A bitter royal row within the household has unfolded in recent days after Queen Margrethe II (pictured with her sons in 2015, inset), 82, announced she would be removing princely titles from four of her eight grandchildren, saying it is ‘for their own good’. The official reason was to allow the four children of her younger son, Prince Joachim: Nikolai, 23, Felix, 20, Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10, to live more normal lives, and follows similar moves by other royal families in Europe to slim down their monarchies, the Danish palace said. However, her decision has ‘upset’ her son and his four children, with Joachim insisting his mother only gave him five days’ notice – despite the Royal Household claiming the decision ‘has been a long time coming’. But this seemingly isn’t the first time Joachim and his second wife Marie (pictured with Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary in Paris in 2019) have felt alienated from the family; in 2021, the Prince told French magazine Point de Vue that, like his late father, Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark, he hadn’t manage to get his ‘place in the royal family pinned down.’ He said, via Royal Central : ‘The Crown Prince simply has to follow the course of events. However, nothing is defined for the second born son and the person’s wife, neither in writing nor in speech. ‘My father became acquainted with the same dissatisfaction and never managed to get his place in the royal family pinned down. But it is not always easy. I experience the same dissatisfaction as my father. We have to find out for ourselves, while staying within the role of number two in the row.’ This sense of isolation was echoed in earlier statements made by his wife Marie, when she candidly discussed the family’s move from Denmark to Paris – revealing ‘it is not always us who decide’.