Tragic Details About Denmark's Royal Family

The Danish royal family is a 1,000-year-old monarchy. While they're reported on nearly as much as other European royals — namely the Windsors — the Danes are just as fascinating. They live lavish lives. They've got a rich and intriguing family history. They have a surprisingly high amount of support from the Danish citizens. They've got a foreign queen. They also have incredibly complex and compelling family dynamics. What else could they possibly have? Seriously, if anyone is bored of the British royal family, the Danes are ones to study. 

Unfortunately, however, the Danish royal family has also suffered many tragedies. Some are as common as the subjects over whom they reign, while others might only seem tragic to those on the inside. Nevertheless, these events have impacted the Danish royal family, humanizing them and proving once again that not even the protection of money and a monarchy can keep people from experiencing heartbreak. These are the tragic details about Denmark's royal family.

Before being welcomed into a life of pure luxury, Queen Mary experienced a devastating loss. When the royal was 25 years old, she lost her mother, Henrietta Clark Donaldson. Donaldson underwent heart surgery as a 55-year-old, and six weeks after the procedure, she died from complications. "I felt alone in my pain. As if nobody understood what I was going through and I had come to a standstill while the whole world around me kept moving forwards," Mary said of her mother's death during an interview on the Danish media channel DR, as reported by Hello! "I would have liked to have spent more time with her."

Although the queen wasn't able to have her mother with her on her wedding day or introduce her mother to her grandchildren, Mary has used her own experience with loss to positively impact others. Queen Mary has spoken openly about her own grief and even volunteered at a grief hotline where she connected with others who've had similar experiences. As reported by The Mary Foundation, the queen emphasized to one caller about the importance of sitting with grief and allowing it to inspire memories about loved ones who have died.

In 2017, the Danish monarchy announced that King Frederik X's father, Prince Henrik, had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of dementia. "The extent of the cognitive failure is ... greater than expected considering the age of the prince," the announcement said, as reported by Reuters, adding that his behavior and judgment had been affected by the illness. Less than a year later, Henrik died.

Making Henrik's death more complicated, the prince refused to be buried next to his wife. While living, Henrik's wife, formerly Queen Margrethe II, declined to make the prince consort a king. His title long bothered Henrik, and he made it clear to the public. "My wife has decided that she would like to be queen, and I'm very pleased with that," Henrik told Se og Hør, as reported by People. "But as a person, she must know that if a man and a woman are married, then they are equal. My wife hasn't shown me the respect an ordinary wife should show her spouse." Prior to his father's death, King Frederik expressed his disappointment to the Danish press (via Royal Central) about his father's wishes to be buried apart from Margrethe.

In 2022, the Danish monarchy announced that Queen Margrethe II had decided to strip Prince Joachim's children, her grandchildren, of their royal titles beginning in 2023. Joachim's progeny are now only allowed to go by Count or Countess of Monpezat rather than prince or princess and can only be addressed as excellencies rather than his or her royal highness, though they still retain their same line in succession to the throne.

According to the announcement, Margrethe's decision was in keeping with decisions other royal houses have made concerning titles, and was in the best interest of the children. "Her Majesty The Queen wishes to create the framework for the four grandchildren to be able to shape their own lives to a much greater extent," the announcement read, per Kongehuset. Still, feelings were hurt by the decision. "We weren't happy about the way it happened. But it's a family thing. It's complicated," Princess Marie, Joachim's wife, said, per The Washington Post. "It's also their name. It's their identity since they were born. So it's more than just what people see as a title."

The stripping of Prince Joachim's children's titles apparently caused lots of tension within the Danish royal family. Per reports, brothers King Frederik X and Joachim's relationship has devolved to something not unlike the relationship between Prince William and Prince Harry. Some royal experts believe the feud started when Joachim reportedly tried to kiss Queen Mary at a gala, though the Danish monarchy has refuted that claim.

There is clearly tension, though, some of it seemingly coming from Joachim's position as successor to his brother. "Between us, it is more complicated. The Crown Prince simply has to follow the course of events," Joachim told Point de Vue (via News.com.au). "However, nothing is defined for the second born son and the person's wife, neither in writing nor in speech ... 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." Even Queen Margrethe II has spoken plainly about the issues her family has faced. "Difficulties and misunderstandings may arise in any family, also in mine. The whole country has witnessed that. That the relationship with Prince Joachim and Princess Marie has run into difficulties makes me sad," Margrethe said in a message to Denmark in 2022, as reported by The Washington Post.

It seems life is difficult for many "spares" around the world. Tension between Prince Joachim and his family, particularly King Frederik X, has apparently been so tight that Joachim and his family left Denmark. The royal Danes first moved to France in 2019 ostensibly on state matters, but the family was reportedly forced to leave. As reporter Jacob Heinel Jensen told The Daily Beast of his conversation with Joachim and his wife, Princess Marie, "Suddenly, Marie cuts in and says, 'You know, it wasn't our choice.' I said, 'Excuse me your royal highness, you have to elaborate what you mean by saying it wasn't your choice to move to France.'" Heinel continued, "She said, 'Well, I'm not going to elaborate but it wasn't our choice. I want people to know that it wasn't our choice.'"

Further fueling reports that Joachim and his family were exiled from Denmark, in 2023, they moved to the United States. Joachim did return to Denmark in 2024 for his brother's coronation, but his wife and children did not come with him. But things for Joachim and Marie aren't so bad in the United States. Joachim works for the Danish government and makes nearly $600,000 per year, and he gets to live a more private life.

King Frederik X and Queen Mary have the means to send their children to the best schools in the world, but even a high-priced school isn't immune from scandal. Prior to 2022, Frederik and Mary's oldest child, Prince Christian, attended Herlufsholm, a private boarding school in Copenhagen, and their second oldest, Princess Isabella, was set to attend in the future, too. 

However, Frederik and Mary decided to send Christian and Isabella to other schools after Herlufsholm was rocked by a scandal with reports of students experiencing bullying, sexual abuse, and violence. "We are deeply shaken by the reports that have come out about Herlufsholm recently. We have also made it clear that, as parents of a child at the school, we expect that the school will do what it must do to rectify the unacceptable conditions," the royals said in a statement, per Kongehuset.

In response to the allegations, the school's principal lost their job, and the entire board resigned. "We deeply regret that this has taken place at Herlufsholm," the school said in an email to The New York Times. "We want every student to feel and be safe." After the Danish royals' initial announcement, they shared that they had chosen for Christian to attend Ordrup Gymnasium and for Isabella to attend Jespersen's Gymnasieskole.

The Danish monarch's marriage has appeared mostly solid, but there have been red flags in King Frederik X and Queen Mary's relationship, including a 2023 scandal that seemingly rocked their foundation. Near the end of the year, rumors circulated claiming that then-Prince Frederik had cheated on his wife with socialite Genoveva Casanova. While the Danish royals never directly addressed the affair rumors, Frederik did seem to allude to them in the book he published in 2024. "I love marriage, my wife, our children and the whole happy base that arises for the people who manage to stay together and persevere," Frederik wrote, as reported by GBN. Casanova also denied the allegations, but the story took on a life of its own and conspiracies only continued to mount.

Some of the conspiracies, though, were based on actual events. For example, just months after the affair rumor surfaced, Queen Margrethe II announced that she was stepping down as monarch and that her son, Frederik, would become king. "It's possible that the queen took this action because she would have been terrified of the marriage breaking up and the royal family losing Mary. It would have caused major problems. The queen has always seen Mary as a tremendous asset," royal expert Phil Dampier told The Telegraph. "It just seems an extraordinary coincidence that she should make this unexpected announcement just a couple of months after stories emerged of the Crown Prince supposedly having an affair." Whatever the truth is, Frederik and Mary are still married, navigating their new royal roles as a team.

