COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Prince Joachim of Denmark is moving to the United States to take up the post of defense industry attache at the Danish embassy in Washington starting in September, the Danish defense ministry said on Friday.

“I am proud that I still get the opportunity to represent Denmark internationally in the area of security and defence" the 53-year-old prince said in a statement. "Transatlantic cooperation is a high-priority area, and I am honored that they have found me qualified for the task.”

Prince Joachim is the younger son of Queen Margrethe II, and is the sixth in the line of succession to the Danish throne. He has an extensive military background with the Danish Armed Forces and elsewhere starting from 1987.

The prince has held a similar position at the Danish embassy in Paris since 2020 but announced in November that he would leave the position this summer.

Last year, a split arose between him and the Danish royal house when Queen Margrethe decided that the prince’s four children should lose their titles as prince and princess.

Denmark’s popular long-serving monarch later apologized for upsetting members of her family with the decision, but has refused to change her mind.

In Denmark, which has a constitutional monarchy, the heir to the throne is Crown Prince Frederik, Joachim’s older brother.