COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – The husband of Denmark’s Queen Margrethe is causing a stir in one of the world’s oldest monarchies.
Prince Henrik has announced he won’t be buried next to Margrethe in the Roskilde cathedral where Danish royals have been buried since 1559. She has had a specially designed sarcophagus made for them there.
The royal house gave no reason for Henrik’s decision, but the 83-year-old French-born prince has long complained that he didn’t become monarch instead of his wife when she acceded to the throne in 1972.
A change in the Constitution 19 years earlier had allowed female succession, paving the way for Margrethe to become the monarch. Even before that, Henrik wouldn’t have become king.
The palace said Thursday that Margrethe, 77, has accepted Henrik’s decision, adding it didn’t change her burial plans.
Henrik retired from public life last year.