Disappointed that his royal title of prince consort was never changed to king when his wife became queen in 1972, the French-born Henrik it making a final act of defiance.
Long vocal about his frustration over being relegated to a supporting role, the 83-year-old prince said he was not on equal footing with his wife in life, and therefore did not want to be so in death.
The couple will break with royal tradition by not being buried together in the Roskilde Cathedral.
That decision has been accepted by the queen, the palace's communications chief Lene Balleby told Danish daily BT.
The prince consort, whom Ms Balleby says “loves Denmark”, nonetheless intends to be buried in the country, but the details “have not been settled yet”.
Born Henri Marie Jean Andre Count de Laborde de Monpezat on June 11, 1934, in Talence near Bordeaux, he met Margrethe, then the crown-princess, while he was stationed in London as a diplomat.
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, the couple had two young children: Prince Frederik, born in 1968, and Joakim, born in 1969.
Henrik retired from public service in January 2016.
