Editing Prince Henrik of Denmark (section)

===French nobility and French title of "count" controversy===
{{see also|Count of Monpezat}}

Since late in the nineteenth century, some members of the Laborde de Monpezat family bear a title of "count", but this title (which is not a ''[[courtesy title]]'' in the context of the French [[nobility]] rules) is claimed without any legal basis.<ref name="Courtesy">{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0CcfAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Monpezat+%C3%A0+partir+du+d%C3%A9but+de+ce+si%C3%A8cle+ne+sauraient+%C3%AAtre+que+des+titres+de+courtoisie%22|title=Les Laborde de Monpezat et leurs alliances|first=Joseph|last=Valynseele|date=31 May 1975|publisher=J. Valynseele}}</ref>

Neither the French nobility of the [[House of Monpezat|de Laborde de Monpezat family]] nor this French title of "count" are acknowledged as historically or legally valid by most recent reference authors, specialists of the French nobility who do not consider that the de Laborde de Monpezat family belongs to the French nobility.<ref name=reject/><ref>F. de Saint-Simon, ''Dictionnaire de la noblesse française'', 1975, p. 60.</ref> This family is listed in the ''Encyclopédie de la fausse noblesse et de la noblesse d'apparence'' ({{langx|en|Encyclopedia of False and Seeming Nobility}})<ref name=reject>Pierre-Marie Dioudonnat, ''Encyclopédie de la fausse noblesse et de la noblesse d'apparence'', Paris, Sedopols, 1976&ndash;79 (2 vols), French, p.208.</ref> his name is not in the ''Catalogue de la noblesse française'' ({{langx|en|Catalog of French Nobility}}) (2002) from [[:fr:Régis Valette|Régis Valette]]<ref>Régis Valette, ''Catalogue de la noblesse française'', Éditions Robert Laffont, 2002.</ref> and the author Charondas describes in his book ''À quel titre'' (Volume 37, 1970) the Laborde de Monpezat as "false nobles, low folk in the 17th century, not received in the states of Béarn due to 'alleged nobility and as having never had nobility in their family.{{'"}}<ref>Charondas, ''À quel titre'', volume 37, 1970.</ref> The family's surname was "Monpezat" by the time of the [[French Revolution]], without title, until 14 July 1860, when it was changed by [[Second French Empire|imperial]] decree to "de Laborde-Monpezat", and legally changed again on 19 May 1861 to "de Laborde de Monpezat".<ref name=Valynseele>Joseph Valynseele, ''Les de Laborde de Monpezat et leurs alliances'', Paris, chez l'Auteur, 1975 (in French)</ref>

[[File:Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik of Denmark welcome George W. Bush and Laura Bush.jpg|thumb|right|Henrik with Queen Margrethe, President [[George W. Bush]] and [[Laura Bush]] in 2005]]
Although Danish law never required that royal spouses be of aristocratic origin, no heir's marriage to a person who lacked male-line descent from royalty or [[hereditary title|titled nobility]] had been accepted as [[Dynasty#Dynast|dynastic]] by the sovereign in the course of Denmark's history as a hereditary monarchy, until the marriage of the heir presumptive, Princess Margrethe, in June 1967 to "Count" Henri de Laborde de Monpezat.<ref>{{cite book |last= Huberty |first= Michel |author2=Alain Giraud |author3=F. and B. Magdelaine  |title= L'Allemagne Dynastique Tome VII Oldenbourg |year= 1994 |location= France |language= fr |isbn= 2-901138-07-1 |pages= passim}}</ref><ref name="ghda">''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser Band'' XVIII. "Dänemark". C.A. Starke Verlag, 1991, pp. 10-13 {{ISBN|3-7980-0833-7}}</ref> Six months later Margrethe's first cousin, [[Count Ingolf of Rosenborg|Prince Ingolf of Denmark]], married an untitled commoner and was demoted to a count, and when another cousin, [[Count Christian of Rosenborg|Prince Christian of Denmark]], also wed a [[Danish people|Dane]], [[Anne Dorte of Rosenborg|Anne Dorte Maltoft-Nielsen]], in 1971, he forfeited his dynastic position.<ref name=ghda/>

In 2008, the hereditary title of "Count of Monpezat" ("Greve af Monpezat") was granted by the Queen to her and Prince Henrik's two sons, as a proper Danish [[title of nobility]] unrelated to a French noble title whatever, but in recognition of Prince Henrik's French background.<ref>[https://www.billedbladet.dk/kongelige/danmark/prins-joachims-boerns-nye-titler-her-er-alt-du-skal-vide-om-dem Prins Joachims børns nye titler: Her er alt du skal vide om dem] from [[Billed Bladet]]</ref>