[2] His father was a younger son of King Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel, and his mother was the eldest daughter of Prince Robert, Duke of Chartres and Princess Françoise of Orléans.

Prince Axel served in the navy and gained the ranks of vice-admiral and admiral a la suite, and became the Presiding Adm. Director and BFM in A/S Det Eastasiatiske Kompagni (EAC) in Copenhagen.

[4] On 22 May 1919, he married Princess Margaretha of Sweden, his first cousin once removed and the eldest daughter of Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland.

Prince Axel and Princess Margaretha had two sons: The couple was given the Bernstorffshøj, a villa located near Bernstorff Palace in Gentofte, outside Copenhagen, as their wedding gift and settled there immediately in 1919.

The Bernstorff estate was the residence of Prince Valdemar and his family, inherited by him from his father, Christian IX, in 1906.

In June 1936 the original 19th-century house was seriously damaged by a fire caused by a maid leaving an electric iron plugged into a socket.

Prince Axel had been a naval officer and the house was designed to evoke being on a ship, with the bridge situated on the top terrace and the compass set into the marble in the front hall.

Prince Axel was one of the godparents of future Queen Margrethe II of Denmark at her baptism on 14 May 1940 in the Church of Holmen in Copenhagen.

Prince Axel was a popular figure in Denmark, involved in the promotion and development of sports as well as business.

Since his election as a member of the IOC in 1932, Prince Axel travelled over 160,000 kilometres around the world in advance of his duties.

[10] Prince Axel was a pioneer of motor sports in Denmark, president of the Royal Danish Automobile Club from 1920 until 1938.