Monthly Archives: January 2015

Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Alexandra Christina Manley was born in Hong Kong on June 30, 1964. Her father Richard Manley (1924 – 2010), an insurance company executive, was born in Shanghai, China to a British father and a Chinese mother. Her mother Christa Nowotny, born in 1933 in Austria, is of Austrian and Czech descent and worked as a manager for a communications company. Alexandra has two sisters Nicola Baird and Martina Bent.

Alexandra received her primary and secondary education in Hong Kong at Quarry Bay School, Glenealy School and Island School.  She studied business at universities in Austria, Japan, and the United Kingdom. From 1990 – 1995, Alexandra was employed by GT Management (Asia) Ltd. in Hong Kong.

Alexandra met Prince Joachim of Denmark, the younger son of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, while he was working in Hong Kong. Their engagement, which surprised both families, was announced in May 1995. To marry Joachim, Alexandra had to give up her career, renounce her British citizenship, and change her religion from Anglican to Evangelical Lutheran. On November 18, 1995, the couple was married at the Frederiksborg Palace Chapel in Hillerød, Denmark. Upon her marriage, Alexandra was styled Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Denmark.

 

Alexandra and Prince Joachim had two sons:

Queen Margrethe II decided that as of January 1, 2023, the children of Prince Joachim would no longer hold the style and title of His/Her Prince/Princess. Instead, they will hold the title Count/Countess of Monpezat, with the style of His/Her Excellency. This slimming down is in keeping with recent changes in other royal families and will allow Prince Joachim’s children to pursue more independent lives and careers. The Monpezat titles come from the Queen’s late husband, Prince Henrik, who was Count of Monpezat. In 2008, Queen Margrethe granted the title to her sons and their descendants as well.

 

Alexandra adjusted well to living in Denmark. Her fluency in German helped her to learn Danish quickly. She became involved in a number of worthwhile organizations including the Children’s Red Cross, the Danish Society for the Blind, UNICEF, and Mother Help, single mothers’ advocacy group. She also served as a UNICEF ambassador when she traveled to Thailand to visit HIV/AIDS patients.

In 2004, rumors began to circulate that Joachim and Alexandra’s marriage had problems. Their separation and their intention to divorce was announced on September 16, 2004, and their divorce was final on April 8, 2005. The Danish parliament decided to provide Alexandra with an income from the civil list for life regardless of her marriage situation. Alexandra retained her title Princess of Denmark, with the lower style of Her Highness until her remarriage in 2007. In addition, Queen Margrethe II had granted her the personal title of Countess of Frederiksborg with the style of Excellency, and Alexandra is now known as Her Excellency Countess Alexandra of Frederiksborg.

On March 3, 2007, Alexandra married Martin Jørgensen (born March 2, 1978), a photographer 14 years younger than her. The couple divorced in 2015. Alexandra had joint custody of her two sons with her former husband Prince Joachim who also remarried. Joachim and Alexandra have maintained close ties and are often seen together with their sons.  Alexandra attends events involving the Danish Royal Family such as the 40th Jubilee of Queen Margrethe II which she attended with her former husband Martin Jørgensen as seen in the photo below.

 

On June 23, 2017, Alexandra announced that she would renounce her yearly allowance of 2.1m kroner (US $330,000) in July 2020, coinciding with the 18th birthday of her younger son Felix.

In October 2017, it was announced that Alexandra had joined the Kelley School of Business, the business school of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, in the position of the Poling Chair of Business and Government for the 2017-2018 academic year.  The press release from Indiana University stated  that “Recipients of the Poling Chair are given the charge to stimulate discussion in the areas of leadership, the critical interactions between private business and government in matters of public policy, enterprise competitiveness, and economic growth.”

Embed from Getty Images 

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg; Credit – Wikipedia

Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (Richard Casimir Karl August Robert Konstantin) was born on October 29, 1934, in Giessen, Germany. He was the eldest of the five children of Gustav Albrecht, 5th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Margareta Fouché d’Otrante.  Richard’s father served in the German Army during World War II and in 1944 he went missing during a mission in the then Soviet Union, but he was not declared legally dead until 1969. Richard’s mother Margareta was born in Elghammar, Sweden and the family went back to her native country where they lived with Margareta’s father Charles Louis Fouché, 4th Duke of Otranto at Elghammar Castle.

Richard had four younger siblings:

  • Princess Madeleine of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (born 1936), married Otto, Count zu Solms-Laubach, had children
  • Prince Robin of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (born 1938), married  (1) Birgitta af Klercker, had one son and one daughter, divorced  (2)  Marie-Christine Heftler-Louiche, had one daughter
  • Princess Tatiana of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (born 1940) married Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse, had two daughters and two sons, divorced
  • Princess Pia of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (born 1942)

Richard was educated at boarding schools in Viggbyholm, Sweden and Sigtuna, Sweden. He then studied forestry at Munich University and obtained a degree in forestry at the University of Göttingen.  Richard then joined the Wittgenstein Berleburgische Rentkammer,  based at the family home Berleburg Castle, which manages the family’s 30,000 acres of forest and about 150 plots at home and abroad, as well as its corporate investments.

Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg was originally a county (its ruler was a Count) located in the present district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, Germany in the present state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1792, Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg was raised to a principality and its ruler was then a Prince (Fürst in German). In 1806, Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg was mediatized into the Grand Duchy of Hesse and then was annexed by Prussia in 1816. In 1919, Germany stopped recognizing the various titles of the nobility and royalty. In Germany today former hereditary titles are allowed only as part of the surname.

At the wedding of Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands in 1966, Richard met his future wife Princess Benedikte of Denmark, the daughter of King Frederik IX of Denmark. The couple married at the Fredensborg Palace Church in Fredensborg, Denmark on February 3, 1968.

Richard and Benedikte had one son and two daughters. Because their three children were not raised in Denmark, they are not in the line of succession to the Danish throne. However, they are styled as Highnesses in Denmark and Serene Highnesses elsewhere. Richard’s daughter Nathalie competed for Denmark in the Equestrian Team and Individual Dressage in the 2008/Bejing and 2012/London Summer Olympics. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Nathalie won a Bronze Medal in Team Dressage.

 

Richard was active in many conservation programs including a project to reintroduce European bison on his 30,000-acre estate. See NPR: German Prince Plans To Put Bison Back In The Wild.

Prince Richard died at his home, Berleburg Castle, in Bad Berleburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on March 13, 2017, at the age of 82. He was buried at the Forest Cemetery Sengelsberg in Berleburg, Germany.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Ingrid of Sweden, Queen of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Ingrid of Sweden, Queen of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Ingrid of Sweden was born on March 28, 1910, at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden. At the time of her birth her parents, the future King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden and Princess Margaret of Connaught, were the Crown Prince and Princess of Sweden. Ingrid’s mother was the daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, and therefore a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Ingrid was the only daughter and the third of her parents’ five children. Ingrid had four brothers:

The infant princess was christened Ingrid Victoria Sofia Louise Margareta on May 5, 1910, at the Royal Chapel in the Royal Palace of Stockholm. Her godparents were:

In 1920, when Ingrid’s mother was eight months pregnant with her sixth child, she underwent mastoid surgery. An infection developed which killed Crown Princess Margaret, at the age of 38, and her unborn child on May 1, 1920. Ten-year-old Ingrid and four brothers ranging in age from three to fourteen years old were left motherless. In 1923, Ingrid’s father married Lady Louise Mountbatten, daughter of Prince Louis of Battenberg (later Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven) and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The couple remained childless and became King and Queen of Sweden in 1950.

Ingrid was well educated and studied history, art history, and political science, and learned several languages. Her knowledge of art and culture was enhanced by long stays in Paris and Rome. Along with her father, stepmother, and brother Prince Bertil, Ingrid took a five-month journey through the Middle East in 1934-35.

On March 15, 1935, Ingrid became engaged to Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, her third cousin. The couple was married at Stockholm Cathedral (Storkyrkan) in Stockholm, Sweden on May 24, 1935.

Frederik and Ingrid ride through the streets after their wedding; Credit – Wikipedia

Ingrid and Frederik had three daughters:

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid lived at Frederik VIII’s Palace at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen. Ingrid quickly learned Danish and came especially to love Jutland, where Gråsten Palace became their summer home. During World War II, Ingrid took a very critical attitude towards Nazism. The popularity of the Danish royal family increased because they remained in Denmark despite the German occupation and stayed visible to the Danish people. Unaccompanied by a groom, Ingrid’s father-in-law King Christian X took a daily ride on his horse through Copenhagen, and Ingrid was often seen riding her bicycle or pushing her eldest daughter Margrethe in her carriage through the streets of Copenhagen.

 

On April 20, 1947, King Christian X died and Ingrid’s husband acceded to the throne as King Frederik IX. Queen Ingrid reformed some outdated practices at court and created a more relaxed atmosphere. She was interested in gardening and art, and, after researching the original appearance of Gråsten Palace, she oversaw the renovations there.

 

King Frederik IX died on January 14, 1972, and his eldest daughter became Queen Margrethe II, the first female monarch of Denmark since Queen Margrethe I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375–1412 during the Kalmar Union.  That same year Ingrid was appointed Regent, the representative of her daughter when she was absent from the country. Since the Constitution of 1871, only the Crown Prince had been allowed to act as Regent in the absence of the Monarch. Ingrid had long been a patron of many social organizations, positions which she eventually left to her middle daughter Princess Benedikte as the years passed.

