Denmark’s Queen Margrethe has apologised for upsetting family members with her decision to strip four of her grandchildren of their royal titles, but has refused to change her mind. The palace last week announced the four children of Margrethe’s youngest son, Prince Joachim, would no longer be called prince or princess but instead Count or Countess of Monpezat – the birth title of her late husband, the French-born Prince Henrik. “I have made my decision as queen, mother and grandmother. But, as a mother and grandmother, I have underestimated the extent to how much my younger son and his family feel affected. That makes a big impression, and for that I am sorry,” Margrethe, 82, said in a statement released by the royal household. Europe longest reigning monarch since the death last month of Queen Elizabeth II said in the statement she viewed the “adjustment” as “a necessary future-proofing of the monarchy”. The change affects Joachim’s four children: Prince Nikolai, Prince Felix, Prince Henrik, and Princess Athena. Commenting hours after the palace announcement, a visibly moved Joachim told the Ekstra Bladet daily that the family was “all very sad”. “It’s never fun to see your children being mistreated like that. They themselves find themselves in a situation they do not understand,” Joachim, 53, said. Asked how the decision had affected the relationship with his mother, Joachim replied: “I don’t think I need to elaborate here.” Joachim’s first wife, Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg, mother of Nikolai and Felix, said they were confused, saddened and in shock. “The children feel ostracised. They cannot understand why their identity is being taken away from them,” she said. Joachim has been married to Princess Marie since 2008 and she is the mother of Henrik and Athena. The Queen’s younger son, who since September 2020 has been the defence attaché at the Danish embassy in Paris, said he received five days’ notice of the change. He said he was originally presented with a plan in May that would have removed the children’s titles when they reached 25. Margrethe’s decision was in line with those of other royal houses in recent years. In 2019, Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf announced that his grandchildren Princess Madeleine and Prince Carl Philip, the offspring of his younger children, would lose their royal titles. His oldest daughter, Crown Princess Victoria, is heir to the throne, followed by her children. They will retain their titles. In Denmark, which has a constitutional monarchy, the heir to the throne is Crown Prince Frederik. His oldest son, Prince Christian, is next in line, followed by Frederik’s three younger children. Margrethe was proclaimed Queen on 15 January 1972, the day after the death of her father, King Frederik IX.