The Danish monarchy suffered a difficult autumn last year after being rocked by a row over titles.

But it seems the issue is water under the bridge if Prince Joachim and his family’s appearance at Prince Christian’s 18th birthday gala is anything to go by.

The youngest son of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark openly criticised the monarch after she decided to strip his children of their royal titles last September – but he appeared to be all smiles when attending the glitzy party in Copenhagen last night.

Dressed in all his finery, Joachim, 54, was joined at the Christiansborg Palace by his wife Princess Marie, 47, and their children Count Henrik of Monzepat, 14, and Countess Athena of Monpezat, 11.

Count Felix of Monpezat, 21, Joachim’s second eldest son from his first marriage, was also at the event. 

Felix’s older brother, Count Nikolai of Monpezat, 24, remained in Australia, where he is studying, but did mark his cousin’s birthday with a sweet Instagram story.

Sharing a throwback image of him and Christian arm wrestling 13 years ago during a palace balcony appearance, Nikolai wrote: ‘Funny how time flies… Happy 18th Christian! Hope everyone celebrates you just as you deserve.’

While Joachim’s family attended the glitzy gala among other European royals such as Princess Victoria of Sweden, they didn’t appear on the palace balcony earlier in the day.

Instead, Christian was joined by his grandmother Queen Margrethe, his parents Princess Mary and Prince Frederik and his siblings Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine.

This wasn’t the first Danish Royal Family event Joachim and his wife have attended; the couple were present at the Queen’s New Year’s banquet.

Count Nikolai recently opened up about his grandmother’s decision to strip him and his siblings of their princely titles.

The 24-year-old, who was stripped of his HRH status in January, has admitted that the monarch’s shock move last autumn continues to be ‘a touchy subject’ and ‘bit weird still’.

Queen Margrethe’s bombshell decision made headlines around the world and caused a bitter row within the Danish Royal Household after her youngest son Prince Joachim spoke out against the move to change his children’s titles.

The monarch later issued an apology and admitted she had ‘underestimated’ the impact of her actions but said it was ‘a long time coming’. She said the decision was intended to allow Nikolai and his siblings to enjoy normal lives without royal obligations.

In an interview with Australia’s 9Honey, Sydney-based Nikolai admitted: ‘Not that I had any formal responsibilities before, but now I am officially free of them anyway… I think in the future I will be freer, but I’ve never felt limited before.’

The count, who is seventh in line to the Danish throne and quickly gaining a profile as a successful model, is studying at the University of Technology Sydney for a semester.

But while he’s moved on from his life in Denmark for the moment, he admitted Queen Margrethe’s decision is ‘still quite a touchy subject’.

Asked if he was hurt by the announcement, he told the publication: ‘I wouldn’t say hurt, and it’s not my intention to stir the pot in any way. I think it’s just a bit weird still, I still have to get used to it.’

He added that while his new title hasn’t changed anything yet, he believes it will ‘make a difference’ in the future.

When asked about his relationship with his paternal grandmother, the count, whose mother is Prince Joachim’s first wife Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg, said it isn’t formal and is ‘very normal, very casual… nice.’

He also insisted he is on good terms with his aunt and uncle, Crown Princess Mary and heir to the Danish throne Prince Frederik.

Amid the royal title row, Prince Joachim admitted his relationship with his brother Prince Frederik is ‘complicated’.

It was a tumultuous year for the Danish Royal Family after the monarch controversially took the HRH titles from Prince Joachim’s children, including Countess Athena, 11, Count Felix, 20, and Count Henrik, 13. 

They are now Counts and Countess and referred to as Their Excellencies – and in January this year the Danish Royal Family updated their website to show the new status.

The Queen insisted the move will be ‘good for them in their future’ and allow the children – who have maintained their positions in the line of succession – to ‘shape their own lives without being limited by the special considerations and duties’ that a formal affiliation with the Danish Royal Family involves.

Soon after his grandmother’s move to strip him and his siblings of their titles ‘for their own good’, Count Nikolai said that he was sad, shocked and confused.

‘My whole family and I are of course very sad. We are, as my parents have also stated, in shock at this decision and at how quickly it has actually gone,’ he told Danish newspaper Extrabladet.

‘I am very confused as to why it has to happen like this,’ he told reporters from outside the Copenhagen apartment where he lived with his girlfriend at the time.

Countess Alexandra, mother to Count Nikolai and Count Felix, was also ‘very sad’ and ‘shocked’ about the decision.

‘She can’t believe why and why now, because there’s no good reason,’ Helle von Wildenrath Løvgreen, press secretary to Countess Alexandra told CNN.

‘They would lose their titles anyway when they get married one day. Her sons are young men so maybe they might get married in the near future so why shouldn’t it wait until that day so that the titles would disappear on a happy day?’

Prince Joachim told Ekstra Bladet that his children had been ‘hurt’ by the decision – and claimed he had only been given a few days to break the news to them before the announcement was made publicly.

Prince Joachim, the brother of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, is now married to Princess Marie of Denmark.

Speaking in a televised New Year’s address, Queen Margrethe admitted: ‘That the relationship with Prince Joachim and (his wife) Princess Marie has run into difficulties hurts me.

‘Difficulties and disagreements can arise in any family, including mine. The whole country has witnessed this.’

She added that she was ‘sure that the family can enter the new year together with confidence, understanding and new courage’. 

Prince Joachim and Princess Marie and their two children recently relocated to Washington D.C, where the prince is working as a Defence Industry Attaché at the Danish embassy following a similar posting to Paris.