In the autumn of 2022, the Danish royal family announced that four of Prince Joachim’s children would lose their princely titles. The palace framed the decision as a modernization, but Princess Marie later told an interviewer that moving her family to Paris had not been her choice. She said she had no choice. The decision was announced by the Royal Danish House on October 28, 2022.
Queen Margrethe II had decided that Prince Nikolai, Prince Felix, Prince Henrik, and Princess Athena would cease to be styled as princes and princesses of Denmark, effective January 1, 2023. They would instead be known as counts and countesses of Monpezat, and their HRH designations were removed. The palace said the change was about sustainability and giving the children more freedom in their future lives. Prince Joachim publicly disagreed with the framing.
He told the Danish press the decision was hurtful, said his children were shocked, and argued that a family should not receive such news with so little time to prepare. By the time the announcement was made, Joachim and Marie had already been living in Paris for more than a year. Joachim had been posted to the Danish Embassy in France as defense attaché in 2021. When Marie was asked in an interview whether leaving Denmark had been her own decision, she responded with unusual directness, saying she had no choice.
The family’s move to Paris came after a period in which the public roles of the two royal branches had become increasingly unequal. Crown Princess Mary had expanded her profile into international work, giving speeches at the United Nations and appearing on magazine covers. The Danish media increasingly referred to her family as the future of the monarchy, while Joachim’s family was described as a supporting fixture. Marie Cavalier married Prince Joachim in May 2008.
Born in Paris, she had worked in the fashion industry and spoke French, English, and Danish. She took Danish citizenship and committed fully to royal duties and public engagements. She built a warm relationship with Danish audiences and became a respected public figure in her own right. Mary, born in Hobart, Tasmania, married Crown Prince Frederik in February 2004.
She had met him at a bar in Sydney during the 2000 Olympics. After their wedding, she learned Danish, became a citizen, and built a highly visible role as Crown Princess. Her popularity helped strengthen support for the monarchy. Joachim’s titles decree was not accompanied by any change to the positions of Frederik and Mary’s four children.
Their titles and succession rights were not affected. The modernization reduced one branch of the family while leaving the senior line untouched. Queen Margrethe eventually responded to Joachim’s public criticism. She said she loved all her grandchildren, expressed that the decision had been made with care, and acknowledged that it had been painful.
She did not reverse the decision. Joachim and Marie relocated to Paris in 2021. The title decree came in 2022. Queen Margrethe abdicated in January 2024, on the 52nd anniversary of her own accession.
Frederik was proclaimed King Frederik X, and Mary became Queen Mary of Denmark. Joachim was not present for the proclamation. He was in Paris, and his children’s titles had been gone for just over a year. No official timeline has ever been published explaining who proposed the reorganization, who was consulted, or when decisions were made.
The palace has not commented on the relationship between the two princesses. Neither Mary nor Marie has ever publicly described their dynamic. Marie has given interviews since moving to France, speaking about her children’s adaptation and the life she has built in Paris. She has not repeated her earlier comment that she had no choice.
The public record, however, still contains her words. The confirmed facts show that one branch of the royal house moved abroad, one branch’s children lost their royal titles, and the senior line moved on schedule to the throne. Whether those events were connected by design has never been proven. What happened to Marie and Joachim’s family has been described by tabloids as a family war and by commentators as straightforward modernization.
Neither framing fully captures the outcome. The institution reorganized itself around its succession, and the consequences fell on those outside the direct line. Marie arrived in Denmark in 2008, learned the language, took citizenship, and built a public life. She gave the institution everything it asked for.
When the monarchy tightened its structure around the succession, she was in Paris with her children’s titles removed and her four words on the record. The story is not complete. The people involved are still living, the children are growing up with different titles than the ones they were given at birth, and the full internal process behind the palace’s decision has never been made public.