New Poll: 62% Want Prince Henrik’s Appanage Reduced

A poll published yesterday by Danish newspaper Avisen shows that 62% of the Danes who were questioned believe Prince Henrik should take a reduction in his appanage following his retirement at the beginning of this year.

“It is not fair – there must be a cut in salary and court when a royal retires” received two-thirds of the vote when asked what they thought about the Prince retaining his almost 8millionDKK appanage, as well as four full-time staff. 27.3% of respondents thought it was reasonable while the remaining 10.3% did not know.

Historian Sebastian Olden-Jørgensen agreed with the poll results, saying that it would have been a wise move for Prince Henrik to have voluntarily taken a reduction in his appanage upon retirement. “If he sticks to the idea that one can retire as a royal, it must be reasonable to go down a little in income, as all others…But here it has been decided that there is not even a symbolic reduction, and it is a provocation,” Olden-Jorgensen told the paper.

Prince Henrik, April 2015

The announcement that Prince Henrik was retiring from official duties created a lot of discussion both in Denmark and on the Internet, particularly what the reason behind the retirement was (the general consensus has been either an undisclosed health issue or an ‘ultimatum’ given regarding his title). The Prince’s popularity has been going downhill over the past few years due to several incidents that did not endear him to the Danish public, and his travels in retirement (a visit to Italy shortly after the announcement and a recent three-week sojourn to Egypt) have not helped matters either, making it seem reasonable that Danes question the amount they pay Henrik for doing no duties.

Filed under Denmark
Tagged Finances, Prince Henrik the Prince Consort, Public Opinion.

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