Count Nikolai of Monpezat (born Prince Nikolai of Denmark; 28 August 1999) is a member of the Danish royal family. He is the eldest son of Prince Joachim and his first wife, Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg, the eldest grandchild of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik, and the eldest nephew of King Frederik X. He is currently sixth in the line of succession to the Danish throne.[1] At the time of his birth, he was third, after his uncle and father.
| Count Nikolai of Monpezat | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Count Nikolai in 2023 | |||||
| Born | Prince Nikolai of Denmark 28 August 1999 Copenhagen, Denmark | ||||
| |||||
| Father | Prince Joachim of Denmark | ||||
| Mother | Alexandra Manley | ||||
Biography
editNikolai was born a prince of Denmark at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen on 28 August 1999. He is the oldest grandchild of Queen Margrethe II and her late husband, Prince Henrik.
Nikolai was baptised in the chapel of the Fredensborg Palace on 6 November 1999 by the Danish Chaplain-in-Ordinary, Christian Thodberg. At the christening, the musical work Lys på din vej, composed by Frederik Magle and dedicated to the prince, was performed for the first time.[2] His godparents are his paternal uncle King Frederik X, his maternal aunt Nicola Baird, Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, Peter Steenstrup and Camilla Flint.[1] After their divorce in 2005, Prince Joachim and Alexandra had joint custody of the prince and his brother Prince Felix.[3][4][5] Nikolai and Felix have two half-siblings, Henrik and Athena, from their father's second marriage to Marie Cavallier.[6][7]
Nikolai was confirmed on 18 May 2013 in Fredensborg Palace Church in the presence of his immediate family and all his godparents.[8]
Like his father and uncle, Nikolai attended Krebs School in Copenhagen.[1] In 2014, he attended 10th grade at Herlufsholm School in Næstved and received his upper secondary education there as well.[9] Upon leaving Herlufsholm School in August 2018, he started a two-year military program at the Royal Danish Army's Sergeant School in Varde.[10][11] However, he dropped out two months later as he felt a career in the military did not suit him.[12] In July 2019, he was admitted to Copenhagen Business School to study Business Administration and Service Management.[13] As part of that course, in 2023, Nikolai moved to Australia to take a semester at University of Technology Sydney.[14]
In early 2018, Nikolai signed as a fashion model with the agency Scoop Models.[15] He made his runway debut in February 2018 at Burberry's show at London Fashion Week.[16][17] He says he sees modeling as a job rather than a career.[18]
In February 2023, Nikolai signed as a model for Elite Model World - Paris under the name of 'Nikolai'.[19] Subsequently, in May he also signed with Barcelona based modeling agency Sight Management Studio as 'Count Nikolai of Monpezat'.[20]
In June 2024, Nikolai graduated from Copenhagen Business School with a Master of Science in Merchandising degree (cand.merc.) [21]
Titles and styles
editOriginally styled "His Highness Prince Nikolai of Denmark", Nikolai's style was expanded on 29 April 2008 to "His Highness Prince Nikolai of Denmark, Count of Monpezat".[22] In September 2022, Queen Margrethe II decided to strip the children of her son Joachim from the princely status they held since their births. Since 1 January 2023, Count Nikolai is known as "His Excellency Count Nikolai of Monpezat".[23] He has said that he was "shocked and confused" to learn about the decision to strip him and his siblings of their princely title.[24] Even with the change in titles, he and the others affected by the change maintain their places in the order of succession.[23]
Honours
edit| Country | Date | Appointment | Ribbon | Post-nominal letters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | 28 March 2001 | Queen Ingrid Commemorative Medal | Dr.I.M.M. | [25] | |
| Denmark | 11 June 2009 | Prince Henriks 75th Birthday Medal | Em.11.juni.2009 | [25] | |
| Denmark | 16 April 2010 | Commemorative Medal on the Occasion of the 70th Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Margrethe | EM.16.apr.2010 | [25] | |
| Denmark | 14 January 2012 | Commemorative Medal for the Ruby Jubilee of Queen Margarethe of Denmark | R.40.Em. | [25] | |
| Denmark | 16 April 2015 | Commemorative Medal on the Occasion of the 75th Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Margrethe | EM.16.apr.2015 | [25] | |
| Denmark | 10 Juni 2017 | Commemorative Medal for the Golden Wedding of Her Majesty Queen Margrethe and His Royal Highness Prince Henrik | G.Em. | [25] | |
| Denmark | 11 Juni 2018 | Prince Henrik's Commemorative Medal | Pr.H.Mm. | [25] | |
| Denmark | 16 April 2020 | Commemorative Medal on the Occasion of the 80th Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Margrethe | EM.16.apr.2020 | [25] | |
| Denmark | 14 January 2022 | Commemorative Medal in connection with the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen’s accession to the throne | R.50.Em. | [25][26] |
References
edit- ^ a b c "Who is Prince Nikolai of Denmark?". Royal Central. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ Danmarks Radio, Bonanza. "Barnedåb – Prins Nikolai" (in Danish). Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ^ "Børnene bliver hos Alexandra BT Royale – www.bt.dk". 28 May 2018. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
- ^ "H.H. Prins Nikolai Kongehuset". 28 May 2018. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
- ^ "Joachim og Alexandra skal skilles Indland DR". 28 May 2018. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
- ^ "The Danish Monarchy - Current activities - News". Archived from the original on 5 May 2009.
- ^ "A Princess Is Born". Website of the Danish Royal House. 24 January 2012.
- ^ "H.H. Prins Nikolais konfirmation". Website of the Danish Royal House (in Danish). 18 May 2013. Archived from the original on 4 April 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ "Prins Nikolai skal på kostskole". TV2.dk (in Danish). 17 June 2014.
- ^ Brown, Lisa (21 January 2020). "Everything you need to know about Dior model Prince Nikolai of Denmark". www.standard.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ "Prins Nikolai optaget på militæruddannelse – TV 2". underholdning.tv2.dk (in Danish). 24 April 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ "Prince Nikolai of Denmark drops out of military training". Royal Central. 17 October 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ Lykkegaard, Anne M. (31 July 2019). "Prince Nikolai is to study Business Administration and Service Management at CBS". CBS WIRE. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ "Count Nikolai of Monpezat, grandson of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, starts new chapter in Australia after royal title drama". Tatler. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
- ^ Ulriksen, Ulrik (26 February 2018). "Prins Nikolai er ny stjerne hos stort modelbureau". BILLED-BLADET (in Danish). Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ "Prins Nikolai var model på catwalken under modeuge i London" (in Danish). 19 February 2018.
- ^ "Prince Nikolai of Denmark: The latest royal taking on the runway". HOLA USA. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ "Is Prince Nikolai of Denmark giving up modeling for business school?". HOLA USA. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ "Elite Paris". elitemodelmanagement.com. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- ^ "Sight Management". Sight Management. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- ^ @nikolaitildanmark (19 June 2024). "five years at university and I can finally call myself cand.merc 🎓🎓🎓". Retrieved 19 June 2024 – via Instagram.
- ^ "His Highness Prince Nikolai". Danish Royal Court. Archived from the original on 5 November 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
- ^ a b "Changes in titles and forms of address in the Royal Family". www.kongehuset.dk. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- ^ ‘I am shocked and confused’: Danish Prince Nikolai ‘very sad’ to be stripped of royal title by Queen Margrethe II, Independent, 28 September 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Prince Joachim with his sons Nikolai and Felix, and Princess Marie..." Getty Images. 10 September 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
- ^ "Official photograph on the occasion of the 50 years anniversary of HM The Queen's accession to the throne". www.kongehuset.dk. Retrieved 8 May 2024.