Queen Margrethe‘s sudden dash to hospital has been a wake-up call for the Danish royal family, New Idea can reveal.
The former Queen of Denmark, 86, was hospitalised in Copenhagen on Thursday, May 14, after experiencing chest pains (angina pectoris).
The Danish Royal Family confirmed that Margrethe had undergone an angioplasty, a procedure to open blocked arteries, and was recovering in hospital.
Now, royal insiders have told New Idea that Margrethe’s health scare has prompted Queen Mary to push for her husband, King Frederik, and his brother, Prince Joachim, to reunite.
Joachim resides in the United States with his wife, Princess Marie, and his youngest children, Count Henrik, 17, and Countess Athena, 14, where he works as a defence attache for the Embassy of Denmark. They are set to move back to Copenhagen in August 2027.
But Mary, 54, is now said to be keen for the family to move closer to home much sooner so they can all rally around Margrethe and spend more time with her.
“She wants Joachim and his family back in Denmark,” our insider dishes.
“It’s his birthday coming up and she’s begged him and Mariah to bring the children to the summer Palace while their grandmother’s still around.”
The family were embroiled in estrangement rumours after Margrethe announced in 2022 that she would be stripping Joachim’s four children of their royal titles in a bid to slim down the monarchy.
Instead, his children would be referred to as Counts and Countesses of Monpezat, a decision which Joachim publicly criticised, prompting rumours of a family rift.
Despite the reports, Joachim and Frederik put on a united front when Margrethe abdicated the throne in January 2024, with Joachim returning to Denmark to support his brother.
“There are some deep wounds still festering over Margrethe’s decision, something she regretted since Frederik stepped up,” our insider explains.
“He needs his brother and Mary loved having Mariah as a confidante. She misses her nieces and nephews, too.”
Joachim lived in Paris from 2019 until 2023, when he accepted his new job in the US and relocated with his family to Washington DC.
In 2024, Joachim said his family had “moved on” from the titles controversy, but maintained that they were unhappy with how things had unfolded.
“We weren’t happy about the way it happened,” his wife, Princess Marie, told The Washington Post. “But it’s a family thing. It’s complicated.”
Joachim shares two children, Henrik and Athena, with Marie and has two older children, Nikolai, 26, and Felix, 23, with his ex-wife, Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg.
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