Category Archives: Danish Royals

Thyra of Denmark, Crown Princess of Hanover

by Emily McMahon  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Thyra of Denmark, Crown Princess of Hanover; Credit – Wikipedia

Thyra was the youngest of the three daughters and fifth child of the six children of King Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. She was born on September 29, 1853, at the Yellow Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark where the family lived in relatively humble circumstances. Her father Christian had been chosen as the heir to the childless King Frederik VIII shortly before Thyra’s birth.

Thyra had five siblings:

Christian IX, King of Denmark and his family by Georg Emil Hansen, albumen carte-de-visite photomontage, 1862, NPG x74402 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Encouraged by the prominent marriages her elder daughters had made, Louise had the same hopes for Thyra. However, before any serious marriage negotiations could take place, Thyra had fallen in love with a Danish cavalry officer Vilhelm Frimann Marcher. Louise evidently knew of Thyra’s attachment to Marcher but considered it a harmless adolescent flirtation. However, by the summer of 1871, it was clear that the “flirtation” had blossomed into a full-blown affair and that Thyra was pregnant with Marcher’s child.

News of Thyra’s pregnancy was restricted to the family as it could be lethal to her reputation. Arrangements were made to send Thyra to Greece to visit her brother George, where she could have the baby in relative anonymity, and then the baby could be given to a Greek family. Thyra gave birth to a daughter in Greece (some claim Glücksburg Castle) on November 8, 1871. It is believed that Thyra convinced her family to let the baby be adopted by a Danish couple, rather than a Greek one. The story of Thyra’s pregnancy has never been confirmed by the Danish court.

Marcher was allegedly distraught over losing Thyra and his child. Although he was said to have told Thyra’s father he would marry Thyra, this was refused due to Marcher’s low rank. Marcher may have had a second confrontation with Christian in early 1872 that resulted in a verbal altercation. Whatever the case, Marcher died by suicide on January 4, 1872. There is no record of Thyra’s reaction to his death.

Following her involvement with Marcher, Thyra was one of the leading candidates for a bride for Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, the third son of Queen Victoria. The two had met as children in the early 1860s when Thyra’s sister Alexandra married Arthur’s brother, the Prince of Wales. Thyra’s sister and brother-in-law strongly supported the match, with Alexandra cleverly mentioning that Thyra treasured a note Arthur had given her in 1863. Although Thyra and Arthur met a few times in preparation for a possible engagement, Queen Victoria eventually decided that a second British-Danish union would interfere with her pro-German leanings. Arthur went on to marry a Prussian princess in 1878.

Thyra traveled to the United Kingdom during the winter of 1875 to spend Christmas with the family of her sister Alexandra at Sandringham in Norfolk, England. Also visiting the family was Ernst Augustus, Crown Prince of the defunct throne of Hanover. Although he was without a throne and not considered handsome, Ernst Augustus had a kind and easygoing manner. He was also lucky enough to keep a large amount of his fortune despite his exile from Hanover. However, the Prussians did not view a union between Denmark and Hanover favorably at that time. Both had lost considerable (or all, in the case of Hanover) territory to Prussia in the aftermath of the war.

After meeting Ernst Augustus, Thyra was considered as a second wife of King Willem III of the Netherlands. Willem’s first wife, Sophie had died in 1877, leaving him with two surviving sons who had not (and would not) produce children. In his sixties, Willem needed a younger princess who could bear him further children. Willem, however, had a reputation as a shameless womanizer. His questionable moral character coupled with his age led Thyra to refuse William. He did find his younger princess in Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, who married Willem and became the mother of his successor Queen Wilhelmina.

Thyra’s hopes of marriage kept coming back to Ernst Augustus, who apparently knew of Thyra’s illegitimate child and still wished to marry her. Thyra’s parents, along with the Princess of Wales, arranged a meeting in Frankfurt between Thyra and Ernst Augustus in early 1878 and the two became engaged.

Schloss Cumberland, Thyra and Ernst Augustus’ home in Gmunden, Austria; Credit – By Pepito Tey – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22858180

On December 21, 1878, Thyra and Ernst Augustus were married at the Christiansborg Palace Chapel in Copenhagen, Denmark. Following the wedding, Thyra and Ernst Augustus made their home in exile at Schloss Cumberland (link in German) in Gmunden, Austria, the home they built and where they raised six children:

Thyra with her husband and children; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

According to some sources, Thyra struggled with periodic bouts of mental illness during her marriage. Additionally, Ernst Augustus was somewhat asocial and disliked gatherings, which isolated the family. Nonetheless, the marriage was a happy one that lasted until Ernst Augustus’ death in 1923.

