Denmark's Princess Isabella Begins Military Service Amid Conscription Expansion

Denmark’s Princess Isabella has arrived at the military barracks in the town of Slagelse to begin her 11-month service period.

The 19-year-old, the eldest daughter of King Frederik and Queen Mary, is one of 1,600 recruits beginning their service on Monday under a significant expansion of the Nordic country’s military conscription policy.

The move reflects the nation’s accelerated defence build-up, driven by escalating Arctic security concerns and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

The expansion of conscription, first announced in 2024, outlined plans to include women for the first time and extend the standard service from four to 11 months.

The annual intake of conscripts is also set to rise from 5,000 to 7,500 by 2033.

The Danish royal family told local media outlets that Princess Isabella would turn down the salary and allowances ordinarily granted to conscripts.

She would complete her service without pay and instead rely on her parents’ financial support during her time in the military.

The new cohort will see conscripts deployed to Greenland for the first time later this month. A company of more than 100 soldiers will undertake operational duties for a month, relieving professional troops.

The deployment carries notable political weight, given a sustained push by US President Donald Trump to annex the semi-autonomous Danish territory, citing national security.

Those demands have consistently been rejected by both Greenland and Danish authorities.

At the Nato summit in the Turkish capital Ankara in June, Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said that her nation was ready to defend every inch of territory in the military alliance, “including our own”.

Silas Nohr, a 19-year-old first-day conscript from the town of Varde in western Denmark, said that he welcomed the longer service period.

"Now we have 11 months, and I feel like you can really get into it, really experience it and get a lot deeper into the military," he said.

The recruits will undergo five months of basic training followed by six months of operational service. The Danish Armed Forces are also introducing new conscription tracks, including a drone platoon at the Special Operations Command.

The Nordic country's programme operates as a ballot system for all healthy young adults who turn 18, but has for many years consisted almost entirely of volunteers, with the lottery used only to fill remaining quotas.

Denmark’s Nordic neighbours Sweden, Finland and Norway also have a conscription-based military service, as does the Baltic region of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.