Who’s who of the Danish Royal Family

The Danish Royal Family has been in the news quite a lot this year after the abdication of Queen Margrethe, and we are breaking down who’s who of Denmark’s royal family. 

King Frederik

Photo: Dennis Stenild, Kongehuset ©

King Frederik X was born to then Princess Margrethe and Prince Henrik on 26 May 1968. At the time of his birth, his grandfather, King Frederik IX, was on the throne. He became the Crown Prince of Denmark when his mother ascended the throne upon Frederik IX’s death in 1972. He primarily attended school in Denmark with a brief one-year study at a French boarding school. The King studied political science at Aarhus University and spent the 1992-1993 academic year at Harvard University in the United States. He met Mary Donaldson at the Slip Inn in Sydney, Australia, during the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. The pair wed in 2004 and have four children: Crown Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine. Frederik became King of Denmark upon his mother’s abdication on 14 January 2024.  

Queen Mary

By UNRIC – https://www.flickr.com/photos/unric/42589019472/in/album-72157667715593397/, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Mary Donaldson was born on 5 February 1972 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, to Scottish parents, John and Henrietta. She has three siblings and lived for a time in Texas as a child. Mary went on to graduate from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws degrees. She worked in advertising and met Crown Prince Frederik during the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. They were married in 2004, and Mary had to renounce her citizenship from Australia and the United Kingdom per Danish law. The Danish government enacted Mary’s Law which gave her Danish citizenship. She also converted from Presbyterianism to the Church of Denmark upon her marriage. Mary became Queen of Denmark when her husband ascended to the throne in 2024. 

Crown Prince Christian

Photo: H.K.H. Kronprinsessen ©

Crown Prince Christian was born on 15 October 2005 to then Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary. He has been educated primarily in Denmark; however, he and his siblings were due to study for 12 weeks in Switzerland but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their studies were cut short. Christian came of age in 2023 and his grandmother, Queen Margrethe, held a birthday banquet to celebrate. He became Crown Prince of Denmark when his grandmother abdicated the throne in January 2024. He is currently in high school and is first in the line of succession.

Princess Isabella

Photo: H.M. Dronningen

Princess Isabella is the second child of King Frederik and Queen Mary, born on 21 April 2007. She occasionally accompanies her parents on royal tours and duties and is in high school. Isabella is the first Danish princess to not be surpassed in the line of succession by a younger brother after Denmark changed their succession laws in 2009 to allow for absolute primogeniture. She is second in the line of succession. 

Prince Vincent

Jens Rosenfeldt / Rosenfeldt Fotografi ©

Prince Vincent was born on 8 January 2011, 26 minutes before his twin sister. He attends school at Tranegårdsskolen alongside his sister, Princess Josephine. After his father took the throne in 2024, he is now third in the Danish line of succession. 

Princess Josephine

Jens Rosenfeldt / Rosenfeldt Fotografi ©

Princess Josephine is the youngest of the King and Queen’s four children. She and her twin brother were born on 8 January 2011 and attend public school in Gentofte. She is fourth in the line of succession. 

Prince Joachim

By Frankie Fouganthin – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Prince Joachim is the younger son of Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik. He was born on 7 June 1969 and grew up with his older brother in Copenhagen. He has served in the military since 1987 with his duties allowing him to serve as Denmark’s military attaché to France and later the United States. He married Alexandra Manley in 1995 and had two children, Nikolai and Felix. He and Alexandra divorced in 2005 and he later married Marie Cavallier in 2008. They have two children, Henrik and Athena. Joachim is fifth in the line of succession and lives in Washington D.C. with his family. 

Princess Marie

By Frankie Fouganthin – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Marie Cavallier was born in Paris, France, on 6 February 1976 to Alain Cavallier and Françoise Grassiot. Educated in France and abroad, Marie worked in advertising before meeting Joachim. They married in 2008 and have two children. Like Mary, Marie had to renounce her French citizenship to become a Danish citizen upon becoming a member of the Royal Family. She also converted from Catholicism to the Church of Denmark. 

Count Nikolai

By Leif Jørgensen – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Nikolai was born to Prince Joachim and then Princess Alexandra. At the time, he held the title of Prince of Denmark and would until his grandmother revoked the princely titles and styles from him and his siblings to streamline the monarchy in 2022. Since then, he’s been known as Count Nikolai. He works as a model and does not undertake engagements on behalf of the Royal Family. He is sixth in the line of succession.

Count Felix

By Leif Jørgensen – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Felix is the second son of Prince Joachim and his first wife, Alexandra. He was born on 22 July 2002 with princely titles, but like his siblings, those were revoked by his grandmother in 2022. He is now known as Count Felix and also works as a model. He is seventh in the line of succession. 

Count Henrik

H.K.H. Prinsesse Marie ©

Born on 4 May 2009, Henrik is the first child of Prince Joachim and Princess Marie. He was named after his paternal grandfather, Prince Henrik. The younger Henrik lost his style of prince in 2022 and is now known as Count Henrik. He lives in the United States where his father is working at the Danish Embassy. He is eighth in the line of succession.

Countess Athena

H.K.H. Prinsesse Marie ©

Athena was born on 24 January 2012 to Prince Joachim and Princess Marie in Copenhagen. Until 2022, she held the title of Princess of Denmark but is now known as Countess Athena. She lives in Washington D.C. with her family and is ninth in the line of succession.

Queen Margrethe

Keld Navntoft, Kongehuset ©

Queen Margrethe was born on 16 April 1940 to the future King Frederik and Queen Ingrid, just one week after Germany invaded Denmark during World War II. Her mother was born a Princess of Sweden, so Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf is her first cousin. She was not initially in the line of succession until the laws were changed in 1953 at which point she became Crown Princess. She married the French-born Henri de Laborde de Monpezat (who changed his name to the Danish Henrik) in 1967. She and Henrik had two sons, Frederik and Joachim. Prince Henrik died in 2018. Margrethe became the Queen of Denmark in 1972 when her father died and reigned for over 50 years. Beloved in Denmark, she stepped back due to her health in January 2024. She still undertakes some royal duties and has retained the title of queen. She is a talented artist, illustrating the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and creating backdrops and costumes for ballets and other events. 

Princess Benedikte

Kongehuset ©

Princess Benedikte is the second of King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid’s three daughters. Born in Copenhagen on 29 April 1944 during Nazi Germany’s occupation of Denmark. Her older sisters are Queen Margrethe of Denmark and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece. Benedikte’s father became King of Denmark in 1947, but she nor her sisters were in the line of succession. Due to the popularity of the young family, the Act of Succession of 1953 was enacted, allowing women in the line of succession – just behind any brothers. As Frederik IX had no sons, Benedikte was second in the line of succession after the new law. She married Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg in 1968. They had three children (Gustav, Alexandra and Nathalie). Per Danish law, her children had to be raised in Denmark to be in the line of succession, which they were not as they were raised in Germany. Richard died in 2017. Princess Benedikte is tenth and last in the Danish line of succession.