Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (Nathalie Xenia Margrethe Benedikte; born 2 May 1975) is a Danish

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

, an Olympian and a daughter of Princess Benedikte of Denmark and

Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (Richard Casimir Karl August Robert Konstantin; 29 October 1934 – 13 March 2017) was the head of the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and husband of Princess Benedikte of Denmark. Biograph ...

. She is the niece of Queen

Margrethe II of Denmark Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

and King

Constantine II of Greece Constantine II ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Βʹ, ''Konstantínos II''; 2 June 1940) reigned as the last King of Greece, from 6 March 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy on 1 June 1973. Constantine is the only son of King Paul a ...

. A member of the Danish

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined by ...

team, she won bronze at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

, and also participated in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

. She has been the coach of the Danish national dressage team since 2017.

Early life

Princess Nathalie was born on 2 May 1975 in Copenhagen, Denmark, as the youngest of the three children of Princess Benedikte of Denmark and

. She grew up at Schloss Berleburg in

Bad Berleburg Bad Berleburg (, earlier also Berleburg) is a town, in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of Germany's largest towns by land area. It is located approximately northeast of Siegen and northwest of ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. Nathalie and her sister

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "p ...

became Danish citizens on 19 May 1998. Neither she nor her siblings are in line of succession to the Danish throne as that would have required taking up permanent residence in Denmark when reaching the age of mandatory education.

Equestrian career

In 1994, Princess Nathalie began training on the Swedish stud ''

Flyinge Flyinge is a locality situated in Eslöv Municipality Eslöv Municipality (''Eslövs kommun'') is one of 290 municipalities of Sweden, situated in Skåne County in southern Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Eslöv. The present municipal ...

'' with her trainer

Kyra Kyrklund Kyra Marie Christine Kyrklund (born 30 November 1951 in Helsinki) is a Finnish dressage rider and trainer who currently lives in West Sussex. In 1991 she and "Matador II" won the World Cup Finals in Paris. She has competed in six Olympi ...

, former world champion in dressage. After four years, during which she won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receiv ...

at the European Championship with the Danish team, she had to change coaches as Kyrklund moved to England. She teamed up with

Klaus Balkenhol Klaus Balkenhol (born 6 December 1939 in Velen) is a German equestrian and Olympic champion. He won a gold medal in team dressage at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northe ...

, coach of the German dressage team. Nathalie gained a place in the 2000 Olympic team as reserve rider, and afterward participated in the European Championship of 2001, winning a bronze medal and the World Championship 2002 (where she was placed fourth) with the Danish team. She was a member of the Danish dressage team in the

and was awarded a bronze medal. She was part of the Danish equestrian team in the

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

Olympics, competing in the team and individual dressage events on her horse Digby. She finished 12th in the individual event and helped Denmark to a 4th place team finish. In January 2017, Nathalie was named head coach of the Danish national dressage team. She left the position in 2021 but has since continued to coach national team riders

Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (born 2 January 1992) is a Danish Olympic dressage horse rider. Representing Denmark, she competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro where she finished 13th in the individual and 6th in the team competition. ...

and

Daniel Bachmann Andersen Daniel Bachmann Andersen (born 1 June 1990) is a Danish equestrian athlete. He competed at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon 2018 and at the European Dressage Championships in 2015 and 2019. Biography Bachmann Andersen started riding at an ag ...

privately. In addition to riding, she also breeds horses like her mother. In autumn 2005, she opened her own

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word " stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation ...

which is based in

Marriage and children

On 4 January 2010, Princess Nathalie's engagement to

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

horse breeder Alexander Johannsmann (born 6 December 1977), son of showjumper Heinrich-Wilhelm Johannsmann, was announced. The couple married civilly 27 May 2010 and religiously the following year, on 18 June 2011 at the Protestant Stadtkirche in Berleburg, Germany. Princess Nathalie gave birth to a son, Konstantin Gustav Heinrich Richard, on 24 July 2010. He was named Konstantin for his maternal grandfather, whose middle name is Konstantin, as well as for his maternal grand-uncle,

King Constantine II of Greece Constantine II ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Βʹ, ''Konstantínos II''; 2 June 1940) reigned as the last King of Greece, from 6 March 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy on 1 June 1973. Constantine is the only son of King Paul an ...

; Gustav for his maternal uncle and godfather; Heinrich for his paternal grandfather; and Richard for his maternal grandfather. Konstantin's godparents were

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat, (born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson; 5 February 1972) is the wife of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark. Frederik is the heir apparent to the throne, which means that should he succeed, Mary w ...

, his aunt Ann-Kathrin Johannsmann, and his uncle Prince Gustav. On 28 January 2015, she gave birth to her second child, a daughter named Louisa Margareta Benedikte Hanna, in Bad Berleburg, Germany. On 15 August 2022, the Danish court confirmed that Nathalie and Johannsmann had divorced.

Honours and awards

Honours

* : Recipient of the 50th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf

Awards

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

: Bronze Medal for Team dressage of the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

: Bronze Medal of the Dressage World Cup

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Princess 1975 births Living people Nobility from Copenhagen German princesses Danish dressage riders Danish female equestrians Royal Olympic medalists Olympic equestrians of Denmark Equestrians at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Denmark House of Sayn-Wittgenstein Olympic medalists in equestrian Equestrians at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics