Countess Alexandra's Alimony

[Paty]

Today the magazine Se og Hor publish an areal view of Countess Alexandra House in Østerbro. Can someone translate?

SE og HØR - Alexandra: Her er hendes slot

[Odette]

Is this the house P Joachim paid for after the divorce??

[Lilla]

Yes it was and as the prices on houses in Denmark has raised extencivly since then - it represent quit a fortune by now.

[Odette]

Good to know Alexandra got a good deal on the way out. It looks like a real huge place.

[Lilla]

It is. I live in the same area of Copenhagen and used to pass by this house on bike every day - going to my former job. Unfurturnatly I never got to see Alexandra or the kids.

[Odette]

Originally Posted by Lilla

It is. I live in the same area of Copenhagen and used to pass by this house on bike every day - going to my former job. Unfurturnatly I never got to see Alexandra or the kids.

Lucky you!!!!!!! Looks like a beautiful area to live in. I guess they get in the cars in the courtyard and drive away....

[alex001]

There's another article here which I don't think has been posted, I'm not sure what it's about:
SE og HØR - Alexandra: Hjemme fra ferie

[Viv]

It's a pretty sarcastic comment from the
not- always-so-royalistic gossip-rag!

In short: it's about Alexandra and Martin
returning from their round of popular holiday
resorts like Alanya, Sardinia and (somewhere in) Italy
after dropping off the kids in Paris for
Prince Joachim and Princess Marie. Etcetera blah-blah.
It concludes "all for an annuity of 1.9 million kroner"

This piece just underlines the difficult situation
of the countess. Her patronages have been
scaled down and yet she's supposed to do
something in return for her money.

I don't mind contributing to her annuity, which
seems to be a problem for the RF- scrutinizing
and petty-minded Danes.
1.9 mill. kroner are peanuts in the
Budget, and they're even subject to tax!

Of course it would have been better had the RF been able
to pay for her upkeep of their own means.
Apparently they can't, and so be it!

Nor do I mind her getting freebees - if that's
the case - at various holiday spots. I don't see her
life as enviable at all and IMHO Alexandra is chained on
- at least - one foot!

viv

[Villemann]

Originally Posted by Viv

It's a pretty sarcastic comment from the
not- always-so-royalistic gossip-rag!

In short: it's about Alexandra and Martin
returning from their round of popular holiday
resorts like Alanya, Sardinia and (somewhere in) Italy
after dropping off the kids in Paris for
Prince Joachim and Princess Marie. Etcetera.
It concludes "all for an annuity of 1.9 million kroner"

This piece just underlines the difficult situation
of the countess. Her patronages have been
scaled down and yet she's supposed to do
something in return for her money.

I don't mind contributing to her annuity, which
seems to be a problem for the RF- scrutinizing
and petty-minded Danes.
1.9 mill. kroner are peanuts in the
Budget, and they're even subject to tax!

Of course it would have been better had the RF been able
to pay for her upkeep of their own means.
Apparently they can't, and so be it!

Nor do I mind her getting freebees - if that's
the case - at various holiday spots. IMHO
she's chained on at least one foot!

viv

I respectfully disagree. Alexandra's annuity is a disgrace and not worthy of a modern monarchy. May I remind you, that when Charles and Diana divorced, their financial settlement was completely private and did not involve ANY public money. I for one do not understand why the Danish taxpayer was left to pay Prince Joachim's alimony to his ex-wife. Having said that, I think Denmark lost out on a great opportunity to employ Alexandra. She could have become an excellent trade attache somewhere or worked at the Foreign Office. She is highly skilled and her talent is being wasted on the few patronages, she has left. Unfortunately her departure from Amalienborg was so acrimonious, that no one was going to lift a finger for her after they had secured her lifelong allowance from the Danish people.

[Viv]

Contrary to the British RF the Danish RF have nothing
corresponding to the Duchy of Cornwall and
the Duchy of Lancaster and the income generated
by these estates! If that were the case the
financial issues of the divorce would have been
solved without involving the Danish tax payer!

Nor did I ever see Alexandra as a good-will
ambassador or an ex- princess-of-(the Danish) -hearts.
like the role the late Diana envisaged for herself.
And nor does the royal court, if your book is
anything to go by !

So far we're stuck with this quasi-royal family
made up of Martin Jørgensen and countess
Alexandra for a number of convoluted reasons.

Viv

[grevinnan]

Alexandra's settlement is nothing unusual other than the involvement by the state. And that is a matter between the Queen and the government.

