The rumor had been circulating for several months in the national press. “Her Royal Highness Princess Isabella will be serving 11 months of military service starting from the month of August,” revealed the Amalienborg Palace on March 31, 2026. So here is the youngest daughter of King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark ready to put on her uniform, make her bed in the barracks, and most importantly, push her limits. A training that she will start once she has her high school diploma in hand, currently in her final year at Øregård High School in Hellerup, near Copenhagen. Like her older brother, Crown Prince Christian, Princess Isabella will join the Hussar Guard Regiment at the Antvorskov Barracks in Slagelse.
The Court specifies that she will be among the “first” to undertake her military service. Indeed, since last year, conscription has been expanded in the Scandinavian kingdom and applies to both young men and young women once they reach the age of majority. While these new rules only applied to Danish women who turned 18 starting from July 1, 2025, Isabella of Denmark has nevertheless chosen to take on the challenge. “It’s really awesome, and it sends a positive message to the many young women who are also called to serve. It demonstrates a certain strength, and her choice to take this path shows her dynamism and determination,” explains journalist Marianne Singer in the pages of the magazine Billed-Bladet.
On March 8, 2025, the princess accompanied her family on a visit to Slagelse where her brother Christian had been stationed for a few weeks. This was an opportunity for her to get a glimpse of daily life in the barracks and learn more about the Hussar Guard Regiment. She even had fun trying on the camouflage backpack and the helmet of the Crown Prince. “The royal couple is very attentive to their children, so if Isabella of Denmark had truly objected, it wouldn’t have happened,” continues our source.
It was a carefully considered choice by the princess, who was able to discuss with her father Frederik X and her brother Christian about their experiences in the army. Her mother, Queen Mary, her grandmother, Queen Margrethe, and her uncle, Prince Joachim, also had military careers. As for her aunt, Princess Marie, she was appointed, in April 2023, head of section in an honorary capacity at the Danish Emergency Services Agency. Princess Isabella thus prioritizes family tradition before heading to university. “The fact that two of the royal couple’s children are in the military sends a very strong signal,” emphasizes Marianne Singer to Billed-Bladet. She adds, “I also think she will appreciate the sense of community that prevails in the army. It’s something her father has always valued: the strong cohesion that is created in these kinds of places.”
Read also: The busy political day of Frederik X of Denmark.
