Jump to content

Prince Henrik of Denmark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by G.-M. Cupertino (talk | contribs) at 13:32, 13 October 2008. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Infobox Danish Royalty

coat of arms

Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark (né Count Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat, born 11 June 1934), is the husband of the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II.

Early life

Henrik was born in Talence, Gironde, France, the son of Count André de Laborde de Monpezat (Mont-de-Marsan, Landes, 6 May 1907 - Le Cayrou, Abbas, Lot, 23 February 1998) and his wife (m. religiously Cahors, Lot, 6 January 1934 and civilly Cahors, Lot, 22 January 1948), the former Renée Doursenot (Périgueux, Dordogne, 26 October 1908 - Le Cayrou, Abbas, Lot, 11 February 2001), who was previously married firstly civilly in Paris on 29 September 1928 and divorced at the Tribunal Civil Français de Saigon on 21 September 1940 Louis Leuret (Châteauneuf-sur-Loire, Loiret, 18 March 1881 - Saigon, South Vietnam, 29 December 1962).

He spent his first five years in French Indo-China (now Vietnam) where his father was in charge of family business interests. He returned to Hanoi in 1950, graduating from the French secondary school there in 1952. Between 1952 and 1957 he simultaneously studied law and political science at the Sorbonne, Paris, and Chinese and Vietnamese at the École Nationale des Langues Orientales (now known as INALCO). He also studied in Hong Kong in 1957 and Saigon in 1958.

After military service with the French Army in the Algerian War between 1959 and 1962, in 1962 he joined the French Foreign Affairs ministry, working as a Secretary at the embassy in London from 1963 to 1967.

Prince Consort

On 10 June 1967 he married Princess Margrethe, the heiress presumptive to the Danish throne, at the Naval Church of Copenhagen. At the time of the wedding his name was Danicised to Henrik and he was created HRH Prince Henrik of Denmark. They have two children, Crown Prince Frederik (born 26 May 1968) and Prince Joachim (born 7 June 1969). Prince Henrik and his wife, Queen Margrethe II, also have three grandsons: Prince Christian, Prince Nikolai, and Prince Felix, and one granddaughter, Princess Isabella.

Prince Henrik's native language is French, though he quickly learned Danish after his marriage, but Danes still joke about his grasp of Danish and his thick French accent. He also speaks fluent English, Chinese, and Vietnamese.

He received somewhat of a press-grilling for admitting that he is fond of the taste of dog[1], this despite the fact that he is honorary president of the Danish Dachshund Club.

2002 "Flight" from Denmark

In 2002, Henrik left Denmark and went to stay at the couple's Château de Caïx in Cahors in southern France. The reason for Henrik's departure from Denmark was due to a New Year's Day reception in which his son, Crown Prince Frederik, was appointed host in the absence of Queen Margrethe. Henrik felt "pushed aside, degraded and humiliated"[1] at the fact that he was relegated to "third place in the royal hierarchy."

"For many years I have been Denmark's number two," he said. "I've been satisfied with that role, but I don't want to be relegated to number three after so many years." Henrik "fled" Denmark to reflect on his status in the Danish Royal Family. Queen Margrethe flew to France to meet with her husband.[1] Henrik stressed that neither his wife or son were to blame for the incident. The Prince Consort spent three weeks in Caix, and did not appear with his wife as expected at the wedding of Dutch Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange and Máxima Zorreguieta[2] After three weeks, Henrik returned to Denmark and resumed his Royal duties.

On 30 April 2008, shortly before the wedding of his younger son, Prince Joachim, to a Frenchwoman, the title "Count of Monpezat" (greve af Monpezat), was conferred by the Queen on both of her sons, and made hereditary for their male-line descendants, both male and female.[3]. Cabinet minister Henning Dode commented, "The Queen and the Prince Consort have considered this for quite some time, and it has led to the belief that it was the right thing to do."[3]

In fact, Henrik had mentioned this possibility as long ago as 1996, in his published memoir, "During our generation the future sovereign will perhaps receive approval to see 'Monpezat' added to the dynastic name of 'Oldenbourg-Glücksbourg'".[4] While being interviewed by the French weekly Point de Vue in October 2005, Henrik raised the issue shortly after the birth of Crown Prince Frederick's first son, Prince Christian, who is expected to inherit the Danish crown one day: "It also makes him very proud and happy that Monpezat will be added to this small grandson's future name as Prince of Denmark. 'It is a great joy for me that his French roots will also be remembered.'"[5] Although no announcement was made at that time, Prince Christian does now include (part of) his French grandfather's surname among his hereditary titles. The grant does not extend this Danish comital title to Henrik himself.

