"I miss Hong Kong", says Denmark's Princess Alexandra
COPENHAGEN (AFP) - Princess Alexandra, who left her native Hong Kong to marry Denmark's Prince Joachim in 1995, likes her new life in Scandinavia but still misses home terribly.
"When I see a sequence on television showing the Hong Kong waterfront, my heart beats faster. It's a good thing I don't see that too often," she told the free daily MetroXpress on the sidelines of the "Images of Asia" festival currently underway in several Danish cities.
The 39-year-old princess, born Alexandra Manley to a Chinese father and Austrian mother, said the things she misses most about Hong Kong are "the smells, the sounds, the sites, the food and the people", as well as Chinese New Year celebrations.
"I miss the cuisine a lot, even if Asian food is, thank goodness, very popular in Europe, especially in Denmark. But I love black eggs, which you never see in Europe," she said.
A mother of two boys, four-year-old Prince Nikolai and one-year-old Prince Felix, the princess said she hopes her background would somehow be a part of their education.
She would like to see them "learn to appreciate the multicultural life in Asia, the energy and rhythm that characterizes Hong Kong," she said.
"A large part of the Asian population is under the age of 25, which gives young people a lot of influence on music, fashion, trends, almost all areas. And our children must be inspired by this dynamism," she said.
While she enjoys her visits to Hong Kong immensely, the princess, who now speaks Danish fluently, said she has made Denmark her new home.
"Denmark is my life now, my future."
"It is however difficult to never live in Hong Kong again. It was a big decision to leave, but I made that decision and it was my choice," she stressed, adding that "Danes have welcomed me with open arms from the start".
"I can only return their kindness and generosity by saying that I like being in this country, I feel Danish now," she said.