Thyra in the 1900s; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Although she never officially became a queen like her sisters, Thyra was the titular queen consort of Hanover as her husband had never renounced his rights to the throne. She also counts among her descendants the late King Constantine II of Greece, his sister Queen Sofia of Spain, and Queen Sofia’s son King Felipe VI of Spain, and future Spanish monarchs. Thyra died at Schloss Cumberland in Gmunden, Austria on February 26, 1933, and is buried with her husband in the family mausoleum in Gmunden.

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Anne-Marie of Denmark, Queen of the Hellenes

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Anne-Marie of Denmark, Queen of the Hellenes; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark was born August 30, 1946, at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark, the youngest of the three daughters of the future King Frederik IX of Denmark and Princess Ingrid of Sweden, daughter of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, and his first wife Crown Princess Margareta of Sweden, born Princess Margaret of Connaught, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria  At the time of her birth, Anne-Marie’s grandfather King Christian X was King of Denmark.

Anne-Marie has two elder siblings:

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The princess was christened Anne-Marie Dagmar Ingrid on August 30, 1946, at the Holmen Church in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her godparents were:

Before Anne-Marie’s first birthday occurred, her grandfather died and her father became King of Denmark. Her childhood was spent in three family homes – Amalienborg Palace, Graasten Palace, and Fredensborg Castle.  From 1952 – 1961, Anne-Marie attended Zahle’s Skole, a private school in Copenhagen, the same school her sisters attended.  In 1961, she spent a year at an English boarding school in Switzerland, the Chatelard School for Girls.  From 1963 – 1964, Anne-Marie attended a Swiss finishing school, Institut Le Mesnil, to improve her French.  She also speaks English and Danish and learned Greek after her marriage.

Anne-Marie first met Crown Prince Constantine of Greece in 1959, when he visited Copenhagen on a trip with his parents, King Paul I and Queen Frederica of Greece.   Anne-Marie met him again in Denmark in 1961 and Constantine declared to his parents that he intended to marry her. In 1962, Constantine’s elder sister Sophia married Prince Juan Carlos of Spain in Athens, Greece. Anne-Marie was a bridesmaid and Queen Frederica noted that at the reception, her son “would dance only with Anne-Marie.”  It was at that wedding that Constantine and Anne-Marie realized that they were falling in love. Constantine proposed during a sailing holiday in Norway, but the engagement announcement was postponed for six months because of Anne-Marie’s young age.  In March 1964, King Paul I died and Constantine succeeded his father as King Constantine II.

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Six months after his accession, on September 18, 1964, Constantine married 18-year-old Anne-Marie in a lavish ceremony in Athens.  Upon marriage, she became Queen of the Hellenes and relinquished her place in the line of succession to the Danish throne. Prior to the wedding, Anne-Marie converted to Greek Orthodoxy. Anne-Marie and Constantine are third cousins twice, sharing both King Christian IX of Denmark and Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom as common ancestors.

Anne-Marie and Constantine had five children:

King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie’s 50th wedding anniversary; Credit – https://www.greekroyalfamily.gr/

As Queen, Anne-Marie established “Her Majesty’s Fund” to provide aid to people in rural areas throughout Greece. Unfortunately, her tenure as Queen did not last very long. Following a coup in 1967, the Greek royal family went into exile, living in Rome for several years before moving to Denmark and then finally settling in the United Kingdom. While in exile, King Constantine was deposed and the monarchy was formally abolished in 1974.

Anne-Marie, with her husband, established the Hellenic College of London in 1980, a Greek boarding school that her younger children attended. The following year, they were permitted to return to Greece for the funeral and burial of Queen Frederika, however, they were made to leave immediately afterward. In 2003, following reimbursement by the Greek government for properties seized from the royal family, the Anna-Maria Foundation was established with the funds from the reimbursement. Constantine had stated that whatever amount the court ordered would be donated in its entirety for the creation of a foundation so the funds would be returned to the Greek people. The foundation, of which Queen Anne-Marie is president, provides aid and assistance to victims of natural disasters in Greece.  The settlement of the property dispute also allowed Anne-Marie and Constantine to visit Greece and purchase a summer home in Portocheli, Peloponnese, Greece.  In 2013, former King Constantine II and Queen Anne-Marie permanently returned to reside in Greece.

