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Prince Mary’s sister-in-law Princess Marie will relocate to the United States with her husband Prince Joachim six months after a dispute over royal titles divided Denmark’s royal family.
The Danish Royal family officially confirmed that Princess Marie and her husband Prince Joachim will leave Europe for the United States in a new statement released to Instagram on Saturday.
“On 1 September 2023, His Royal Highness Prince Joachim will take up a new position under the Ministry of Defence as defence industry attaché at the Danish Embassy in Washington D.C., where the Prince, as Denmark’s representative, will in the coming years help to strengthen the defence industry cooperation with the USA and Canada,” the Danish Royal Family announced in a translated statement.
French-born Marie married into the Danish royal family in 2008 as the second wife of Prince Joachim, the younger brother of Crown Prince Frederik.
Since 2018, the couple have lived outside Denmark in nearby France, where the Prince works in the Danish Embassy as a defence attaché.
The family falling out began in October last year after the Danish Monarch Queen Margrethe opted to “futureproof” the royal family and strip Joachim and Marie’s children of their royal titles.
Joachim was upset by the Queen’s decision and told Danish newspapers that his children were being “mistreated” by the Queen.
Meanwhile, Mary and Frederik publicly backed Margrethe, with the Tasmanian-born royal making a statement in support of her mother-in-law.
“Change can be extremely difficult and can really hurt. I think most people have tried it. But this does not mean that the decision is not the right one,” she told a journalist.
As future Queen Consort, Mary’s children were unaffected by the constitutional change which saw Marie’s son and daughter no longer hold HRH titles.
Not long after the family rift was revealed in the Danish media, rumours began to emerge that Marie and Joachim were seeking a transfer to the United States to put distance between themselves and the royal household.
Saturday’s announcement is the first time the move has been confirmed by either the couple or the royal family itself.
The dispute seemingly mirrored the journey of their British counterparts Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle.
Like Harry, Joachim is also a former military officer and “spare” to the throne who has steadily fallen down the line of succession.
Joachim was once second in line to the Danish throne but has fallen to sixth in the line of succession following the birth of Mary and Frederik’s four children.
However, unlike the Sussexes, the Danish royals will continue to use their royal titles and presumably represent the Danish Royal Family abroad.
The announcement closes a difficult chapter for the Danish Royal family, which is increasingly focusing on Frederik and Mary’s preparations to become the next King and Queen of the Nordic nation.
