Princess Isabella of Denmark arrives for a performance on the occasion of her 18th birthday at the Royal Theatre’s Old Stage in Copenhagen on April 15, 2025
Credit: IDA MARIE ODGAARD/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
Princess Isabella will begin 11 months of military service at the Guard Hussar Regiment in Slagelse this August
Denmark recently expanded conscription to include women, with the first participants starting earlier this year
Her brother Crown Prince Christian also served at the same barracks, continuing a family tradition of military service
Princess Isabella of Denmark’s next moves after high school have been announced by the palace.
On March 31, the Danish Royal House announced that King Frederik and Queen Mary‘s 18-year-old daughter will begin her military service starting in August as the country amps up its military numbers.
Effective July 2025, conscription via lottery was extended to women in Denmark for the first time when they turned 18, the BBC reported. The period of conscription for young men and women was also bumped up from four months to 11 months, extending the program’s duration.
“HRH Princess Isabella will serve military service from August,” the palace statement wrote over a previous portrait of Isabella shared to Instagram.
“Her Royal Highness Princess Isabella will serve her military service at the Guard Hussar Regiment in Slagelse after completing her high school diploma. The Princess will be among the first to serve 11 months of military service,” the court said in the caption, according to an English translation.
“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also served his military service at the Guard Hussar Barracks in Slagelse,” it continued, referring to her older brother Crown Prince Christian, 20.
“Further information about the start-up will be provided at a later date,” the court said.
Princess Isabella in a photo from the Danish Royal House.
Credit: Royal House and Steen Evald, Royal House
The carousel rolled to close with a photo of Princess Isabella visiting her brother Christian at the Guard Hussar Barracks in Slagelse in spring 2025.
Princess Isabella will soon celebrate her 19th birthday on April 21 and will be in one of the first waves of the expanded conscription program. While it remains unclear if she volunteered or was conscripted, the Danish Defence said the first participants in the amplified program — all volunteers — began in February.
The new system is expected to boost the number of personnel to 6,500 people undertaking military service annually by 2033, according to the Associated Press.
It’s long been Danish law for physically fit men over age 18 to enlist in conscription, and its military ranks are first filled by male and female volunteers. The gap is then bridged by a lottery system that has only involved men, until now, the outlet noted.
Princess Isabella of Denmark (3R) poses with parents Queen Mary of Denmark (3L) and King Frederik X of Denmark (2R) and siblings Princess Josephine of Denmark (2L), Prince Vincent of Denmark and Crown Prince Christian of Denmark (R) upon arrival for a performance on the occasion of Princess Isabella’s 18th birthday at the Royal Theatre’s Old Stage in Copenhagen on April 15, 2025.
Credit: IDA MARIE ODGAARD/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP/Getty
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Conscription has become compulsory for women in Denmark amid threats from Russia and the U.S., and both King Frederik and Queen Mary’s youngest children could also be called up in the future.
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