[sneeuwklokje]

Is that amount of money such a problem to the Danish?? It's something like 400.000 euro's or thereabout on which Alexandra still has to pay tax, so she is left with, say 275.000's euro per year?? That's peanuts to the Government I'm sure. What else do you expect?? She still has to raise 2 princes and can hardly do so in a 2 bedroom appartment in some "minor" neighbourhood of Copenhagen, can she?? You cannot compare this divorce to what happened to Diana and Sarah, thank God the Danish solved it a lot more stylish. I personally have no problem at all with it (you may have guessed, I am and have always been a huuuuuge Alexandra fan, this lady is a class act). I think it was al set up to give Nicolai and Felix a princely upbringing after the divorce, because they do not live with Joachim all the time. Come on, it's not like she is receiving millions of euro's. And did she not return only 8 of her patronages to the Crown and still has the other 16 or so?

[Villemann]

Originally Posted by sneeuwklokje

Is that amount of money such a problem to the Danish?? It's something like 400.000 euro's or thereabout on which Alexandra still has to pay tax, so she is left with, say 275.000's euro per year?? That's peanuts to the Government I'm sure. What else do you expect?? She still has to raise 2 princes and can hardly do so in a 2 bedroom appartment in some "minor" neighbourhood of Copenhagen, can she?? You cannot compare this divorce to what happened to Diana and Sarah, thank God the Danish solved it a lot more stylish. I personally have no problem at all with it (you may have guessed, I am and have always been a huuuuuge Alexandra fan, this lady is a class act). I think it was al set up to give Nicolai and Felix a princely upbringing after the divorce, because they do not live with Joachim all the time. Come on, it's not like she is receiving millions of euro's. And did she not return only 8 of her patronages to the Crown and still has the other 16 or so?

I agree that Alexandra was the ultimate princess: Sharp, sexy and sassy. Such a shame the marriage did not last. However, it is in my humble opinion beyond arrogant to leave the Danish taxpayer to support her and her new husband, now that she is no longer a member of the royal house.It is not the money, because the amount is small, but it's the principle. Why should the Danes still pay to Alexandra? These days she hardly performs any official engagements. If it were a case of making sure that the sons, who are in the line of succcession, do not grow up in an inner city one-bedroom flat somewhere, then why was the annuity not allocated directly to them?

Originally Posted by grevinnan

Alexandra's settlement is nothing unusual other than the involvement by the state. And that is a matter between the Queen and the government.

Yes, Alexandra's financial settlement with the Danish taxpayer is VERY unusual. Three of Queen Elizabet's children have divorced. None of the financial settlements had anything to do with public money. I am also told that the pending divorce between the Spanish Infanta Elena and her husband (whose name escapes me right now) will be an entirely private matter and will not involve ANY funding by the goverment (read: taxpayers.)

Originally Posted by Viv

Contrary to the British RF the Danish RF have nothing
corresponding to the Duchy of Cornwall and
the Duchy of Lancaster and the income generated
by these estates! If that were the case the
financial issues of the divorce would have been
solved without involving the Danish tax payer!

Nor did I ever see Alexandra as a good-will
ambassador or an ex- princess-of-(the Danish) -hearts.
like the role the late Diana envisaged for herself.
And nor does the royal court, if your book is
anything to go by !

So far we're stuck with this quasi-royal family
made up of Martin Jørgensen and countess
Alexandra for a number of convoluted reasons.

Viv

Since the Danish public is denied any insight into the royal finances, we really do not know how rich or poor our royal family is. However, I am certain that the palace courtiers could have come up with something (perhaps even a job?) had it been necessary to "reimburse" Alexandra. It was not necessary because in Denmark the royal house gets what the royal house wants. The "deal" with Alexandra is opposed by a majority of Danes in all the polls, I have seen (please don't ask me to find them, but I have them somewhere because I have done some research into this)

[sneeuwklokje]

Originally Posted by Villemann

I agree that Alexandra was the ultimate princess: Sharp, sexy and sassy. Such a shame the marriage did not last. However, it is in my humble opinion beyond arrogant to leave the Danish taxpayer to support her and her new husband, now that she is no longer a member of the royal house.It is not the money, because the amount is small, but it's the principle. Why should the Danes still pay to Alexandra? These days she hardly performs any official engagements. If it were a case of making sure that the sons, who are in the line of succcession, do not grow up in an inner city one-bedroom flat somewhere, then why was the annuity not allocated directly to them?

At the time of the divorce Nicolai and Felix were 5 and 2 years old. Hardly an age to handle any money don't you think? The trouble is that the Danish RF hardly seems to have the assets other European RF's do have. So the government has to pay one way or the other.