Anne-Marie’s husband King Constantine II, the former King of Greece, died at Hygeia Hospital in Athens, Greece on January 10, 2023, at the age of 82. He had been admitted to the intensive care unit at the hospital a couple of days earlier due to a stroke.

 

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty. Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Prince Henrik of Denmark, husband of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

by Emily McMahon and Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

photo: The Danish Monarchy, photographer: Jacob Jørgensen

photo: The Danish Monarchy, photographer: Jacob Jørgensen

Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat was born on June 11, 1934, in Talence, France. His parents, Count André de Laborde de Monpezat and Renee Doursenot, were members of the French nobility. Renee had previously been civilly married to another man before her marriage to Andre. Her first marriage allowed Renee to marry Andre religiously in 1934, but the couple did not marry civilly until 1948. Henri was the second of eight siblings, however, three of his siblings died in childhood.

Henri began his education at home with a private tutor, continuing on at a Jesuit school in Bordeaux, France. Henri spent several years of his childhood in Vietnam, then under French control, where his father ran a newspaper. He attended a French school in Hanoi, where he took an interest in Vietnamese and Chinese languages. Henri recalled his childhood as a very happy and extravagant colonial life, living in a big house with his parents, siblings, and a nanny.

 Henri as a baby with his two-year-old sister Françoise in Vietnam

 

Henri’s love for Southeast Asia continued into his adolescence and adulthood, as he continued his education at schools in Saigon and Hong Kong. He also studied at Paris University, earning a master’s degree in French literature. Henri was also awarded a diploma in Oriental languages from Ecole Nationale de Langues Oriental.

Henri’s developed a wide variety of interests ranging from flying planes to collecting Chinese porcelain to sailing. Like his future wife, Henri was multi-lingual from an early age. In addition to French, Danish, and English, Henri was fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese.  After a brief stint in the military, Henri entered the French foreign services. At the time he met Princess Margrethe of Denmark, eldest daughter of King Frederik IX of Denmark and Ingrid of Sweden in 1965, Henri was working as the third secretary at the French embassy in the Department of Oriental Affairs in London.

While studying at the London School of Economics in 1965, Margrethe was invited to a dinner at the French embassy. As an employee of the embassy at the time, Henri was expected to attend but was ambivalent about meeting the Danish princess by whom he was to be seated. Henri later said that to his surprise he found Margrethe interesting from their first meeting, but was a bit intimidated by her and said little during the dinner as a result. Margrethe said she had no real impression of Henri from their first meeting.

Margrethe and Henri were both guests at a wedding shortly after the first dinner. The two chatted at the wedding reception and on the plane ride back to London, as they were seated together once again. Upon their return to London, Margrethe and Henri gradually began seeing more and more – and growing mutual fonder – of one another.

The couple kept a low profile for more than a year, made easier by the fact that Margrethe was not as well known in the United Kingdom. Their relationship was so private that upon the news that an engagement announcement was imminent, most Danes had no idea their princess had been exclusively dating anyone. Margrethe’s father Frederik was later to say to his daughter of her courtship with Henri, “He came, he saw, and you conquered.”

 

On June 10, 1967, Princess Margrethe married Henri at the Holmens Kirke in Copenhagen,  Denmark, followed by a banquet at Fredensborg Palace. After a honeymoon in Cozumel, Mexico, the couple took up residence at Amalienborg Palace, in Christian IX’s Palace (formerly Schack’s Palace).

The couple had two sons:

 

After the wedding, Henri became a Prince of Denmark and was known by the Danish version of his name, Henrik. On January 14, 1972, King Frederik IX died after a brief illness and Henrik’s wife ascended the Danish throne as Queen Margrethe II. In April 2016, Henrik renounced the title of Prince Consort, which he had been given in 2005.  He retired from public life and decided to participate in limited official events. Although Henrik remained close to Margrethe, he was vocal about the difficulties he experienced as a male consort (a historically female role) in terms of his personal income and his role in the affairs of the country.

Henrik published several books of poetry in his native language as well as additional books in Danish. Henrik and his wife owned Chateau de Cayx, a wine estate in southern France, where the two spent part of their summers.

The Danish Royal House announced on August 3, 2017, that Prince Henrik would not be buried with his wife Queen Margrethe II of Denmark at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark, the traditional burial place of Danish royalty. The press release read:

The Royal House has announced today that His Royal Highness Prince Henrik does not want to be buried in Roskilde Cathedral, as it had been planned. The Prince’s decision implies that he will not be buried next to Her Majesty The Queen in the sarcophagus that Professor and sculptor Bjørn Nørgaard has prepared. The Queen has been aware of the decision for some time and supports the decision. The Prince’s decision does not change the Queen’s funeral plans. It has been stated in the media that the Prince wants to be buried in France. This is not correct. The Prince still wishes to be buried in Denmark, but the arrangements are not yet in place.

On September 6, 2017, it was announced that Prince Henrik was suffering from dementia. Prince Henrik was hospitalized on January 28, 2018. Later it was determined that he had a benign tumor in his left lung. On February 9, 2018, the Danish Royal Court announced that his condition had severely deteriorated. Crown Prince Frederik returned home from the Winter Olympics in South Korea which he was attending as a member of the International Olympic Committee. On February 13, 2018, Prince Henrik was transferred from the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen to Fredensborg Castle, where he wished to stay during his remaining time.

Prince Henrik died peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, February 13, 2018, at 11:18 pm, at Fredensborg Palace at the age of 83.  His wife Queen Margrethe II and their two sons Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim were at his side.

Prince Henrik’s funeral was held on Tuesday, February 20th in the Palace Chapel at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen.  Per his wishes, it was a private service, with family and close friends in attendance.  His remains were cremated, with half of his ashes spread over the Danish seas, and the other half interred in the private garden at Fredensborg Castle.

Prince Henrik and his family in 2017; Photo Credit – The Danish Monarchy

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Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Benedikte of Denmark, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

by Emily McMahon and Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

 

The second of three daughters of King Frederick IX of Denmark and Princess Ingrid of Sweden, daughter of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, and his first wife Crown Princess Margareta of Sweden, born Princess Margaret of Connaught, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Benedikte of Denmark was born on April 29, 1944, at the Frederick VIII Palace in Amalienborg Palace complex in Copenhagen during the Nazi occupation of Denmark. As the Danish military was prohibited from performing the usual salute, a Danish resistance group set off 21 bombs in a Copenhagen park to mark the occasion of her birth.  At the time of her birth, her grandfather King Christian X sat upon the throne of Denmark.

The infant princess was christened with the names Benedikte Astrid Ingeborg Ingrid on May 24, 1944, in Holmens Church in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Her godparents were:

Princess Benedikte has two sisters:

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During her childhood, Benedikte attended local Danish schools. She also joined the Girl Guides, beginning her association with Danish scouting that has continued to this day. Benedikte also developed a lifelong love of horses, owning several while still in her teens. In her early 20s, Benedikte began performing royal duties. She visited the United States in 1965 and also began working for organizations dedicated to assisting the disabled.

Benedikte served as a bridesmaid for her cousin Princess Birgitta of Sweden at her wedding to Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern in 1961, and later for Princess Sophia of Greece when she married Prince Juan Carlos of Spain in 1962. At the 1966 wedding of Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands to Claus von Amsberg, Benedikte met German Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and they began dating. The couple announced their engagement in 1967 shortly before the marriage of her sister Margrethe to Henri de Laborde of Monpezat. Benedikte and Richard married on the evening of February 3, 1968, in the Chapel of Fredensborg Palace, followed by a banquet.

 

The couple took up residence at Berleburg Castle in Germany, the groom’s ancestral home.

The couple had three children:

Benedikte’s daughter Nathalie competed for Denmark in the Equestrian Team and Individual Dressage in the 2008/Bejing and 2012/London Summer Olympics. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Nathalie won a Bronze Medal in Team Dressage.

Princess Nathalie competing in the Olympics

Still in the line of succession to the Danish throne, Princess Benedikte remains a very active member of the Danish Royal House. She is the patron of several organizations in Denmark and appears at most State and official functions, and represents the Danish crown at various events. While she remains in the line of succession, her children are not. At the time of the wedding,  her father King Frederik IX had decreed that to be in the succession, any children must be raised in Denmark. As the children were raised in Germany, they hold no succession rights.  Princess Benedikte’s husband Prince Richard died at his home, Berleburg Castle, in Bad Berleburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on March 13, 2017, at the age of 82.

