Prince Joachim of Denmark announces he is moving to the US for new job after children lose titles

Prince Joachim of Denmark will be relocating to the United States for a job at the Danish embassy in Washington, DC, starting in September, the Danish defense ministry has announced.

The move was announced on Friday, with Joachim, the younger son of Queen Margrethe II, revealing that he is “proud” to “still get the opportunity to represent Denmark internationally in the area of security and defence”.

“Transatlantic cooperation is a high-priority area, and I am honoured that they have found me qualified for the task,” he added of his upcoming role as defense industry attache at the Danish embassy.

According to the announcement, the prince and his “family” will relocate to the US for the new job, with the royal expected to be joined by his wife Princess Marie and their two children, 13-year-old son Henrik and 11-year-old daughter Athena. Joachim also shares sons Nikolai, 23, and Felix, 20, with his ex-wife Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg.

The decision for the prince, who is the sixth in the line of succession to the Danish throne, to relocate to the US comes after Queen Margrethe shocked the world and her family when she announced her decision to strip four of her grandchildren of their royal titles last year.

The monarch’s decision was announced in a statement shared by the royal palace on 28 September, in which it was revealed that the children of Prince Joachim would no longer have prince or princess titles, nor His/Her Highness titles, and would instead be known by His Excellency Count of Monpezat or Her Excellency Countess of Monpezat.

After the family expressed their grievances with the decision publicly, Queen Margrethe apologised to the members of her family who were left “saddened” by her ruling. However, she noted at the time that she viewed her decision as a “necessary future-proofing of the monarchy”.

Prince Joachim, who has an extensive military background with the Danish Armed Forces and elsewhere starting from 1987, has held a similar position at the Danish embassy in Paris since 2020, but announced in November that he would leave the position this summer.

In Denmark, which has a constitutional monarchy, the heir to the throne is Crown Prince Frederik, Joachim’s older brother.

Additional reporting by AP.