Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg, Current Events Part 1: September 2015 -

[Muhler]

Grevinde Alexandra frasiger sig sin årlige statsydelse - Indland
http://www.bt.dk/royale/grevinde-ale...nge-fra-staten

Countess Alexandra has today announced that she will renounce her apanage from July 2020. Which coincide with the 18th birthday of Felix.

[Duke of Marmalade]

Thanks Muhler, but that would be Prince Felix, correct?

[carlota]

interesting move for alexandra, although it makes sense: her stipend was rather generous at almost 230k USD per year. i believe she also got a property given to her as the settlement of her divorce, so over the years i am sure she accumulated enough to live (very) comfortably anyway, even without the stipend once her kids reach adulthood.

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

Thanks Muhler, but that would be Prince Felix, correct?

Yes, of course.
Fixed.

Originally Posted by carlota

interesting move for alexandra, although it makes sense: her stipend was rather generous at almost 230k USD per year. i believe she also got a property given to her as the settlement of her divorce, so over the years i am sure she accumulated enough to live (very) comfortably anyway, even without the stipend once her kids reach adulthood.

It's not my impression Alexandra needs to work for the rest of her life. She seems to live a pretty comfortable life from her investments, which includes the sale of a house she got for free.

[Muhler]

Faka: Forstå reglerne om grevinde Alexandras løn - Indland

More info.

When Alexandra reach the retirement age. (I think that'll be around 67 or 68 for her year of birth) she will receive a pension which is the equivalent to a state-official/state public servant. She will get that for having been married to Joachim and for her time as princess it seems.

Such a pension is pretty generous. One of the reasons such state official jobs at least beforehand were very sought after were job-security and a good pension.

There has of course been critics out saying why didn't she save up for her pension like everybody else. But others point out that the relatively modest sum, won't cause much uproar.

[Duke of Marmalade]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Faka: Forstå reglerne om grevinde Alexandras løn - Indland

More info.

When Alexandra reach the retirement age. (I think that'll be around 67 or 68 for her year of birth) she will receive a pension which is the equivalent to a state-official/state public servant. She will get that for having been married to Joachim and for her time as princess it seems.

Such a pension is pretty generous. One of the reasons such state official jobs at least beforehand were very sought after were job-security and a good pension.

There has of course been critics out saying why didn't she save up for her pension like everybody else. But others point out that the relatively modest sum, won't cause much uproar.

I too think that is pretty generous, especially at expense of the taxpayer. What remains is the fact that it can be very lucrative to marry a prince

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

I too think that is pretty generous, especially at expense of the taxpayer. What remains is the fact that it can be very lucrative to marry a prince

Weeeeell, it does detract a liiiitle bit from the notion that Alexandra renounce the apanage because they were (in her eyes) only meant as child-support.
According to TV News tonight it was Alexandra who made the condition that she should have a pension.
So while I think it is a wise decision I'm not falling down from the chair in awe.

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Grevinde Alexandra frasiger sig sin årlige statsydelse - Indland
Grevinde Alexandra frasiger sig årpenge fra staten | BT Royale - www.bt.dk

Countess Alexandra has today announced that she will renounce her apanage from July 2020. Which coincide with the 18th birthday of Felix.

It makes total sense. The only possible justification (if any) for the appanage was that Alexandra was the mother of two underage HHs.

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Weeeeell, it does detract a liiiitle bit from the notion that Alexandra renounce the apanage because they were (in her eyes) only meant as child-support.
According to TV News tonight it was Alexandra who made the condition that she should have a pension.
So while I think it is a wise decision I'm not falling down from the chair in awe.

Neither do I.

[Nordic]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Weeeeell, it does detract a liiiitle bit from the notion that Alexandra renounce the apanage because they were (in her eyes) only meant as child-support.
.

Would she have made this move if there hadn't been so much public discussion about her apanage for the past few years.

[tommy100]

In fairness would anyone give up an allowance without any pressure or talk that they should?

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by tommy100

In fairness would anyone give up an allowance without any pressure or talk that they should?

Probably not but the pension leaves IMO the impression that she is giving up the apanage more because of the pressure rather than because she finds it a reasonable thing to do.
After all, with her education and background she could have taken on a job or been sitting on more boards. At least after she remarried.
By all accounts she's financially pretty well of and she did get a very good deal from her divorce from Joachim, so the pension-bit does leave the impression that she is reluctantly giving up her apanage.

Kongehus-kender: Sympatisk at grevinde Alexandra frasiger sig apanagen - TV 2

The comments are of course pouring in.

They go from speculating that this is a deal between Alexandra and the court. - Which I think is the most plausible.
It's basically a negotiation: You give up your apanage and get a pension in return, and the DRF will not face the apanage question that often. Because each time Alexandra's apanage is mentioned, the money to the DRF comes up as well - as indeed it is today.

Others praise her for her wise decision, while others point out the difficulty of defending the apanage to Alexandra, who is in perfect working order, once her children comes of age.
It is also pointed out that the pressure on Alexandra went up several notches when the court announced that it is not expected that other heirs to the throne than Christian will get an apanage. (That doesn't mean the rest of M&F's children and all of Joachim's children will not get an apanage, it's just not given to them automatically).
So basically Alexandra was checkmate. Since it would be extremely difficult for her to explain why she should get an apanage while several full-blooded members of DRF won't.

The PM has been out saying: "I have noted that Countess Alexandra has announced that she, once Prince Felix turns 18, wish to renounce the subsidy she receives from the Danish state, as long as she is still economically active (can and should work). I take that ad notam and it is decision I respect very much".

- I think it's very safe to say that the court had the full backing of the government and indeed Parliament when they "discussed" the matter with Alexandra.

So IMO, yes, Alexandra gave up her apanage, but not altogether willingly and she managed to get the best deal possible i.e. a pension. The interesting bit is how big her pension will be and when she will retire. If her pension is the equivalent to a minister or an MP, she could perhaps retire as early as 60. And score a pension that is the equivalent of an average Dane's monthly salary.
And that's why I'm not standing on my table clapping my hands over the head.

[tommy100]

Essentially they have reached a win win Alex will give up her apanage for now once they boys come of age. She is obviously in a position to earn a living without it and has ensured she will be looked after in her later years. For the RF its great as it gets rid of the criticism of her getting the apanage now but still also IMO compels her to stay in the Royal Court's good graces in the future (i.e. stops her doing a Sarah Ferguson). I suspect the Court is relying on the fact that it would take a pretty harsh media to make a fuss over a pensioner aged Alex getting an allowance as the big issue atm is IMO that is is more than capable of working and earning her own living (which in fact she has done for some time, hasn't she sat on a board of directors of a medical firm for some time?)

[Terri Terri]

I am not surprised by this. Something had to come to a head at some point. It made absolutely no sense that she would continue to get an annuity even when her children became full adults. The media and public criticism would have continued to increase...why should the Danish taxpayers continue supporting an ex-princess who ihas now been divorced out of the Royal family for over a decade? She's hardly doing much work with her remaining patronages it seems. I expect with this announcement that she will drop all of them within the next 3 years.

ADDED:
Alexandre now receives $200,000 DKK per month before taxes. What can she expect for a monthly pension compared to what she received from the State as an appanage?

[tommy100]

I also suspect in the next three years the RF will use any contacts they have to maybe help Alexandra find a job. I think she is extremely well qualified and she had a good job in Sales and Marketing (as Dep Chief Executive) before her marriage but I do think the RF will help her find a role to make up for the lost money.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by tommy100

I also suspect in the next three years the RF will use any contacts they have to maybe help Alexandra find a job. I think she is extremely well qualified and she had a good job in Sales and Marketing (as Dep Chief Executive) before her marriage but I do think the RF will help her find a role to make up for the lost money.

Almost 25 years have passed so Alexandra's qualifications for the labour market will be very, very outdated. Of course she has an excellent network to the us-knows-us in Denmark, so my guess is that it will be more depending on her networking than her objective qualifications in Sales and Marketing.

[tommy100]

Originally Posted by Duc_et_Pair

Almost 25 years have passed so Alexandra's qualifications for the labour market will be very, very outdated. Of course she has an excellent network to the us-knows-us in Denmark, so my guess is that it will be more depending on her networking than her objective qualifications in Sales and Marketing.

Oh completely, I meant she is well qualified in the sense she is a well known person and has had experience of the work place at, it would seem, quite a senior level (something that could not be said of all Royals including those married into RFs these days). More recently she sits on the board of Ferring Pharmaceuticals. I have no doubt her future income will rely much more on her society qualifications rather than her Sales & Marketing qualifications. As i say I wholly expect Joachim and/or the DRF to help her in this by making nay introductions necessary.

[Muhler]

The papers are calling anyone and everybody for a comment, but so far no one are really saying anything.
But we have her hairdresser and personal friend, Dennis Knudsen. He is also a personal friend of our Marie BTW.

I'll translate the quotes without comments and leave it to you to interprete what he is saying.
Alexandras nære ven om hendes store beslutning: 'Der har været en særlig grund' | BT Royale - www.bt.dk

Celebrity-hairdresser and make-up artist Dennis Knudsen is one of the close friends of the Countess and tells to BT that it's a choice she herself has made. He will not go into details due to their friendship, but says there has been a particular reason.
"It must be pain-in-the-ass irritating being criticized about your apanage. If I were in her situation I had done the same thing. It was after all not she who chose to get it back then, but something she was given/presented with. So it must be pain-in-the-ass irritating to listen to criticism all the time", he tells and adds that he is not so worried about his friend.

"Alexandra is a very sharp girl, who master a lot of things. I think it's a cool decision and she'll do alright".

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I have no idea how much she'll get in pension, but a qualified guess would be the equivalent to the average monthly salary for an ordinary Danish employee. Around 25.000 DKK before taxes does sound plausible to me.
The state pension you get before taxes is IIRC around 7-8.000 DKK. - Most have a retirement savings on top of that and there are other benefits as well, in regards to public transport, rent, medication and so on. But they will also be available to Alexandra. At least as it is today.

[Duke of Marmalade]

DRF has lots of business contacts, it would be easy to create a job for Alex depending on what she wants (a la Infanta Cristina working for Aga Khan Foundation).

[bertie5252003]

She has made a deal with someone I don't think her divorce settlement was that great, so someone will top her up ... and yes someone could find her a cushy job ... she would not be without contacts all in all she will do just fine ...