[Empress]

Well, it's better than in some celebrity cases that have happened around the US. What with people being given 20,000 dollars PER MONTH PER CHILD in addition to houses, cars (which must of course be worth more than 80,000) which must be new every 2 years, etc.

At least she still does something for the money with her charities, and she does have to raise 2 princes, who are part of the royal family even if they will have much more minor roles in the future.

Can't say that I think that she needs the money or deserves the money personally, since it's a heck of a lot of money, and more than most people who work are paid, but there you go. It's the decision that was made.

And in cases where custody is shared, the annuity is generally called child support, or alimony, and paid directly to the other parent, not to the child.

[Heike]

I think some people will only be satisfied when seeing Alexandra receiving public money EXCLUSIVELY for rasing the princes. She has to note every expense she spends. If they go for vacation, for example, only the expenses on the little princes are allowed to be paid by the public money and Alexandra has to pay the fee on her own. Everyone knows that it is not possible to completely separate Alexandra´s expenses from her sons`.
Handling an Ex-princess like this is really no-class.
BTW, Martin may use his own money for daily or vacation expenses. He has a job and he has rich parents. When they got married, they signed that their properties are separate. So I think it´s not fair to say that the government pays for Alexandra AND her new husband because this could be true but I think it´s more possible that this is not true.
And I think we should not blame Alexandra that she doesn´t work so much. You can´t deny that people become more and more focused and attracted to the new Princess Marie. Crown Princess Mary is also a media spot. I can understand that fewer and fewer organizations would ask Alexandra to be their patron, or they would thinking about changing their patron to somebody who can drive more public attention.
Why can´t Alexandra just be a full-time mother and concentrate totally on the upbringing of her children? I personally would be happy to see the two princes grown up as nice gentlemen and behave well. We have already enough spoiled and negative-news-creating royals.

[Empress]

I don't think that she should get an extra fee for any expenses that she incurs on behalf of the little princes. That should come out of the money that she is already receiving.

[Guido]

Originally Posted by Villemann

I respectfully disagree. Alexandra's annuity is a disgrace and not worthy of a modern monarchy. May I remind you, that when Charles and Diana divorced, their financial settlement was completely private and did not involve ANY public money. I for one do not understand why the Danish taxpayer was left to pay Prince Joachim's alimony to his ex-wife. Having said that, I think Denmark lost out on a great opportunity to employ Alexandra. She could have become an excellent trade attache somewhere or worked at the Foreign Office. She is highly skilled and her talent is being wasted on the few patronages, she has left. Unfortunately her departure from Amalienborg was so acrimonious, that no one was going to lift a finger for her after they had secured her lifelong allowance from the Danish people.

Alexandra probably doesn't want to work any more. It is clear she lives comfortably on annuity.

[pamk]

Doesn't Joachim pay any child support on his own? My gosh, he got off cheaply - throwing it all on the government. Even if he paid for Alex's house on his own, he still got off cheap.
I don't mind that Alex has patronages - she is smart, stylish and a real asset to any organization. She really has class. Martin seems to conduct himself very well when he accompanies Alex on these forays. Martin seems to be a good step-father to the two kids and he makes Alex happy. He is sooooo goodlooking - I would rather look at photos of him than Joachim!

[Villemann]

Originally Posted by Empress

Well, it's better than in some celebrity cases that have happened around the US. What with people being given 20,000 dollars PER MONTH PER CHILD in addition to houses, cars (which must of course be worth more than 80,000) which must be new every 2 years, etc.

At least she still does something for the money with her charities, and she does have to raise 2 princes, who are part of the royal family even if they will have much more minor roles in the future.

Can't say that I think that she needs the money or deserves the money personally, since it's a heck of a lot of money, and more than most people who work are paid, but there you go. It's the decision that was made.

And in cases where custody is shared, the annuity is generally called child support, or alimony, and paid directly to the other parent, not to the child.

I see your point about money being paid to the other parent, BUT in this case the only justification for handing over the taxpayers money is Nikolai and Felix. Lets just remember that Alexandras money is not child support. It is called a "special allowance." She keeps it till she dies and she can go and live abroad and still get her cheque from the Danes every month. Why didn't someone install some checks and balances before they decided to give Alexandra a free financial ride for the rest of her life? Why didn't someone make sure that there is some kind of fiscal supervision so that the money goes to the sons and not to Alexandra herself. No one knows how much money the Danish Royal Family family has, so no one can say for sure whether or not they would be able to pay for Alexandras upkeep themselves. A source told me that Queen Ingrid left about 100 million Danish kroner, so they must have some money!