Above photo: Queen Ingrid kissing the bride at the 1999 wedding of her granddaughter Princess Alexia of Greece

On November 7, 2000, at Fredensborg Palace, Queen Ingrid died at the age of 90, surrounded by her three daughters and her ten grandchildren. She was buried beside her husband outside of Roskilde Cathedral.

Grave 1 Frederik IX of Denmark

Site of the graves of King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid outside Roskilde Cathedral, Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

Grave 2 Frederik IX of Denmark

Grave of King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

King Frederik IX of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2015

King Frederik IX of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

King Frederik IX of Denmark was born on March 11, 1899, at Sorgenfri Palace in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark. He was the elder of the two sons of the future King Christian X of Denmark and his wife Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. With Frederik’s birth, there were four generations of Danish kings alive: the current monarch and Frederik’s great-grandfather King Christian IX, his grandfather the future King Frederik VIII, his father the future King Christian X, and baby Frederik.

Four generations of kings; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 9, 1899, the infant prince was christened Christian Frederik Franz Michael Carl Valdemar Georg. Frederik had an astounding 21 godparents including:

Frederik had only one sibling:

Frederik and his brother Knud; Credit – Wikipedia, United States Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Frederik was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy and the University of Copenhagen. He had a career in the Royal Danish Navy where he had several senior commands and attained the rank of Rear Admiral. Frederik is famous for having acquired several tattoos during his time in the navy.

Frederik IX tattos

King Frederik IX showing off his physique and his tattoos; Photo Credit – http://cphpost.dk

In 1922, Frederik became engaged to his second cousin Princess Olga of Greece. However, the engagement was broken and Olga married Prince Paul of Yugoslavia. On March 15, 1935, Frederik became engaged to Princess Ingrid of Sweden, daughter of King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The couple were married at the Storkyrkan in Stockholm, Sweden on May 24, 1935

Frederik and Ingrid ride through the streets after their wedding; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Frederik and Ingrid had three daughters:

Embed from Getty Images 

Frederik and Ingrid’s firstborn child Margrethe was born within days of the German occupation of Denmark during World War II, and the little princess quickly became a bright spot in those terrible times. It was a common sight to see Frederik and Ingrid walking with Margrethe in her baby carriage through the streets of Copenhagen.

In 1947, Frederik succeeded to the throne upon the death of his father King Christian X. The Royal Ordinance of 1853 specified that the succession to the throne would be according to agnatic primogeniture, male succession, and the heir-presumptive to the throne was Hereditary Prince Knud, the King’s younger brother. Because of the unpopularity of Prince Knud and the belief that the 1853 succession law was outdated, the Danish Act of Succession was adopted on March 27, 1953. The new law allowed for female succession if the monarch had no sons. This enabled the daughters of King Frederik IX to supplant their uncle Knud in the line of succession. A 2009 succession law now allows for the succession of the firstborn child regardless of gender.

King Frederik and Queen Ingrid traveled on the royal yacht Dannebrog to most ports in Denmark and also to the Faroe Islands and Greenland. King Frederik IX had a warm, friendly personality and was able to break down the distance between the Danish people and the royal family. He once showed a TV reporter around Amalienborg Palace and said: “Yes, we live like other people. And here’s the tapestry hall.”

King Frederik and Queen Ingrid in 1950; Credit – Wikipedia; Photo: Sven Türck (1897-1954) Department of Maps, Print and Photographs, The Royal Library, Denmark

The king also had a great love for music and was a talented pianist and conductor. Several recordings of orchestral music originally heard on Danish radio conducted by King Frederik have been released on CDs.

Frederik IX CD

King Frederik IX Conducts the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra; Photo Credit – Amazon.com

In January 1972, shortly after Frederik had given his New Year speech, he became ill with flu-like symptoms. On January 3, 1972, he had a cardiac arrest and was rushed to Copenhagen Municipal Hospital. The king improved for a time but took a turn for the worse on January 11, and on January 14, 1972, King Frederik IX died at the age of 72.  Unlike other Danish monarchs who had been buried inside Roskilde Cathedral, the burial place of Danish monarchs in Roskilde, Denmark, Frederik wanted to be buried outside in sight of the sea. He was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Queen Margrethe II. Queen Ingrid survived her husband by 28 years. When she died on November 7, 2000, her remains were interred alongside him outside Roskilde Cathedral.

Two photos of the burial site were taken by this writer who can verify that the Roskilde Fjord can be seen from the site of the grave.

Grave 1 Frederik IX of Denmark

Site of King Frederik IX’s grave outside Roskilde Cathedral; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

Grave 2 Frederik IX of Denmark

Grave of King Frederik IX and his wife Queen Ingrid; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty