Count Nikolai of Monzepat is planning his next move...

Count Nikolai of Monzepat has a sales call in 40 minutes. He is talking to me on Zoom from the office of his modelling agency in Copenhagen, and there are headshots and handsome moodboard images pasted on the wall behind him. But after we hang up, he will hop nimbly out of this part of his life — the fashion part, the style part, the part that has seen him do catwalks for Burberry and campaigns with Georg Jensen — and back into the world of real estate investment. His tie allows him to straddle both. A jaunty printed silk number from Australian tailors P. Johnson, it is both formal and fun; expressive and appropriate. It also reminds him of his grandfather, he says.

THOM SWEENEY knit, £595.00, IWC watch, £9,248.00

“We’ve always tried to upkeep a form of elegance…”

“He was from the French side of my family, and he had a really big impact on me,” Nikolai says now. “He was very much the patriarch of the family, the centre of things. His style revolved a lot around quirky ties — always dressing up in big suits. And I’ve really taken that in.”

TOD'S polo shirt, £550.00, TOD'S t-shirt, £360.00, TOD'S jumper, £795.00, TOD'S shorts, £745.00

THOM SWEENEY knit, £595.00, IWC watch, £9,248.00

The other side of his family, of course, is Danish. Count Nikolai is the eldest grandson of Margrethe II, the Queen of Denmark until her abdication in 2024. He has grown up surrounded by the ceremony and sense of service of that family. What’s it like to be a count in this day and age? “I think it's a lot about the formalities, but also the responsibilities that come with being in my position,” he says. “But for me, it's just like a normal family. Obviously, I know it's not viewed like that from the outside. But for me it's just about day-to-day family stuff.”

SLOWEAR jacket, £870.00, BRIONI shirt, £1220.00, PAUL SMITH tie, £130.00, SLOWEAR trousers, £385.00, CROCKETT & JONES shoes, £585.00

Nevertheless, he says, “oftentimes, a lot of eyes rest on me, if that makes sense. So I try to always be on my best behaviour — and that includes dressing my best, I believe.” His upbringing thus instilled in him a definite sense of style, he says. “We’ve always tried to upkeep a form of elegance,” he says. “As a young child, wearing a tie and a suit is not always favourable. But in my later years, I've really come to appreciate the style that my parents gave to me.” It seems to have seeped into his character, too — a charming, effortlessly polite, down-to-earth presence. “I always emphasise a firm handshake, and I look people in the eyes when I greet them,” he says. “And I think it's very important to be present.”

BRIONI overshirt, £1850.00, BRIONI shirt, £1220.00, BRIONI tie, £240.00, BRIONI jeans, £810.00, BRIONI loafers, £970.00, VACHERON CONSTANTIN watch, £84,500.00

Nikolai’s first experience with the fashion industry came eight years ago, when he walked the Burberry show in London. “It was quite a sudden entry into the modelling world,” he says. “It was very overwhelming and extravagant — a whole new world. And I sort of fell in love with the buzz, the creative spirit of the industry.” After this, Nikolai went to study in Australia, because he hoped to encounter another lifestyle entirely — “a totally different experience from what I’m used to”. Here, he says, he discovered a much more “practical” style than in Scandinavia. “I really love the casual style — I find the purpose of their dressing quite inspiring.”

SLOWEAR shirt, £1,440.00, SUNSPEL vest, NECKLACE models own

SLOWEAR shirt, £1,440.00, SUNSPEL vest, £39.00, HUNTSMAN trousers, £650.00, CROCKETT & JONES shoes, £585.00, NECKLACE models own

The Australian lifestyle also dovetailed handsomely with his lifelong love of sports — from football to skiing to tennis, padel, squash; anything he can get his hands on, he says. This may be his chief passion outside of his two working lives. Not that he draws particularly hard lines between the different elements of his personality. I ask Nikolai where he sees himself in ten years time. “The honest and short answer is that I don't know. And I think that also might be a conscious choice. I love being flexible — to sort of shift around; to make my life work the way I want. I'm not so keen on being on a set course.” But maybe, he says, he would like to do some work in the fashion industry — a collaboration of co-design. (Maybe even a little capsule with P. Johnson, I suggest.)

“But really, I'd love to do 10 things that take up 10% of my time, rather than doing one thing that takes up 100% of my time,” he concludes. “And so I don't really want to know where I'll be in 10 years' time — because that would mean that I'm on a train track. And where's the adventure in life at that point?”