by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2015
Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark, Hereditary Princess of Denmark; Credit – http://realeza.foros.ws
On April 27, 1912, Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark was born at Jægersborghus, a country house in Gentofte north of Copenhagen, Denmark. She was the second child of the five children of Prince Harald of Denmark and his wife Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. At the time of her birth, her grandfather Frederik VIII, was King of Denmark, although he died three weeks after her birth. Caroline-Mathilde was named after her maternal grandmother and was known as Calma in the family. Her full name was Caroline-Mathilde Louise Dagmar Christine Maud Augusta Ingeborg Thyra Adelheid.
Caroline-Mathilde had two sisters and two brothers:
- Princess Feodora (1910 – 1975), married her first cousin, Prince Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe, had issue
- Princess Alexandrine-Louise (1914 – 1962), married Count Luitpold of Castell-Castell, had issue
- Prince Gorm (1919 – 1991), unmarried, no issue
- Prince Oluf (1923 – 1990), lost his title, became His Excellency Count Oluf of Rosenborg after marrying without consent (1) Annie Helene Dorrit Puggard-Müller (2) Lis Wulff-Juergensen, had issue with both wives
On September 8, 1933, Princess Caroline-Mathilde married her first cousin Prince Knud of Denmark at Fredensborg Palace in Zealand, Denmark. Knud was the younger son of King Christian X of Denmark who was the brother of Caroline-Mathilde’s father Prince Harald. The couple lived at Sorgenfri Palace in Kongens Lyngby, north of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Caroline-Mathilde and Knud had one daughter and two sons:
- Princess Elisabeth (1935 – 2018), unmarried
- Count Ingolf of Rosenborg, born Prince Ingolf of Denmark (born 1940), married (1) Inge Terney, no children; Ingolf married without consent and therefore lost his royal style and title and his succession rights (2) Sussie Hjorhøy, no children
- Count Christian of Rosenborg, born Prince Christian of Denmark (1942 – 2013), married Anne Dorte Maltoft-Nielsen, had three daughters who are not in the line of succession; Christian married without consent and therefore lost his royal style and title and his succession rights
Caroline-Mathilde and her family; Credit – danishroyalmediawatch.blogspot.com
From 1947 to 1953, Prince Knud was the heir presumptive of his older brother King Frederick IX. Knud would have become king and Caroline Mathilde queen, but a 1953 change in the succession law caused Knud to lose his place in the succession to his niece, who became Queen Margrethe II upon the death of her father in 1972. After the change, Prince Knud was given the title of Hereditary Prince and Caroline Mathilde became Hereditary Princess.
Prince Knud died in 1976, and Caroline-Mathilde survived him by 19 years. She died in her home, Sorgenfri Palace in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark on December 12, 1995, at the age of 83, and was buried with her husband at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark.
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