Alexandra Christina, Countess of Frederiksborg, , formerly Princess Alexandra of Denmark (''née'' Manley; born 30 June 1964), is the former wife of

Prince Joachim of Denmark Prince Joachim of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, (; Joachim Holger Waldemar Christian; born 7 June 1969) is a member of the Danish royal family. The younger son of Queen Margrethe II, he is fifth in the line of succession to the Danish throne, ...

, the younger brother of King Frederik X of Denmark. She was born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, and is of mixed Asian and European ancestry. She was introduced to Prince Joachim in 1994. They married in 1995, and had two sons together, then divorced in 2005.

Early life and family

Of English, Chinese, and Austrian ancestry, Alexandra Manley was born in Hong Kong, as the eldest of three daughters of Richard Nigel Manley (11 August 1924 – 12 January 2010) and Christa Maria Manley (née Nowotny; 1933 – 5 January 2023). Her father was an insurance company executive and her mother was the manager of a communications company. She was baptized at the Cathedral of Saint John, Hong Kong. She attended Quarry Bay Junior School (1969–1971), Glenealy School (1971–1974) and Island School (1974–1982), all in Hong Kong. Manley studied

international business International business refers to the trade of goods and service goods, services, technology, capital and/or knowledge across national borders and at a global or transnational scale. It includes all commercial activities that promote the transfer o ...

at Vienna University of Economics and Business in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. She also went to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

for studies. It is not known whether she obtained a university degree. From 1990 to 1995, she was employed by GT Management (Asia) Ltd., Hong Kong, where from 1990 to 1993 she worked in Sales and Marketing and from 1993 as a deputy chief executive of that department.

First marriage and children

Alexandra met Prince Joachim at a private dinner in Hong Kong in January 1994, where he was working for a Danish shipping company. After a whirlwind courtship, thought to have begun in late 1994, Prince Joachim presented Alexandra with a diamond and ruby engagement ring while on vacation in the Philippines. Their engagement was officially announced in May 1995. They were married on 18 November 1995, by Queen Margrethe's Chaplain-in-Ordinary, in

Frederiksborg Castle Frederiksborg Castle () is a palatial complex in Hillerød, Denmark. It was built as a royal residence for Christian IV of Denmark, King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway in the early 17th century, replacing an older castle acquired by Frederick II ...

Church, the Chapel of the

Order of the Elephant The Order of the Elephant () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional monarchy in ...

, in

Hillerød Hillerød () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 36,604 (1 January 2025)Fredensborg Palace. The bride's gown was designed by

Jørgen Bender Jørgen Bender (9 May 1938 – 10 September 1999) was a Danish fashion designer best known for his work for the Danish, Swedish and Norwegian royal families. Life Bender, born in Copenhagen on 9 May 1938, had wanted to be a designer since the ...

and she wore the Alexandrine Drop Tiara, originally the property of Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, which was a wedding gift from Queen Margrethe. When Alexandra married Joachim, she gave up her career in marketing. It is believed that she had renounced her British citizenship prior to become a Danish citizen upon her marriage. During their 9-year marriage, Joachim and Alexandra welcomed two sons. On 28 August 1999, Count Nikolai, the first grandchild of the Queen and Prince Consort, was born. His younger brother, Count Felix, followed three years later on 22 July 2002.

Life as a princess

Alexandra 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 Danish (, ; , ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are a ...

quickly. Within a few months, she spoke it nearly without an 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 Chinese, with the

glottal stop The glottal stop or glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many Speech communication, spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic ...

… 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". Both during and after her marriage, she was involved in numerous philanthropic pursuits, including the Youth

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

, the Danish Society for the Blind,

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

, and single mothers' advocacy group, Mother Help. She also served as a UNICEF ambassador when she travelled to Thailand to visit

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

patients.

End of marriage

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. The

Folketing The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. E ...

decided to put Alexandra on the

civil list A civil list is a list of individuals to whom money is paid by the government, typically for service to the state or as honorary pensions. It is a term especially associated with the United Kingdom, and its former colonies and dominions. It was ori ...

for life, independent of her possible future remarriage. Alexandra's payments of her new yearly allowance of 2.1m kroner (US$330,000) started retroactively from 1 October 2004. The couple divorced on 8 April 2005. On 23 June 2017, she announced that she would renounce her entitlement to the Danish civil list in July 2020, coinciding with the 18th birthday of Prince Felix.

