Dashing Felix, the son of Prince Joachim, is celebrating turning 23 – after years of uncomfortable discord within the Danish royal family

As seventh in line to the throne of Denmark and a handsome model to boot, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Count Felix of Monpezat, the youngest son of Prince Joachim, is something of a royal heartthrob – although his life thus far has not always been plain sailing. Born Prince of Denmark on 22 July 2002, he and his brother had their titles stripped from them in a sensational scandal; however, a recent decision by King Frederik has seen them welcomed back into the royal fold.

Educated in Østerbro like his father, brother and uncle, Count Felix tried life in the military, before deciding that his ambitions lay in an altogether glitzier field. The then 19-year-old kicked off his modelling career by becoming the star of jewellery house Georg Jensen’s latest collection, in which he smouldered in moody, black and white portraits. He followed in the well-trodden footsteps of his older brother, Count Nikolai, who was scouted by the agency Scoop Models in 2018, and shortly thereafter made his runway debut for Burberry at London Fashion Week. Since then, he has worked with Dior, graced the cover of Euroman magazine and even been described as ‘fashion royalty’ on the cover of GQ Australia.

All was not quite as rosy in the brothers’ private life, however. The Danish royal family made international headlines in 2022 when Queen Margrethe II announced her decision to strip four of her grandchildren of their royal titles. It would affect the children of her younger son, Prince Joachim: Nikolai and Felix (from his first marriage to Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg) and Henrik and Athena (from his marriage to his current wife, Princess Marie of Denmark). The rule would come into effect in January 2023, from which point Joachim’s children would be known as the Counts and Countess of Monpezat.

Margrethe claimed at the time that she wanted her four grandchildren to ‘shape their own lives, without being limited by the special considerations and obligations that a formal affiliation to the Royal House of Denmark entails’. The decision was not received well, however. Prince Joachim expressed his dissatisfaction with the shock decision, which he described as a ‘punishment’ to local Danish publication B.T. ‘I can say that my children are sad,’ said the Prince. ‘My kids don’t know which leg to stand on, what they should believe. Why should their identity be removed? Why must they be punished in that way?’

Queen Margrethe later added that she was ‘sorry’ for having ‘underestimated how much my youngest son and his family feel affected’. The damage appeared to be done, however, and Prince Joachim and Princess Marie moved to the US, in a move that drew comparisons to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s separation from the British royal family in 2020. The couple reflected on the Queen’s decision in a Washington Post article early in 2024, with Joachim explaining that the family had tried to put the row behind them: ‘We’ve moved on.’

Brothers Nikolai and Felix, however, have striven to make good on their grandmother’s wish that they should ‘shape their own lives’. Nikolai, who studied at Copenhagen Business School and has an MA in Science in Merchandising, is quite the Instagram personality; he and his girlfriend, Benedikte Thoustrup, are something of an It-couple and regularly attend Copenhagen Fashion Week together, when they’re not jet-setting on glamorous holidays. Felix, meanwhile, was until recently dating Chilean-Danish actress Mie Sofia Elers, but the couple split earlier this year. They remain on good terms, however, with Elers telling Danish publication Se og Hør: ‘I only have good memories of the time we had together, and I wish him all the best.’