Count Nikolai documentary Nikolai is less a standard television launch than a sign of how Denmark is watching a former prince turn adulthood into a public story: work, modelling, acting and the search for an identity outside the formal Royal House.
Why a former Danish prince became a documentary subject
The curiosity around Nikolai is not only that TV 2 followed him for a year. It is that he has become one of Denmark’s most visible examples of a new royal paradox: close enough to the monarchy to remain a public figure, but distant enough from the institution to be expected to build a career on ordinary professional terms.
The series, titled Nikolai, follows Count Nikolai of Monpezat as he tries to balance working life, public attention and long-term ambitions. Its premise is simple but unusually revealing for a Nordic monarchy: what happens when someone is born into a royal family, loses the prince title, and must explain himself not as an heir, but as an adult choosing a path?
That question gives the documentary a broader relevance. It connects a personal coming-of-age story with Denmark’s ongoing discussion about a smaller Royal House, fewer official roles and clearer boundaries between public duty and private careers.
The title change still shapes the story
The background is the decision announced by Queen Margrethe II in 2022 and implemented on 1 January 2023. From that date, Prince Joachim’s four children — Nikolai, Felix, Henrik and Athena — could no longer use the titles of prince and princess. They instead became Count Nikolai, Count Felix, Count Henrik and Countess Athena of Monpezat.
The Danish Royal House said at the time that the change was intended to give the four grandchildren greater freedom to shape their own lives without the expectations and obligations linked to a formal affiliation with the institution. All four retained their places in the order of succession.
For Nikolai, the result was a very public shift from royal childhood to independent adulthood. He remains sixth in line to the Danish throne, but his everyday profile is now built through education, work, fashion and media rather than official royal duties.
Work, modelling and acting have made him hard to classify
Nikolai’s public identity has become difficult to place in a single category. He holds a master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration — Sales Management from Copenhagen Business School and has worked with the marketing agency Social Works.
In December 2025, Danish Industry confirmed that he had secured a consultant role at DI Ejendom, the real-estate unit of the business organisation Dansk Industri. The role added a more conventional professional dimension to a profile that had previously been shaped by fashion and public appearances.
His modelling career began in 2018, when he appeared on the Burberry catwalk. He later walked for Dior and appeared on the covers of Vogue Scandinavia, Vogue Ukraine and Elle, including a cover with his long-time partner Benedikte Thoustrup. Earlier this year, he also made his acting debut in the Swedish thriller Doktor Glas.
A Nordic monarchy is being watched through one person’s life
This is why the documentary has attracted attention beyond entertainment news. Nikolai’s story sits at the intersection of monarchy, celebrity and ordinary career-building. It also comes after Queen Margrethe’s abdication in January 2024, as King Frederik X leads a Royal House increasingly focused on the direct line of succession.
For an international audience, the Danish case reflects a wider European trend. Monarchies are reducing the number of people treated as official working royals, while younger relatives remain culturally visible and commercially active. The border between inherited status and self-made identity is becoming more visible.
In that sense, Nikolai is not only a documentary about one Danish count. It is also a portrait of a changing institution and of a young public figure trying to answer a question that many viewers may recognise in a less royal form: how to build a life when other people think they already know who you are.
