Thursday, May 18, 2017

A royal divorce


"HRH Princess Benedikte announces that HH Princess Alexandra (of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg)  and Count Jefferson von Pfeil und Klein-Ellgurth has decided to divorce after 18 years of marriage.

The couple first met when they went to boarding school in northern Germany. They were married in 1998 at Gråsten Palace. The Princess and Count Jefferson lived in London and Paris, and they had two children, Count Richard, born Sept. 14, 1999, and Countess Ingrid, born on August 16 2003. The last three years the family lived in Germany.


Princess Alexandra says:
"It's an incredibly difficult decision. We have known each other for 30 years, but has come to a point where we must recognize that we have grown apart. We end the marriage, but remain together in parenthood. The whole family, but of course, most kids are - now even after my father's death - in a very vulnerable situation and we therefore ask for calm and respect about the process we go through. "

The couple have not yet taken a final decision on where in the future they will settle, but the children will continue at their school in Schleswig-Holstein."




Alexandra and Jefferson and their two children moved to Heidesheim, Germany, in 2010, after he lost his job with as Managing Director of the Swiss Bank Sal. Oppenheim in Paris.   He is now an independent financial services professional.

The princess worked for 18 years as a program specialist for UNESCO.  She lost her job in 2013.

The couple met when they were both students at the Louisenlund school in Schleswig-Holstein.


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