Prince Joachim of Denmark has been promoted to the military rank of Brigadier General. The event happened in a small ceremony in the Royal Danish Embassy in Paris on September 21st 2020. It was Ambassador Michael Starbæk Christensen who presented the Prince with the document confirming his new military rank.
Prince Joachim has received a permanent degree of Brigadier General, and as defence attaché, he will report to the Danish Ministry of Defence. The ambassador in Paris is still the daily commander of the Royal Defence Attaché.
Since September 2019, Prince Joachim has followed the highest-ranking military leadership training in France at the French École Militaire following on from a long career in the Danish defence. The prince began his military training in 1987 as a recruit in the Queen’s Regiment. Since then he has been a Platoon Commander in a tank squadron at the Prince’s Life Regiment, Lieutenant of the Reserve Regiments and Captain of the Reserve Regiments. In April 2015, Prince Joachim was appointed Colonel of the Danish Reserve Army.
After a difficult summer Prince Joachim, the younger son of Queen Margrethe, began his first working day as defence attaché at the Danish embassy in Paris on September 18th. The first day in the office on Friday went well. Because the Prince receives a grant from the Danish government, he will not receive a salary in his new position or be covered for housing or similar expenses, which would otherwise come with the position.
“The appointment of Prince Joachim will strengthen cooperation in the area of security policy between France and Denmark, and the position is for three years”, said the Danish Minister of Defence when the prince was announced as new Defence attaché.
Brigadier General is the lowest ranking general officer sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. Denmark, a NATO member, has for many years been following NATO standards and adapting its rank system to closely relate. As in the armies of most other NATO nations, Brigadier General is the lowest of the general ranks, usually a brigade commander.
