.
It marked a fresh start after Queen Margrethe shockingly stripped his four kids of the prince and princess titles for "future proofing" of the monarchy at the start of the year, a move that made waves and Joachim criticized.
In conversation with TV2, Prince Joachim said, "We have a desire to come home. But we also do not rule out the possibility of staying abroad. Now we have to see. For now, it is on our radar, when the post here stops, we will return home."
A previous statement from the Ministry of Defense about Joachim's job in America said that he would serve as an attaché covering the USA and Canada in a three-year position with the possibility of extension, meaning that the initial stint is expected to end in 2026.
King Frederik's younger brother also gave a personal update on how his family is doing lately. Prince Joachim is a father of four, and shares sons Nikolai, 25, and Felix, 22, with his first wife Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg. Following their split, he remarried in 2008 to Princess Marie, and they went on to welcome two children — son Henrik, 16, and daughter Athena, 13 — who moved to the U.S. with them.
"We are each busy in our own way. The kids are at school, where they enjoy being challenged and have an ever-growing social circle, and I have my job. We are our little nuclear family and enjoy it, and we make sure as much as possible that we also have time for each other," Joachim said. "That it doesn't always get in the way of work, school and homework."
However, the royal acknowledged that there's a different rhythm when they're in Europe.
"Overall, we can all feel it, and we can also feel it in the children, that it is at home in Denmark that we have our largest social base. We can't travel back and forth, after all, there is a six-hour time difference and an entire ocean in between," he told TV2. "We take our time when we are home and enjoy it to the fullest. Perhaps that is the band-aid for being far away from home."
In 2022, Queen Margrethe announced that she was stripping Joachim's four children of the prince or princess titles and "His/Her Highness" styling they inherited at birth in a surprise step she later described as "necessary future-proofing of the monarchy." Nikolai, Felix, Henrik and Athena then became known as His Excellency Count of Monpezat or Her Excellency Countess of Monpezat (lower-ranking titles within the Danish royal family) starting on Jan. 1 of 2023.
The bombshell announcement created a fracture within the family, with Prince Joachim telling the press he felt blindsided by the bombshell which upset his children. This seemingly prompted Queen Margrethe to apologize and saying she "underestimated" how greatly the shock would shake up the family dynamic, but maintained that it was a necessary step for the crown's future.
Queen Margrethe later abdicated on Jan. 14, 2024, making her elder son King Frederik X of Denmark. That summer, Joachim hinted that his family pushed past the friction around the title stripping, telling The Washington Post, "We've moved on."
Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!
In what may have been a bit of an olive branch, King Frederik recently presented his nephews Count Nikolai and Count Felix with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog.
The recognition welcomed them into an elite order of chivalry awarding outstanding individuals for their service or contributions to Denmark.
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