Second marriage and current life

As early as mid-2005, there were reports and pictures of Alexandra with Martin Jørgensen, the son of Jacob Jørgensen, a well-known film producer whose company, JJ Film, has produced – and continues to produce – numerous documentaries in which the Danish royal family has participated. Alexandra married Martin Jørgensen on 3 March 2007 in a private ceremony at Øster Egede Church near Fakse. She was walked down the aisle by her sons, Nikolai (aged nearly 7) and Felix (aged nearly 4). Aside from the young princes, no one from the Danish royal family attended the ceremony. As a result of her remarriage Alexandra lost her title as a Princess of Denmark and ceased to be a member of the

Danish Royal Family The Danish royal family is the dynastic family of the monarch of Denmark. While some members of the Danish royal family hold the title of ''Prince(ss) of Denmark'', descendants of Margrethe II additionally bear the title '' Count(ess) of Monpe ...

. In September 2015, it was announced that Jørgensen and the Countess were divorcing after eight and a half years of marriage. The Countess had cited differences in values as the reason for the divorce. The divorce was finalised in 2015. In 2007, the Countess of Frederiksborg joined the Danish board of directors of Ferring Pharmaceuticals. In 2017, it was announced that she would take up the position of Poling Chair of Business and Government at the

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

Kelley School of Business. Alexandra still occasionally attends events with her former husband and the rest of the Danish royal family. Among other events, in 2012, she attended a gala performance at Koncerthuset in honour of Queen Margrethe II's 40th jubilee, and in 2018, she attended the gala dinner for her former brother-in-law Crown Prince Frederik's 50th birthday at Christiansborg Palace.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Royal Monogram of Princess Alexandra of Denmark

Titles and styles

Alexandra Manley became known as " Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Denmark" upon her marriage to Prince Joachim. After her divorce, she assumed the lesser style of "

Her Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style used to address (in second person) or refer to (in third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty. It is typically used with a possessive adjec ...

" and was granted the additional title "Countess of Frederiksborg". She lost her princely title upon remarriage and became known as "

Her Excellency Excellency is an honorific style (manner of address), style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder ...

Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg". 30 June 1964 -18 November 1995: Miss Alexandra Christina Manley 18 November 1995 - 8 April 2005: Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Denmark 8 April 2005-16 April 2005: Her Highness Princess Alexandra of Denmark 16 April 2005-3 March 2007: Her Highness Princess Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg 3 March 2007-present: Her Excellency The Countess of Frederiksborg

Honours

National honours

* : **

Knight of the

(R.E.) **

Member of the Royal Family Decoration of Queen Margrethe II ** DEN Medal for the Silver Jubilee of Queen Margarethe of Denmark ribbon

Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Margrethe II

Foreign honours

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland (; ) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all three orders. The ...

* : Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau * : Grand Cross of the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...

Arms

File:Armoiries Princesse Alexandra Danemark(1995-2005).svg, Arms as Princess Alexandra (1995–2005). File:Armoiries Alexandra Manley Contesse de Frederiksborg(2005).svg, Arms as Countess of Frederiksborg (2005– )

References

External links

About us – Board of directors: Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg
– website Ferring Pharmaceuticals {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexandra of Frederiksborg, Countess People educated at Island School People educated at Glenealy School 1964 births Princesses of Denmark Danish countesses Princesses by marriage 21st-century Hong Kong women Living people Danish people of Czech descent Danish people of Austrian descent Danish people of English descent Danish people of Chinese descent Hong Kong people of Czech descent Hong Kong people of Austrian descent Hong Kong people of English descent Naturalised citizens of Denmark Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania 20th-century Danish women 21st-century Danish nobility 21st-century Danish women 20th-century Danish nobility 21st-century Hong Kong people 20th-century Hong Kong women 20th-century Hong Kong people Indiana University Bloomington faculty