Count Nikolai now has a TV show, but one big difference sets him apart from Prince Harry

Count Nikolai is the dashing Danish-born royal who has become an in-demand model, social media influencer and actor, all while managing to keep in the good books of his relatives and the centuries-old monarchy.

It’s a significant achievement that some other royals in pursuit of financial freedom haven’t been able to master, causing anger for daring to cash in on their status and privilege.

Such is the interest in Count Nikolai, and his high-flying life, that he’s now the star of a four-part documentary series airing on Danish television network TV2.

The series, simply titled Nikolai, was filmed over a year with cameras following the 26-year-old at work, at home and as he travelled the world.

Just two of the four episodes have aired so far and some of the highlights have included Nikolai and his brother Count Felix, 23, getting ready for their cousin Princess Isabella’s 18th birthday gala in 2025, celebrating New Year’s Eve at his grand childhood home Schackenborg Castle, and his attempts at maintaining an air of normality at his “civilian job” in Copenhagen, where he is known as Nikolai Monpezat.

There are interviews with his family including his mother Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg, and his model/influencer girlfriend Benedikte Thoustrup who he’s been with for nine years. They met in high school and a recent family outing in Washington D.C., alongside Nikolai’s father Prince Joachim, has sparked rumours an engagement could be imminent.

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Reaction to the series was mixed at first but overall positive as it attempts to show Count Nikolai finding his own path as a non-working member of the royal family, but one with a very prominent profile.

Count Nikolai was born a prince of Denmark in 1999 to his parents Prince Joachim and Countess Alexandra, who divorced in 2005. He is the eldest grandson of Queen Margrethe II, who abdicated the throne for her son, the now King Frederik X, Nikolai’s uncle, in 2024.

Nikolai grew up as part of the royal family, largely in the public eye, but he’s never held an official role.

Propelled into the spotlight after title change

In September 2022, Nikolai was catapulted into the global spotlight when he and his three siblings (including his younger brother and sister from Prince Joachim’s second marriage) were stripped of their royal titles under sweeping changes made by their grandmother. Nikolai, Felix, Henrik and Athena lost the right to be known as ‘prince’ and ‘princess’, downgraded to the ranks of count and countess (equivalent to a duke and duchess in the UK).

His cousins, the four children of King Frederik and Queen Mary, were not affected by the changes.

In September 2023, nearly a year after going from Prince Nikolai to Count Nikolai, the young royal spoke exclusively to nine.com.au, when he moved to Australia for university, and admitted his grandmother’s decision was “still quite a touchy subject”.

“I am the same person as I’ve always been,” Nikolai explained over lunch at a café in Surry Hills.

Since the change, he has been known as Count Nikolai of Monpezat, using the aristocratic title of his late grandfather he was given in 2008.

He added: “It’s more just a formality. Not that I had any formal responsibilities before, but now I am officially free of them anyway.

“I’ve always sort of done what I wanted but in respect to everyone around me, especially my heritage, [I’ve] always asked for permission, done what’s been said and expected of me.”

Speaking in the new documentary about the loss of his princely title Nikolai said: “Everything changed for me. A decision was made on my behalf, and that’s never pleasant, of course.

“I try to make the best of things and look at them from a positive perspective. Right now, I’m in the process of finding my own path, with the role and circumstances I have.”

The title changes made by Denmark’s royal family came several years after similar moves in Sweden to some of the grandchildren of King Carl XVI Gustaf. In Britain, there are now less working royals than ever before under the reign of King Charles III.

More royals paying their own way

It’s an evitable part of modern monarchies: while there are less official working members − to keep the taxpaying public happy − those extended members of their respective royal families are left to find their own way. And for most of them that means getting a paying job.

But when you’ve grown up in the public eye as royalty, finding a normal job isn’t without its challenges.

Along with his modelling career, Nikolai works as a consultant for Dansk Industri after graduating from the Copenhagen Business School in 2024.

Some royals have chosen to capitalise on their status and fame by pursuing the influencer career path such as Greece’s Princess Olympia, while others have created their own businesses. Sweden’s Princess Madeleine launched a skincare line in 2025 but did so using her private family surname, Bernadotte, and not her royal title.

The use of royal titles for commercial purposes is a contentious issue, as Norway’s Princess Märtha Louise knows all too well. The 54-year-old hasn’t represented the Royal House for many years after stepping back from official duties over numerous controversies relating to her commercial endeavours and the use of her ‘princess’ title.

Last year, there were renewed calls for Märtha Louise to be stripped of her royal title after she and her American husband Shaman Durek Verrett, exploited their royal connections in the 2025 Netflix documentary Rebel Royals.

Harry and Meghan’s wrong turn

The most well-known royals to cop a backlash for the continued use of their titles as they earn a living are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The British husband and wife left their places as senior working royals in 2020 to for financial freedom in the US. The late Queen Elizabeth II was firm in her ruling on Prince Harry and Meghan when they announced their intention to break from the monarchy: members of the royal family do not undertake official duties while also earning money.

To the annoyance of many, they have continued to use their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles in all their money-making ventures and in April conducted a four-day tour of Australia which included charitable and commercial engagements.

Like Prince Harry, Count Nikolai does not receive any royal allowance. Both royals are similarly placed in the British and Danish lines of succession: Prince Harry is fifth, Nikolai is sixth.

That Count Nikolai can do what he does and not be heavily criticised for it comes down to one main reason: he has always shown respect to the Danish Royal Family, even when blindsided by the decision to downgrade his title.

The same cannot be said for Prince Harry, who has crafted a lucrative sob-story of sorts through the publication of his memoir Spare, a Netflix series titled Harry & Meghan which heavily criticised their time as part of the House of Windsor, the tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey and many other interviews. Their long list of grievances against the royal family are well documented.

Last year, Harry sparked fresh anger by telling the BBC “I don’t know how much longer my father has”, regarding his battle with cancer which he’s been receiving treatment for since 2024. The duke is due to take his family back to the UK for the first time since 2022 next week, hoping for a reunion between the king and his children.

That visit is unlikely to include a meeting with his estranged brother, Prince William. In 2023, Harry said some members of his family “will never forgive me” for writing his memoir.

At every turn, Harry and Meghan have chosen to openly disrespect the royal family that once granted them enormous privilege, cashing in on the very thing that makes them interesting − their royal links.

Nikolai’s royal privilege

Count Nikolai’s situation has unfolded very differently to Harry’s but all along he’s chosen not to burn any royal bridges.

He knows being born a royal has given him extraordinary privilege.

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“It has given me an incredibly strong network,” Nikolai told the documentary about his royal pedigree.

“It opens a lot of doors for me. Of course it does. I will use that, but not exploit it.”

He added: “It would be naive of me not to believe that I have had an easier time getting the job I have, due to my background. That being said, I would also believe that I have taken the chance and made the most of it.

“I remember being conscious from an early age that I was the oldest of my generation. I was the one who had to take the first step and, in some way, break the mould for the rest of my family.”

When nine.com.au met Count Nikolai in Sydney, he was very respectful about his family while still expressing his hurt over the loss of his royal title. He presented as extremely polite and well-mannered, honest and approachable.

Editor-in-chief of Denmark’s royal magazine BILLED BLADET, Annemette Krakau, said of the reaction to Nikolai starring in his own show: “evil tongues will probably find something to criticise”.

“Some might say that the series is too polished and that there are no critical questions,” Krakau wrote.

“Others that he and his girlfriend, Benedikte Thoustrup, live the sweet jet-set life. And others again that Nikolai should not be in a TV series at all. These are reactions to be expected.”

Nikolai, she said, comes across as “a sensible, gifted, eloquent − and handsome − man with a bright mind, who manages to balance between creating his own path, his own income and following his own dreams, while at the same time being fantastically well-bred and having the deepest respect for his entire family”.

If only Prince Harry and Meghan had thought more about the future consequences of their own ventures six years ago.