Count Nikolai: There’s nothing like a Dane when it comes to a royal sense of style

On Wednesday night, 25-year-old Danish noble and model Count Nikolai – nephew of King Frederik and Queen Mary – will be one of the attendees at GQ’s annual Men of the Year Awards.

Count Nikolai of Monpezat, nephew of the King of Denmark, has a deep affection for Australia after studying here. Picture: Rob Tennent for GQ Australia

You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who’s balanced studying in Australia, a modelling career, and a high-profile life as a Danish royal, but Count Nikolai of Monpezat manages to do it all.

On Wednesday night, the 25-year-old European noble will be one of the attendees at GQ’s annual Men of the Year Awards, in association with Defender.

It’s his first time at the Sydney event and his return to the harbour city where he studied and where his uncle and Denmark’s monarch, King Frederik X, met his Australian wife and current Queen of Denmark, Mary.

“Last time I was in Sydney I was still doing my master’s degree in business economics,” Nikolai says of his semester studying abroad at the University of Technology Sydney. “Now I’ve graduated, and I have to approach life in a whole different way too.”

Though his nine-to-five career aspirations are relatively normal, Count Nikolai is by now well ­acquainted with fashion, having made his runway debut for Burberry in 2018 and walking for Dior Men in 2020. For GQ MOTY, ­Nikolai will wear P. Johnson, the Australian tailor who won Designer of the Year in 2015, and who’ll present the Designer of the Year award in 2024. Since his initial win, Johnson has opened new boutiques in Sydney’s Strand Arcade and on High Street in Armadale, Melbourne, as well as ­foraying into womenswear and men’s ready-to-wear alongside custom tailoring. “We want to affect the client’s wardrobe and make it easier for them to get dressed tastefully and easily,” Johnson shares of his business modus operandi.

Count Nikolai will always have a special relationship with Australia, continuing to uphold Denmark’s close bond with its ­antipodean ally. “For me what makes Australia so liveable is also what I appreciate from my home country,” he notes. “People are kind and accommodating, the humour has many similarities, and it’s easy to adapt to Australia as a Dane, I think.”

The 16th GQ MOTY awards to be held on Wednesday will honour the men and women who’ve dominated the worlds of style, culture and sport, raising the bar in their respective fields.

Previous winners at the black-tie event have included Baz ­Luhrmann, Russell Crowe, Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, Adam ­Goodes, Riley Keogh, Nathan Cleary, Troye Sivan, Adam Briggs, Robert Irwin and Dylan Alcott.

The GQ MOTY 2024 issue of GQ Australia will be on sale on Friday, December 13, as a glossy special edition, and will be available exclusively in The Australian. Follow all the action from the 2024 GQ MOTY awards at GQ.com.au/MOTY