Titles

Styles of
The Prince Consort of Denmark
Reference styleHis Royal Highness
Spoken styleYour Royal Highness
Alternative styleSir
  • Comte Henri de Laborde de Monpezat (1934-1967)
  • His Royal Highness Prince Henrik of Denmark (1967-2005)
  • His Royal Highness The Prince Consort of Denmark (2005-present)

Count controversy

The de Laborde de Monpezat family style themselves as counts, though their right to the use of that title is disputed: The "Encyclopedia of Fake and Seeming Nobility" states that Prince Henrik's ancestor, Jean de Laborde, received royal letters patent of ennoblement in 1655, conditional on his reception as a noble in the Estates of the province of Béarn where his lands were located.[6] But this condition was never fulfilled, as the Estates refused de Laborde's petitions in 1703 and again in 1707.[6] The family's surname was de Monpezat, without title, until 14 July 1860, when it was changed by imperial decree to "de Laborde-Monpezat", and legally changed again on 19 May 1861 to "de Laborde de Monpezat".[7] Although the comital title has been used by the family as if it were a titre de courtoisie, traditionally the royal court and French society accepted such titles when used by genuinely noble families.[8] On the other hand, since the title was assumed by Henrik's ancestor prior to the twentieth century, it is possible he was unaware of the misuse until his family's history was later scrutinized by genealogists. Henrik's 1996 autobiography acknowledges the unsuccessful ennoblement.

Danish law never specified that royal spouses be of aristocratic origin. Nonetheless, no prince's marriage to a person who lacked male-line descent from royalty or nobility had been accepted as dynastic by the sovereign in the course of Denmark's history as a hereditary monarchy prior to Crown Princess Margrethe's marriage to Henrik in June 1967.[9] Six months later Margrethe's cousin Prince Ingof of Denmark wed an untitled commoner and was demoted to a count, and another cousin, Prince Christian of Denmark, also wed a Dane, Anne Dorte Maltoft-Nielsen, in 1971. Christian later commented on the dynasty's marital rules in the Danish periodical, Billed-Bladet:

As protocol dictates, I had to ask my uncle, King Frederick IX, if he had any objections to my getting engaged...I knew I would have to renounce my title of prince and my right of succession if I married her. I was number four in the line of succession after Princess Margrethe, Princess Benedikte, and my father. My brother, Ingolf, had two years previously lost his princely title and succession right when he married a commoner, Countess Inge. Now I was ready to follow him. To me, it didn't matter if I were in line for the throne or not...My uncle, of course, had nothing against a union between Anne Dorte and me.[10]

Royal titles
Preceded by Prince Consort of Denmark
1972–present 		Incumbent

Publications

Prince Henrik has translated several books into Danish, as well as publishing several other books.

  • In 1981, under the pseudonym H.M. Vejerbjerg he and the Queen translated Simone de Beauvoir's Tous les hommes sont mortels.
  • Chemin faisant, 1982, a volume of French poems.
  • Destin oblige, 1996, his memoirs as Prince Consort.
  • Ikke Altid Gåselever (not always foie gras), 1999, a selection of favourite recipes.
  • Cantabile, 2000, poems.
  • Les escargots de Marie Lanceline, 2003.

Gallery

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b BBC News | EUROPE | Runaway prince returns home
  2. ^ BBC News | EUROPE | 'Degraded' Danish prince takes time out
  3. ^ a b "Monpezat til Frederik og Joachim". Berlingske Tidende. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
  4. ^ Henrik prince de Danemark, Destin Oblige, 1996, 102
  5. ^ Levinsen, Niels (B.T.). "Henrik fulgte Mary time for time" (in Danish). Retrieved 2008-06-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ a b Dioudonnat, Pierre-Marie, Encyclopédie de la fausse noblesse et de la noblesse d'apparence, Paris, Sedopols, 1976-79 (2 vols), French, p.208
  7. ^ Joseph Valynseele, Les de Laborde de Monpezat et leurs alliances, Paris, chez l'Auteur, 1975, French
  8. ^ Velde, François. "Nobility and Titles in France". Heraldica.org. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  9. ^ Huberty, Michel (1994). L'Allemagne Dynastique Tome VII Oldenbourg (in French). France. pp. passim. ISBN 2-901138-07-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ^ Billed-Bladet, (Interview with Count Christian of Rosenborg), 1985, Danish

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prince_Henrik_of_Denmark&oldid=244985870"