Prince Henrik’s 46-year grudge against his wife explained
Denmark’s Prince Henrik passed away peacefully in his sleep earlier this week, but the months prior to his passing were marred by illness and odd behaviour.
Before he was diagnosed with dementia, the Prince Consort sparked controversy when he went public with a long-held grudge against his wife, Queen Margrethe.
In a shock announcement last August, the Danish Royal House’s director of communications, Lene Balleby, told the press that the French-born prince did not want to be buried alongside his wife.
“It is no secret that the prince for many years has been unhappy with his role and the title he has been awarded in the Danish monarchy,” Lene Balleby, the Royal Danish House’s director of communications, told BT. “This discontent has grown more and more in recent years.
“For the prince, the decision not to be buried beside the queen is the natural consequence of not having been treated equally to his spouse – by not having the title and role he has desired.”
Essentially, he argued that since they weren’t equals in life, they should not be so in death.
The Prince had long been unsatisfied with being relegated to the title of “Prince Consort”, sparking rumours of a rift in his marriage to Margrethe, who never allowed Henrik to become king.
“My wife does not give me the respect a normal wife must give her spouse,” he told the Danish media. “It is her that is making a fool of me.
“My wife has decided that she wants to be Queen, and I’m very happy about that. But as a human being she needs to know that if a man and wife are married, they are equal.”
Henrik’s dementia diagnosis was revealed shortly after these comments, although they certainly weren’t the first he’d made about his dissatisfaction with his title, earning him the nickname of “the world’s grumpiest royal”.
Image credit: Det danske kongehus/Instagram.