Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 19, 1995 TAG: 9511210033
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-17 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN M. OLSEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: HILLEROED, DENMARK LENGTH: Medium
Under the eyes of European royalty and the weight of an 8,900-pearl gown, Hong Kong businesswoman Alexandra Manley became Princess of Denmark in a glittering wedding Saturday to Prince Joachim, second in line to the throne.
Now named Princess Alexandra, the former mutual funds executive entered one of Europe's oldest monarchies, becoming the first person of Asian lineage to marry into a sitting royal family in Europe.
Alexandra, 31, already has taken Danish citizenship, adopted Denmark's Lutheran religion, started to learn its language and charmed its people.
Thousands gathered in freezing cold to cheer her as she arrived at the picturesque Frederiksborg Castle, 25 miles north of Copenhagen.
She whisked past them in a Danish-designed gown of thick Italian silk quilted with 8,900 pearls and trailing a 13.3-foot train, partially covered by an opaque veil falling from a turn-of-the-century French diadem. Her bouquet was cream, soft pink and white - jasmine bouvardia, roses and oriental lilies.
Prince Joachim wore his uniform from the Prince Life Regiment, a dark blue jacket with light blue trousers and a sword at his side. His older brother, the unmarried Crown Prince Frederik, heir to the throne, served as best man.
Alexandra smiled slightly and seemed nervous as her Chinese-British father, Richard Manley, escorted her to the altar and her 26-year-old groom.
The ceremony concluded when Joachim kissed Denmark's new princess. On their way down from the altar, Joachim smiled at guests and his wife. She nodded discreetly.
She is the second Danish Princess Alexandra. Danish-born Princess Alexandra married King Edward VII of England in 1863.
Members of the Danish royal house and Alexandra's family sat near the couple and seven European royal families sent representatives.
In the crowd of gala uniforms and long dresses were Spain's Crown Prince Felipe, Prince Edward of Britain and the kings and queens of Sweden and Norway.
The royal wedding seized attention in part because it is Denmark's first in three decades, but largely because of Alexandra.
She took Danes by storm, first with a disarming smile and then by delivering her first speech in fluent Danish only three months after her first lesson. Observers compared her to Britain's Princess Diana.
by CNB