Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
The Danish Royal Family announced theEngagement of Prince Joachim of Denmark and Alexandra Manley at Fredensborg Palace on this day in 1995, 30 years ago, following a whirlwind secret courtship.
Prince Joachim and Alexandra Manley were joined by Queen Margrethe II, Prince Henrik, Queen Ingrid and Richard and Christa Manley as they first appeared outside Fredensborg Palace.
The announcement came as a shock to the Danish People, as the couple had kept their entire relationship a secret. They met at a dinner in Hong Kong in January 1994, and following a whirlwind courtship, Joachim proposed in the Philippians on bended knee. He presented her with a diamond ring with a round cabochon ruby on either side. The ring itself was yellow gold.
Prince Joachim and Alexandra Manley also gave an interview inside the Palace
Interviewer: Congratulations.
Alexandra: Thank you very much.
I: How did you meet and when was it?
A: We met in Hong Kong, um, middle of January 1994
Joachim: At a private dinner.
I: [Did you go] down on your knees?
J: I was down on my knees.
I: Where were you?
J: We were in the Philippians.
I: Are you able to speak Chinese with His Royal Highness Prince Henrik?
A: Well, I think Prince Henrik’s Chinese is much better than mine. Prince Henrik speaks Mandarin and I speak a little bit of Cantonese, which is the language spoken in Hong Kong basically.
The following day, Prince Joachim and Alexandra Manley spoke to the Press inside Fredensborg Palace, briefly joined by Queen Margrethe, and gave a one-on-one interview with Teddy Koch and Lars Staerbo
A: Any advice that anybody could give me, I would gladly listen to and accept.
Margrethe II: My son will keep his title, and my future daughter-in-law will assume the title of Princess of Denmark.
Teddy Koch: When did you tell your parents that you had said ‘yes’ to Prince Joachim?
A: Well, actually, strangely enough, Prince Joachim asked my parents before he asked me, so they knew before me.
J: Not strange.
A: No, not strange.
Lars Staerbo: I can imagine it was important, but were there any risks of the secrecy being broken at any time?
J: I don’t think so actually, because we’d obviously been living in two separate continents. That itself has kept a natural secrecy.
LS: Was it important for you to keep the secrecy?
J: Yes
A: I think so, too. Although our phone bills wouldn’t have showed it!
TK: What about family increase? Do you have any plans in that direction?
A: Pardon?
TK: What about family increase, children?
A: Well, as we said earlier, getting married is a very big step, and I think we’d like to get used to that idea first.
J: But obviously, we would also like to have our own family, as we’ve been raised in happy families. But that’s yet to come; let’s start with the marriage.
LA: The Danish press has put some emphasis on the age difference: the woman being older than the man. Does that mean anything to you, Miss Alexandra?
A: Prince Joachim very kindly translated to me in the newspapers today what he had time to do, and the papers had very, very kindly said that they didn’t think that the age difference was a big problem because Prince Joachim matured very early and he’s a very mature and sensible person and I tend to very much agree with that!
TK: Apart from being a wife, will you continue with your own business career?
A: I think it’s very important to have your own interests, be it hobbies, business, work, and I’m very much an independent person. I’d very much like to keep doing something of my own, yes.
TK: What kind of things?
A: To be honest with you, I cannot answer that until I’ve actually lived there for a bit and seen what opportunities there are.
LA: Prince Joachim, will you allow the Miss Alexandra to have a room with computers so she can trade on Hong Kong walls?
J: Well, seeing as I haven’t, well, I have a very, very, very faint idea of what that part of business is like, whereas Alexandra has a hell of a lot more to say in that, if she feels confident in trading long-distance, that’s perfect with me.
TK: Miss Alexandra, do you expect to manage your husband’s estate?
A: I’d very much like to be involved in it…
The Official Engagement Photos of Prince Joachim of Denmark and Alexandra Manley were taken by Rigmor Mydtskov.
Prince Joachim married Alexandra Manley in November 1995 and they had two sons: Prince Nikolai and Prince Felix, before their divorce in 2006.
Wikia