Danish royals say only one of Queen’s grandchildren will get state salary

Royals make rare intervention in ‘appanage’ debate, saying only the direct heir to the throne will receive taxpayers’ money when he comes of age

Pictured here: Queen Margrethe (3rd L), Prince Henrik (5th L), Crown Prince Frederik (L) and Crown Princess Mary (6th R) and their children, Prince Christian (4th L), Princess Isabella (2nd L), Prince Vincent (6th L) and Princess Josephine (5th R). Also pictured: Princess Alexandra (4th R) of Berleburg and Count Jefferson (3rd R) with their children Countess Ingrid (Reuters)

The Danish royal family has been forced to issue a rare public statement about the finances of the Queen’s grandchildren, amid a growing row over which of them will receive a state-funded salary.

Politicians have led calls for some sort of limit on the number of Queen Margrethe II’s eight grandchildren who will be supported by the state financially, describing it as “simple mathematics” that some would have to be cut off.

The rare controversy for the Danish royals, who are currently enjoying record public popularity, appears to be of their own making. While traditionally only the direct heirs to the throne were supported by the state, in 1995 the rules were changed so money would also go to the family of the Queen’s second son, Prince Joachim.

Speaking to the state broadcaster DR, Royal House spokeswoman Lene Balleby said only Crown Prince Frederik’s son, Prince Christian, will receive a salary when he comes of age.

“It is not the expectation, nor has it ever been, that anyone other than Prince Christian should have the salary when the time comes,” she said, according to a translation by the Danish edition of The Local.

It means that Joachim’s eldest son Prince Nikolai, whose approaching 18th birthday sparked the recent controversy, will indeed be cut off. So too will be his and the 10-year-old Prince Christian’s younger siblings.

Since 1849, the heirs to the Danish throne have received an “appanage” or annual salary, enough to meet the needs of themselves, their spouses and any widows.

But after the change to support Joachim upon his marriage to now-ex-wife Alexandra Christina 20 years ago, critics were concerned there would be no end to the number of royals receiving state money.

A spokesman for the ruling Venstre party, Jakob Elleman-Jensen, told Politiken: “Simple mathematics dictate that there needs to be some sort of limit.

“Otherwise within a few generations there will be several hundred princes and princesses who need an annual salary.”

By issuing a clarification , the royals seem to have accepted what a cross-party group of MPs were threatening to try and impose.

The tax spokesman for the Liberal Alliance party, Ole Birk Olesen, had said things should “go back to the old system”. “Government finances should only have the task of supporting one of [Crown Prince Frederik’s] children, who will inherit the throne after him,” he said.

Lars Hovbakke Sørsensen, a Danish royal family expert, told Berlingske it was “unusual” for the royals to enter any political debate, even if it was about their own funding.

He said it was “very smart of the Royal House to come out and say this now” after opinion polls suggested a large majority of the public believed only Christian should receive funding.

“They could have risked jeopardising the current record high support for the Royal House in Denmark if they began demanding that this, that and the other prince and princess should have support,” he said.