Prince Christian of Denmark Sits for 17th Birthday Portrait amid Royal Title Tensions

Prince Christian of Denmark is growing up.

On Saturday, the Danish Royal House released a new photo of the royal in honor of his 17th birthday. The teen prince, who is second in line to the Danish throne behind his father, Crown Prince Frederik, gave a soft smile in the black and white shot. Christian wore a plaid blazer, dark tee and jeans, casually seated with his hands folded before a brick backdrop.

"🇩🇰 His Royal Highness Prince Christian can celebrate his 17th birthday today 🇩🇰," the palace wrote on Instagram. "Prince Christian celebrates the day privately with his family, and on the occasion of the birthday a new portrait of His Royal Highness is published."

As for photo credit, the Danish Royal House said the image "was taken by a friend recently."

Christian's birthday comes at a turbulent time for the Danish royal family. Shockwaves rippled late last month when his grandmother Queen Margrethe II announced that her son Prince Joachim's children would be stripped of their prince and princess titles next year. All four grandchildren — Nikolai, 23, Felix, 20, Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10 — will be known instead by His Excellency Count of Monpezat or Her Excellency Countess of Monpezat as of January 1, 2023. The siblings, who are currently seventh through tenth in the line to the throne, maintain their places in the order of succession.

Though the 82-year-old Queen has maintained that the plans had been in motion for a while and that the decision was made in the best interest of her grandchildren, Joachim, 53, told the press in multiple interviews that the update was upsetting.

The second son of Queen Margrethe and the late Prince Henrik told the national newspaper Ekstra Bladet he was given "five days notice" before the palace dropped the bombshell announcement via press release. In another interview, his wife Princess Marie said that she and her husband "would have liked to have had time to talk" about the change with their family. Joachim shares sons Nikolai and Felix with his first wife, Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg. He got remarried to Marie in 2008, and they went on to welcome Henrik and Athena.

On Oct. 3, five days after the title shakeup was announced, Margrethe issued a statement apologizing for the hurt caused, saying she "underestimated" how the news would affect Joachim and his family. The Queen said the shift was "necessary future-proofing of the monarchy" and that she was sticking to the "difficult decision," however.

On Oct. 7, B.T. reported that Prince Joachim traveled to meet the Queen to discuss the sensitive subject, and flew home to Paris that Thursday night.

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"It is correct that the Queen and Prince Joachim have spoken together at Fredensborg," a spokesperson for the Royal Household confirmed to the Danish paper. "Everyone agrees to look forward, and as the Queen herself has expressed, she and Prince Joachim want calm to find their way through this situation."

In a second story, B.T. added that Prince Frederik, the Queen's eldest son and successor, was not present for the meeting at Fredensborg Palace, the monarch's royal residence in the autumn months.

While Joachim's kids prepare to navigate a new future, things remain the same for their first cousins. As the children of Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, 15, and 11-year-old twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine will remain in the royal house for the foreseeable future.