Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg

Alexandra Christina, Countess of Frederiksborg (née Alexandra Christina Manley, formerly Princess Alexandra of Denmark) born 30 June 1964, is a former member of the Danish Royal House.

Early life

Of Chinese, British, and Austrian ancestry. Alexandra Manley was born in Hong Kong, as the eldest of three daughters of Richard Nigel Manley (born in Shanghai in 1924 to a British father and Chinese mother) and Christa Maria Manley (née Nowotny, born in Austria in 1933). Alexandra was christened at the Cathedral of Saint John, Hong Kong. Her father was an insurance company executive; her mother was the manager of a communications company. She studied at the private English Schools Foundation run Island School for her secondary education.

Alexandra Manley studied international business at universities in Austria, Japan, and the United Kingdom. It is not known whether she obtained any university degree. From 1990 to 1995, she was employed by GT Management (Asia) Ltd., Hong Kong, where she from 1990-1993 worked in Sales and Marketing and from 1993 as a deputy chief executive of that department.

Marriage and children

Alexandra met Prince Joachim at a party in Hong Kong, where he was working for a Danish shipping company. After a whirlwind courtship, thought to have begun in late autumn of 1994, Prince Joachim, on bended knee, presented Alexandra with a diamond and ruby engagement ring while the couple holidayed together in the Philippines. Their engagement, which took both Alexandra's family and Danish royal watchers by surprise, was officially revealed in May 1995. They were wed on 18 November 1995, by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark's Chaplain-in-Ordinary, and took place in the Chapel of Frederiksborg Castle at Hillerød. The wedding festivities were held at Fredensborg Palace.

When she wed Prince Joachim, however, she had to renounce her British citizenship and give up her career in marketing. She also changed her religious affiliation. Alexandra, an Anglican, received instruction in the Evangelical Lutheran faith and was confirmed prior to her wedding.

Prince Joachim and Alexandra have two children from their former marriage:

• Prince Nikolai William Alexander Frederik, born on 28 August 1999
• Prince Felix Henrik Valdemar Christian, born on 22 July 2002

Life as a princess

Alexandra instantly became popular with the Danish people. Known for her fashion sense and charity work, she was dubbed the Diana of the North. She is a native English and German speaker (through her father and mother, respectively), and her fluency in German helped her pick up the Danish language quickly. Within a few years she spoke it nearly without accent, which further endeared her to the Danes. As she said in an interview, "I don't find the grammar especially difficult, but the pronunciation can be hard, since we swallow some of our words. It reminds me a little of German, with the glottal stop … Saying something with an upswing or a downswing can give a word an entirely different meaning," she explained. "It was my decision to learn the language immediately. It would have been terrible to have to stand up and speak English at an engagement, or thank someone for something. It would have been utterly wrong. This is my home, and so there was no other option."

Despite growing up and being educated in Hong Kong Alexandra has never learned to speak Cantonese.

Both during and after her marriage, she was involved in numerous philanthropic pursuits, including the Children's Red Cross, the Danish Society for the Blind, UNICEF, and single mothers' advocacy group Mother Help. She also served as a UNICEF ambassador when she travelled to Thailand to visit HIV/AIDS patients.

Separation and divorce

By the summer of 2004, rumours were circulating throughout Denmark and neighbouring Sweden and Norway that her marriage to Prince Joachim had gone sour. The rumours proved to be true. On 16 September 2004 Alexandra and Joachim announced their separation and eventual intention to divorce. It would be the first in the Royal Family since 1846. Newspaper reports speculating on the reasons for the marital rupture soon followed. The Folketing decided to put Alexandra on the civil list for life, independent of her possible future remarriage. Alexandra's payments of her new yearly allowance of $330,000.00 (US) started retroactively from 1 October 2004. The couple divorced on 8 April 2005.

In the summer of 2005 there were reports and photographs of Alexandra with Martin Jørgensen For many years JJ Film, which is his father Jacob Jørgensen's film production company, produced numerous documentaries in which members of the Royal Family co-operated and participated.

Since her marriage on 3 March 2007 . she is known as Her Excellency Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg.

New style and title

As with other Royal consorts married to Princes, Alexandra's style Royal Highness rested on her marital status, and ceased upon her divorce. After the divorce Alexandra was given a new, albeit lower status, style Highness. This is a different solution than what was done with Diana, Princess of Wales, who having lost her Royal Highness style upon her divorce, was not given any new style of her own, despite the fact that she was the mother of a future monarch, Prince William of Wales.

On her birthday (16 April 2005), Queen Margrethe bestowed upon her former daughter-in-law the additional personal title grevinde af Frederiksborg (Countess of Frederiksborg). The title is personal (unlike the title of Princess) and, thus, it was not revoked nor did it become dormant when Alexandra remarried in March 2007. Like a life peerage in the United Kingdom, it will not be inherited by her children.

In 2007 The Countess of Frederiksborg has joined the Danish board of directors of Ferring Pharmaceuticals.

Marriage to Martin Jørgensen

She married Martin Jørgensen on 3 March 2007 and therefore forfeited her title as a "Princess of Denmark". She is now titled as Her Excellency Alexandra Christina, Countess of Frederiksborg. The title Countess of Frederiksborg is given the rank of Class 1, which entitles Alexandra to the style of "Excellency".

There were allegations that she was pregnant at the time of her marriage. Months after her marriage, there was no evidence of any pregnancy and she later denied the rumours.

Titles from birth

English

• Miss Alexandra Christina Manley (1964-1995)
• Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Denmark (1995-2005)
• Her Highness Princess Alexandra of Denmark (04/08/2005-06/30/2005)
• Her Highness Princess Alexandra of Denmark, Countess of Frederiksborg (2005-2007)
• Her Excellency Alexandra Christina, Countess of Frederiksborg (2007-)

Danish

• Frøken Alexandra Christina Manley (1964-1995)
• Hendes Kongelige Højhed Prinsesse Alexandra af Danmark (1995-2005)
• Hendes Højhed Prinsesse Alexandra af Danmark (04/08/2005-06/30/2005)
• Hendes Højhed Prinsesse Alexandra af Danmark, grevinde af Frederiksborg (2005-2007)
• Hendes Excellence Alexandra Christina, grevinde af Frederiksborg (2007-)

Honours

Denmark

• Knight of the Elephant
• Queen Margrethe's portrait en miniature - but it is not a family order.

Foreign

• Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose (Finland)
• Grand Cross with Sash of the Order of the Star of Romania (Romania)

References

External links

• Official Website of the Countess of Frederiksborg
• News on Princess Alexandra's Wedding, at 4PM
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