Royal family steps into Denmark’s dispute with the U.S. over Greenland

As tensions rise between Denmark and the United States over Greenland, the Danish royal family has entered the picture in a highly visible and carefully choreographed way, to display unity within the Kingdom of Denmark at a moment of geopolitical tension.

On Tuesday, the Official account of the Greenland Representation to the U.S. shared a photo on X of Prince Joachim, the younger brother of King Frederik X, standing outside the Danish embassy and Greenland’s representation in Washington, D.C., wearing a military uniform. Flanking him were Greenland’s foreign minister Vivian Motzfeldt, Denmark’s ambassador to the United States and Greenland’s representative in Washington.

The accompanying message was unambiguous, including a quote attributed to Motzfeldt: “Greenland does not want to be owned by, governed by or part of the United States. We choose the Greenland we know today – as part of the Kingdom of Denmark.”

Royal family expert Thomas Larsen said the image, posted a day before Wednesday’s high-stakes meeting between Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Greenland’s minister for foreign affairs Vivian Motzfeldt, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance, was no coincidence. He described it as a deliberate act of mobilisation at a time when Denmark and Greenland find themselves confronting the world’s most powerful state.

“It is smart that everything is being mobilised in a historically pressured situation, when we are up against the world’s largest superpower,” Larsen said in comments to DR. “For many Greenlanders, he’s seen as representing a positive image of Denmark, as the royal family is very popular in Greenland.”

Larsen added that Trump has shown in the past that he’s impressed by royalty, as evidenced by how impressed he was by his reception by the British royal family.

Prince Joachim’s uniform, Larsen noted, carried particular weight. While the prince does not always appear in military attire during visits to Washington, the choice to do so now underscores his ties to Denmark’s armed forces and highlights the security dimension of the Greenland dispute — an argument repeatedly raised by U.S. officials who have framed American interest in Greenland as a matter of national defence.

The symbolism also reflects the constitutional role of the monarch. King Frederik X is head of state of Greenland, as well as Denmark and the Faroe Islands, a relationship he underscored when ascending to the throne in 2024 by revising the royal coat of arms. The updated design gave Greenland and the Faroe Islands their own prominent fields on the shield, elevating their visibility within the symbols of the Danish Realm.

As Arctic Today has previously reported, the new king set out to continue strengthening ties between the Danish Crown, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, a role that now carries heightened significance as U.S annexation threats towards Greenland escalate.