Daughter of the late United States Ambassador and Mrs. Henry Serrano Villard, Alexandra Villard de Borchgrave was born in Washington, DC and spent her formative years in Norway, Libya and Switzerland. She was educated at Brillantmont in Lausanne, graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in Political Science, and attended the Islamic Institute at the Sorbonne. In Paris she met her husband, internationally renowned journalist Arnaud de Borchgrave. Born Count Arnaud de Borchgrave d'Altena in Belgium, he gave up his title to become an American citizen.

Alexandra decided early on to realize her daring dreams, to capture history through photographs, to co-author a biography of her great grandfather, railroad magnate and financier Henry Villard, in VILLARD: The Life and Times of an American Titan, and then to write six books of love, hope, and healing in HEALING LIGHT; HEAVENLY ORDER; BELOVED SPIRIT; TO CATCH A THOUGHT; LOVE & WISDOM; and LOVE & PEACE. Alexandra founded the Light of Healing Hope Foundation in 2010 with the mission of bringing comfort and healing to those in need and has delivered over 70,700 gifts to 108 hospitals and hospices nationwide.