DENMARK’S Prince Henrik, the husband of Queen Margrethe, has passed away aged 83. He was surrounded by his wife and their two sons, a palace statement said.

His son Crown Prince Frederik, 49, cut short his visit to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang to return home to his sick father last week. Prince Frederick married Australian Mary Donaldson in 2004.

“His Royal Highness Prince Henrik died peacefully in his sleep ...,” the statement said. “Her Majesty the Queen and the two sons were at his side.”

Henrik and Margrethe have another son, Prince Joachim, who is 48.

The French-born prince, who was admitted to Copenhagen’s highly specialised hospital Rigshospitalet on January 28 for a lung infection and a benign lung tumour, was transferred to Fredensborg Palace, located 40 kilometres north of the capital, “where the prince wishes to spend his last days” earlier this week.

He was diagnosed with dementia in September 2017.

WHO WAS PRINCE HENRIK?

With a jovial face framed by understated glasses, Princess Mary’s father-in-law, the 83-year-old prince had a reputation as a bon vivant who enjoyed cooking, poetry and wine.

But his frequent outbursts of anger and flamboyant style, in a country that values humility and discretion, long irritated the Danish people.

The prince moved to Denmark in 1967 ahead of his June wedding to the then-crown princess, but he found it hard being relegated to a supporting role.

Disappointed that his royal title of prince was never changed to king when his wife became queen in 1972, Henrik spoke out often in the media about his frustration, which did little to endear him to his subjects.

Instead, Danes found him arrogant and hungry for recognition.

“My wife has decided that she would like to be Queen, and I’m very pleased with that,” he said.

“But as a person, she must know that if a man and a woman are married, then they are equal. My wife hasn’t shown me the respect an ordinary wife should show her spouse.”

He retired from public service in 2016, and the following year he revealed that he did not want to be buried next to his wife because he was never made her equal.

“If she wants to bury me with her, she must make me a king consort,” he told Se og Hør. “Finished. I do not care.”

Though his decision broke with the tradition of burying royal spouses together in Roskilde Cathedral west of Copenhagen, the queen accepted it, the palace said.

Born Henri Marie Jean Andre de Laborde de Monpezat on June 11, 1934 in Talence, near Bordeaux, the future Danish prince spent much of his youth in Vietnam, then a part of Indo-China, where his father was a businessman.

After finishing secondary school, he studied Vietnamese and Chinese, law and political science in Paris, before completing his French military service with the infantry in Algeria from 1959 to 1962.

He went on to become a diplomat, and met Margrethe — who was then crown princess — while he was stationed in London.

Upon marrying her, he changed his name to Henrik, converted from Catholicism to Protestantism and renounced his French citizenship to become a Dane.

By the time Margrethe acceded to the throne in 1972, the couple had two young children: Prince Frederik, born in 1968, and Joakim, born in 1969.

Teased for his French accent, and unable to understand why protocol required him to remain in his wife’s shadow, Henrik never really found his place in Denmark.

“A lot of people think I’m a loser until I prove them wrong,” he once told the media.

It wasn’t until 1997 that he stood in for his wife at a public engagement for the first time, during a visit to Greenland.

“People are just used to considering Prince Henrik as ... a little dog that follows behind and gets a sugar cube once in a while,” he said.

In 2002, he made headlines around the world when he fled to his chateau in southern France to “reflect on life”, complaining that he didn’t receive enough respect in Denmark.

The incident that triggered the crisis occurred when his son, Crown Prince Frederik, was chosen to represent the queen at a New Year’s ceremony, instead of him.

He said he felt “pushed aside, degraded and humiliated”, and “disappointed all the time and walked over in such a way that my self-respect is destroyed”.

Some politicians at the time called Henrik’s behaviour “tiresome” and “disconcerting”, while the media had a field day with it, with one television show conferring on him the title of “Whiner of the Year”.

However, the crisis also marked a turning point as it showed the Danish people a more vulnerable side of Henrik.

In the years that followed, Danes slowly began warming to him.

Over time, his contrarian streak and flamboyance made him the “colourful” member of the royal family, and even earned him cult status among young people.

In 2013 he collaborated with Danish pop group Michael Learns To Rock, playing the piano on a track recorded for the king of Thailand.

A few months later he was photographed taking a Sunday stroll with friends in the self-governed Copenhagen hippie community of Christiania, known for its cannabis trade, and in June 2014 he dressed up in a panda costume at a charity event.

In April 2015 he sparked controversy for cancelling his appearance at Margrethe’s 75th birthday celebrations due to ill health, only to resurface in a tourist-packed square in Venice less than two days later.

The tabloids were outraged, but to his fans it was just the kind of erratic behaviour they had come to love him for.

WILL MARY BECOME QUEEN?

Speculation has mounted since as early as last March that Prince Frederik’s mother Queen Margrethe II would abdicate the throne.

This intensified by September, after revelations about her husband Prince Henrik’s seriously ill health.

Prince Henrik’s passing, however, does not mean a change in title for Prince Frederik and Princess Mary ... yet.

Queen Margrethe II is the ruling monarch of Denmark, who’s had the throne since 1972 following the death of her father, King Frederick IX.

Prince Frederik and Princess Mary will become King and Queen of Denmark at the time of Queen Margrethe’s abdication or death.

In an interview with Australian Vogue in 2016, Princess Mary spoke about her royal duties and her desire to be a “strong” and “authentic” leader for Denmark.

“I see my role as not just being a voice of the voiceless, but also being able to be a catalyst for bringing people and relevant actors together,” Mary told Australian Vogue.

“I believe that in order to find solutions to some of the most pressing global challenges of today we need to take a holistic approach that requires us to consider the social, environmental and economic aspects and work together in new and innovative partnerships, maybe with people and organisations we wouldn’t have thought about working with before.

“It will require a continuous effort and patience, and strong and authentic leadership: it takes time to create real and sustainable change.

“I try, as effectively as possibly, to use the platform that I have built up over the years to advocate and work for the empowerment of women and of their human rights.”

Mary met Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark at the Slip Inn nightclub in Sydney during the Olympic Games in September 2000.

She claimed she didn’t know the Prince’s status until after they had met. She moved from Australia to Denmark in 2001, after working as an English tutor in Paris.

The couple were engaged on October 8, 2003 and married on May 14, 2004 at Copenhagen Cathedral.

They have four children: Prince Christian Valdemar Henri John, 12, Princess Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe, 10, Prince Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander, 7, and Princess Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda, 7.