In 2020, news broke that Queen Mary and King Frederik X owned a ski chalet in Switzerland and they had been renting it out via Airbnb for a reported $14,000 per week. The news did not please many Danish citizens. "I was very surprised when I found out that the family does not just have such a house, they have had such a house for 10 years, without any ordinary Danes knowing about it. We are the ones who pay the money so we must know about the house," one member of Danish parliament, Mai Villadsen, said, as reported by Royal Central.

The look was unbecoming for the royal family for multiple reasons — one being that some worried it made Frederik and Mary vulnerable to blackmail. Others questioned why the Danish royals needed the income when all other aspects of their lives are already funded by taxpayers. Some echoed Villadsen in their reasoning. "A lot of people feel like it's a taxpayer funded skiing vacation of three months and that doesn't really resonate well with people," royal reporter Jacob Heinel Jensen said, per the Herald Sun, adding that it could result in a downturn in popularity for the royals. "They have to be very careful of not becoming Hollywood celebrities, it doesn't take a lot [for] people to turn against them." Ultimately the royal family stopped renting its ski chalet to guests, and per a Statista survey conducted in 2023, Danish citizens are still very much in favor of the monarchy as an institution, so it seems the ski chalet debacle didn't hurt the royals too much.

Families can't live under one roof forever, even royals. But that doesn't make it any less devastating when children leave. Just ask Queen Mary. In 2024, the monarchy announced that Crown Prince Christian, heir to the Danish monarchy, would be embarking on a months-long trip to East Africa. "There, the Crown Prince will be involved in the daily operation of two farms, which will, among other things, include practical and administrative tasks and also give The Crown Prince insight into local nature protection," the announcement, per Kongehuset, said of Christian's plans for his time on the continent. At the end of the announcement regarding Christian's travel plans, the monarchy shared that his activities in East Africa would be kept mostly private, so the Danish royals didn't give frequent updates on his time there. However, they did share a photo of Christian in Africa in celebration of his 19th birthday, as he was spending the milestone away from home.

Ahead of his departure, however, Queen Mary expressed her mixed feelings over her son leaving, telling Billed-Bladet (via B.T.) that she would miss her eldest child a lot despite being eager for him to embark on new experiences. Mary likely had time to prepare for her son's trip, though, as such gap years are somewhat of a royal tradition. "His Majesty The King took part in an expedition to Mongolia in 1986 focused on the nomads and, in 1989, worked for a year at a vineyard in California. Her Majesty Queen Margrethe also went on longer trips to the East and South America in the 1960s," the palace announcement read.

Not all has been well for Queen Margrethe II in recent years as the former monarch has suffered some health issues. In 2024, Margrethe fell while at home and was subsequently admitted to the hospital. The incident was not major, but it did lead Margrethe to miss a scheduled event. "According to the circumstances, the queen is doing well, but was admitted for observation for the time being," the monarchy's head of communications said, as reported by the Associated Press. "We take it day by day. The doctors are the ones who decide," King Frederik X said of his mother's condition. Other members of the Danish royal family, however, had full confidence that Margrethe would make a full recovery. "I had the opportunity to visit her a few times since she came home. She's super cool and keeps her spirit high. Thank you for the question," Queen Mary said at a conference in Copenhagen shortly after the former monarch's fall, as reported by the Daily Mail.

In 2023, the then-monarch underwent back surgery, and the procedure ultimately led Margrethe II to step down from the throne. "The surgery naturally gave rise to thinking about the future — whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation. I have decided that now is the right time," she said in a speech at the end of 2023, as reported by the BBC. But Margrethe's health issues didn't begin in the 2020s. Back in 2003, the former monarch underwent surgery for spinal stenosis. Before that, Margrethe had knee surgeries in 1992, 1993, and 2001, and in 1994, she had a hysterectomy after being diagnosed with cancer.