Princess Josephine of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Princess Josephine and her twin brother Prince Vincent; Photo: Dennis Stenild, Kongehuset © 2024

Princess Josephine of Denmark was born on January 8, 2011, at the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is the fourth of the four children and the younger of the two daughters of King Frederik X of Denmark and his Australian-born wife Queen Mary of Denmark, born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson. Denmark changed its succession law in 2008 to absolute primogeniture where the succession passes to the eldest child of the sovereign regardless of gender. Males and females have equal succession rights. This means that King Frederik  X’s second-born child Princess Isabella is ahead of her younger brother Prince Vincent in the line of succession to the Danish throne. Josephine was born twenty-six minutes after the birth of her twin brother which means she comes after him in the line of succession. With the abdication of her grandmother Queen Martgrethe II and the accession of her father as King Frederik X on January 14, 2024, Princess Josephine is fourth in the Danish line of succession after her elder brother Crown Prince Christian, her elder sister Princess Isabella, and her twin brother Prince Vincent.

Princess Josephine’s family: Princess Josephine, Crown Prince Frederik, Princess Isabella, Crown Princess Mary, Prince Vincent, Prince Christian (change photo Janunary14)

Josephine has an older brother and an older sister along with her twin brother:

Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine with their parents; Credit – The Danish Monarchy, photographer Steen Brogaard

Princess Josephine was christened along with her twin brother Prince Vincent on April 14, 2011, at Holmen Kirke in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was given the names Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda. Ivalo is a Greenlandic name given in honor of Denmark’s autonomous territory Greenland.

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Princess Josephine with her parents & godparents; Credit – The Danish Monarchy, photographer Steen Brogaard

Her godparents were:

  • Princess Marie of Denmark, wife of her paternal uncle, born Marie Cavallier
  • Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro
  • Patricia Bailey, her maternal aunt
  • Count Bendt Wedell, her parents’ friend
  • Birgitte Handwerk, her mother’s friend
  • Josephine Rechner, her mother’s friend
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Josephine with her twin brother and parents on the twins’ first day of school

On August 15, 2017, Princess Josephine started attending a public school her elder siblings attend, Tranegårdskolen (link in Danish) in Hellerup, Gentofte Municipality,  a Copenhagen suburban municipality. In August 2023, Josephine started attending Kildegård Privatskole (link in Danish) in Hellerup.

Left to right: Princess Isabella, Crown Prince Christian, King Frederik X, Queen Mary, Princess Josephine, and Prince Vincent on the balcony of Christiansborg Palace after the proclamation of King Frederik X as King of Denmark.

On January 14, 2024, the day of her father’s accession to the Danish throne Princess Josephine and her siblings Princess Isabella and Prince Vincent were created Knights of the Order of the Elephant. It is likely that the three new Knights of the Order of the Elephant will be presented with the Order of the Elephant’s insignias on their 18th birthdays. Josephine’s oldest brother, Crown Prince Christian was created a Knight of the Order of the Elephant on October 15, 2023, his 18th birthday.

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