Politicians in Denmark are writing up plans which appear to
limit the number of Queen Margrethe’s grandchildren who receive
an annual salary from the state.
With eight royal grandchildren, It has been said that the
number who should qualify for a salary paid by the
taxpayers should be cut.
Crown Prince Frederik’s eldest son, Prince Christian, will
still receive an annual salary as he is heir to the throne.
However, the question still remains over the future finances of his
three younger siblings, as well as the children of Prince
Joachim.
Jakob Elleman-Jensen, a spokesperson for Danish ruling party
Venstre said: “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. Anyone can see that that won’t fly.”
The decision to review the salaries comes as Prince Joachim’s
eldest son, Prince Nicolai, approaches his 18th birthday, the age
where he qualifies for financial support.
Historically, only heirs to the throne, their spouses and
widows qualified to be supported financially by the state.
However, when Prince Joachim’s married his
ex-wife, Alexandra , the rules were changed to include his
family. Politicians now seem to be unhappy about the
decision.
Left-wing parties are in favour of returning to the old rules
so that only Prince Christian will receive financial support
in his capacity as heir to the throne. Right-wing parties say that
all of Prince Frederik’s children should get support,
however, Prince Joachim’s children should not.
People who support the idea to cut the salaries of the
grandchildren say that Queen Margrethe is the only member of
the family with any actual obligations.
In addition, Prince Joachim’s ex-wife, Countess
Alexandra, still receives 2.3 million kroner ($345,000,
£236,000) from the state, despite the couple’s divorce in
2005.
The Danish Royal Family have had money trouble recently.
As previously reported by Royal Central, in 2015, the family
spent more money than the income they earned.
Last year, their budget took a loss of 2.5 million kroner –
despite receiving 78.4 million kroner from the state, (which is
what they receive annually), and 2.5 million in other income.
What are your thoughts? Should the number of
grandchildren who receive state support be cut, or should it remain
as it is? Let us know by commenting below:
Children of the Queen should get support, but then of grandchildren, only those from the heir to the throne should get support, and if they had children, only the children of the eldest of the heir to the throne.
Wow – that’s a tough one. If I had to decide I’d go by admitting a fixed number of family members based on their position in line to the throne, ie, numbers 1 to x in the line of succession. That way, the number of people receiving the support would remain the same even as the people in the line of succession change in the future. But that’s just my opinion and I’m not Danish so who am I to mess with this issue … 😉
Sounds like the grandkids will be looking for summer jobs.
I think it’s a good idea to cut the salary of Royal grandchildren other than the heir to the throne since they will do very little if any, duties as an adult. However they should at least be allowed payment to go to university or do some vocational training before they get their pay cut.