The VERY supportive royal brothers! Danish Countess Athena is cheekily lifted by her siblings as she marks her Confirmation with new family portraits

Countess Athena of Monpezat leaned on her older brothers at the Confirmation ceremony as the Danish royal family celebrated the milestone moment with a series of playful portraits.

Athena, the 14-year-old daughter of Prince Joachim and Princess Marie of Denmark, was confirmed to be at a church in Washington, DC, on May 2.

This was announced in an official Instagram post titled ‘Congratulations to His Excellency’.

In a sweet photo taken by royal photographer Zahra Khadir, Athena was seen lying in the arms of her siblings – Count Nikolai, 26, Count Felix, 23, and Count Henrik, 17 – as the brothers shared a joyful moment.

In another, Joachim proudly looks at his daughter while Marie stands next to Henrik, who is celebrating his birthday on May 4.

According to the statement made by the Danish royal family, the confirmation ceremony of Queen Margrethe’s youngest grandchild was held at Georgetown Lutheran Church.

Athena, the tenth in line to the Danish throne, exuded confidence in an elegant ankle-skimming white dress with a plunging back, which she paired with a pair of beige espadrilles from LK Bennett London.

Princess Marie, who turned 50 in February, was a proud mother as she posed for a photo alongside Joachim and Athena.

While Joachim wore a smart navy blue suit for the occasion, Marie was generally elegant in a £219 ($298) floral print dress from Reiss and a statement Lady Dior bag, red Michael Kors sandals and £8,040 ($10,396) pink sapphire and ruby ​​earrings from Mauboussin.

Nikolai and Felix are Prince Joachim’s sons from his first marriage to Countess Alexandra, which ended in 2004. He married Princess Marie in 2008 and the royal couple welcomed Henrik the following year.

While their sisters attended the ceremony in the US capital, where the family has lived since 2023, they all wore navy blue suits, like their father.

This follows a series of portraits published to celebrate Athena’s 14th birthday and uploaded to Instagram on January 24. For the photos, Athena was dressed casually in dark wash jeans and a light blue striped shirt.

The photo has been included in a selection of Athena’s best photos over the years, from her first portraits as a newborn to cozy holiday snaps with her whole family.

Fans said Athena looked ‘grown up so much’ and congratulated the family in the comments section, with one writing: ‘Once a princess, always a princess. Happy birthday, Your Excellency. I hope you celebrated in style.’

The family moved to the United States in 2023, when Joachim was appointed Defense Industrial Attaché at the Danish Embassy after Queen Margrethe decided to strip her children of their royal titles.

At the time, the palace said King Frederik’s brother would ‘help strengthen Denmark’s defense industry cooperation with the US and Canada in the coming years’.

With just a year and a half left on her contract, which expires in August 2027, Princess Marie told BILLED-BLADET they are ‘really looking forward’ to returning home to Copenhagen.

Prince Joachim and Princess Marie with their four children at the Approbation of Athena in Washington, DC

Athena, the tenth heir to the Danish throne, exuded confidence in her elegant white dress that hugged the ankles and had a low-cut back.

The mother of two children said, “The most important thing for me and my family is the coming years.”

‘As you know, we are currently staying in the USA. another year and a half. Then the children can finish their schooling.

‘It was really exciting to be out of the country and be able to support Denmark abroad.’

Their move to Washington DC follows Queen Margrethe’s decision to strip Nikolai, Felix, Henrik and Athena of their titles in 2022 due to ‘complicated’ relationships within the royal family.

At the time, Joachim lashed out at the move, saying it ‘punished’ his children and claimed he was only informed of his mother’s decision five days before the rest of the world found out.

But a spokesman for the Danish royal family insisted the decision had ‘taken a long time’.

Joachim also admitted that Athena was bullied at school and that her peers told her: ‘Are you the one who isn’t a princess anymore?’

Although they were no longer considered official members of the Danish royal family, they retained their position in the succession following the shocking abdication of Queen Margrethe.

Joachim’s son, Count Nikolai, is sixth in line to the throne, although he is no longer a member of the royal family.

Nikolai is a model with a huge following on Instagram.

His siblings, Felix Henrik and Athena, are seventh, eighth and ninth respectively in the order of succession.

Margrethe, now 86, stunned both the country and many royal watchers around the world when she announced she was stepping down as Queen after 52 years in a televised New Year’s Eve speech in 2023.

In his speech, he said that after his back surgery last year, he evaluated the situation and decided that it was time to pass the responsibility to the next generation, namely his eldest son, the current King Frederik.