Should the State Pay Junior Royals? Denmark Wants Limits on Annual Salaries

The decision — which has been described by proponents as "simple mathematics" — calls for a rethinking of who will be entitled to a state-funded salary among the Danish royals' eight grandchildren.

The current heir to the throne — Prince Christian — will continue to receive his state funding, on that there is no disagreement. However his younger siblings and their cousins' salaries could well be cut.

The debate has been prompted by the upcoming 18^th birthday of Prince Joachim's eldest son Prince Nicolai, which — under Danish law — entitles him to begin receiving money from the Danish Government. In an interview with Politiken, Jakob Elleman-Jensen, from the ruling party Venstre said:

"Simple mathematics dictate that there needs to be some sort of limit. Otherwise within a few generations there will be several hundred princes and princesses who need an annual salary. Anyone can see that that won't fly."

Graham Smith — of the British campaign for the abolition of the monarchy Republic — told Sputnik:

"The only person that should be receiving a salary is the person doing the job of Head of State, so if they're looking at cutting those people out, I'd say it's too little — but about time — they should all be struck off the funding list entirely."

He went on to say that the sort of action being considered in Denmark should be considered in all countries with monarchies, specifically the United Kingdom, where the cost of "junior royals" also makes up a large chunk of the costs:

"It's about £334 million (US$488 million) a year to fund the British monarchy, and a large part of that is money being spent on junior royals — accommodation, travel, security and all sorts of things which we don't owe them. We should strip it right back to just the Queen, who should be on a salary, and the rest of them should be told to go away and fend for themselves," Smith told Sputnik.

Whilst Danish politicians are still to reach agreement on the future of royal salaries, the public are overwhelmingly in favour of cutting funding for Prince Joachim's four children by a margin of 7:3, according to a Megafon poll for TV2 and Politiken.

Despite concerns over state funded salaries, the Danish Royals — whose family line dates back to the 1600s — enjoy very high approval ratings ranging between 82% and 92%.