Denmark’s Queen Margrethe apologises for stripping grandchildren of titles but does not reverse decision

The senior royal admitted she had “underestimated” the hurt it would cause her family - “and for that I am sorry”.

Queen Margrethe of Denmark has apologised for stripping four of her grandchildren of their royal titles - but has not reversed her decision.

Margrethe, 82, announced last week that Prince Joachim’s children Prince Nikolai, 23, Prince Felix, 20, Prince Henrik, 13, and Princess Athena, 10, would be stripped of their royal titles.

Her slimming down of the Danish monarchy would instead make them Counts and Countesses.

Princess Mary’s children with Crown Prince Frederik will keep their titles, as Frederik is next in line to the throne.

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Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. (Photo by Martin Sylvest / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP)

Prince Felix, Princess Marie, Prince Joachim, Princess Athena, Prince Henrik and Prince Nikolai (Photo by Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP)

Margrethe said slimming down the nation’s royal family would “future-proof” the monarchy.

But she admitted she had “underestimated” the hurt it would cause her family - “and for that I am sorry”.

Joachim and his second wife Marie came forward earlier this week to say Margrethe had “unfortunately not” spoken to them since the bombshell move.

They added that their relationship with Frederik and Mary was “complicated”.

“It’s also family. Or whatever we want to call it,” Joachim said in the interview B.T..

Marie has also revealed that Athena has been bullied at school since she lost her title.

“They come and say (to Athena): ‘Is it you who is no longer a princess?’,” she said.

The family are only said to have been told of the decision five days before it was made public.

Last week, Mary defended Margrethe’s “difficult” decision to strip her grandchildren of their royal titles in an interview with Ekstra Bladet.

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary (Photo by Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP)

“Change can be extremely difficult and can really hurt,” Princess Mary said.

“I think most people have tried it. But this does not mean that the decision is not the right one.

“ … And I can understand that it is a very difficult decision to have to make, and also a very difficult decision to receive.”

As direct descendants of the future King, Frederick and Mary’s four children – Prince Christian, 16, Princess Isabella, 15, and twins Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent, 11 – are unaffected by the decision.

However, Mary, 50, suggested that may not always be the case.

“We will also look at our children’s titles when the time comes. Today we cannot see what the royal house will look like when it is Christian’s time, or when Christian’s time begins to approach.”