 

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King Christian X of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

King Christian X of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

King Christian X of Denmark (Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm) was born on September 26, 1870, at the Charlottenlund Palace in Gentofte Kommune near Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the eldest of the eight children of King Frederik VIII of Denmark and Princess Louise of Sweden, daughter of King Carl XV of Sweden. At the time of his birth, his grandfather King Christian IX was the King of Denmark.

Christian had seven siblings:

Christian was related to many European royals through his paternal aunts and uncles. Among his first cousins were Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, King Constantine I of Greece, King George V of the United Kingdom, and Maud of Wales, Queen of Norway who married his brother Carl who became King Haakon VII of Norway.

In 1889, Christian passed the studenter-eksamen (the upper secondary school exit examination), the first Danish prince to do so. He then began a military career, which was common for many princes at that time. Christian served in the 5th Dragoon Regiment and studied at the Officers Academy in Randers, Denmark from 1891 to 1892.

Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Christian; Credit – Wikipedia

It was in the French city Cannes, located on the French Riviera, that Christian met his future wife Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Friedrich Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia, a granddaughter of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia.  Because of the poor health of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz, the family spent much time in warm climates including Cannes where they had a large estate, Villa Wenden.  Christian and Alexandrine were married in Cannes, France on April 26, 1898.

The couple had two sons:

Prince Frederik and Prince Knud, 1912; Credit – Wikipedia

Christian and Alexandrine received the newly built Marselisborg Palace in Aarhus as a wedding present from the Danish public, but it was not completed until 1902.  The couple made Christian VIII’s Palace at Amalienborg their Copenhagen base and Sorgenfri Palace, north of Copenhagen was their summer residence.

Marselisborg Palace; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

In 1906, Christian’s grandfather King Christian IX died and Christian’s father succeeded him on the throne as King Frederik VIII, and Christian became Crown Prince of Denmark.  Frederik VIII’s reign was to last only six years. Returning to Copenhagen after a trip to Nice, France, Frederik made a stopover in Hamburg, Germany on May 13, 1912. He registered at the Hamburger Hof Hotel using the pseudonym Count Kronborg. On the following evening, May 14, 1912, Frederik left the hotel alone for an evening stroll. When he was not found in his hotel room the next morning, a discreet search revealed that the body of a well-dressed unknown gentleman had been found on a park bench. The body, which had been moved to the city morgue a little before midnight, was that of the 68-year-old King Frederik who had died of a heart attack.  Upon his father’s death, Christian succeeded to the Danish throne as King Christian X.

King Christian X proclaimed king at Amalienborg Palace in 1912; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

In 1940, during World War II, Germany occupied Denmark. Unlike King Haakon VII of Norway (Christian’s brother, born Prince Carl of Denmark) and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, both of whom went into exile during the German occupation of their countries, King Christian remained in Denmark.  He is remembered for his daily horse ride without a guard through the streets of Copenhagen during the Nazi occupation of Denmark, a symbol of Danish sovereignty.

King Christian X riding his horse through Copenhagen during World War II in defiance of Nazi occupation of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

After a fall from his horse in October 1942, Christian was more or less an invalid for the rest of his life.  King Christian X died at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen on April 20, 1947, at age 76, and is buried in the Glücksburger Chapel at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark. His wife Alexandrine survived him by five years, dying in 1952.

Tombs of King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Prince Henrik and a Very Generous Giraffe

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

photo credit: Amazon.co.uk

In keeping with the theme of the last installment of Who Knew?!, I’ve found that Queen Fabiola isn’t the only one whose writing has been transformed into another artistic work. Prince Henrik, of Denmark, the husband of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, has written and published several books of poetry, his memoirs, and even a couple of cookbooks. For now, we’ll look at one of his poetry collections. Cantabile, is a collection of his poems written in French, with Danish translations, and illustrations by his wife, Queen Margrethe.

A few years later, Cantabile became the basis for a symphonic suite composed by Frederik Magle. It was written in three movements, based on several poems from the book. The first movement – Souffle le vent – premiered at the Prince’s 70th birthday celebrations in 2004, while the second and third – Cortège & Danse Macabre and Carillon – premiered at the Prince’s 75th birthday celebrations in 2009.

One of the strange facts I found is one of the ‘instruments’ used in the second movement… a giraffe’s thigh bone!  The score called for a thigh bone (not specifically from a giraffe). The composer spent an entire day, just a week before the premiere, at the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen trying out various bones searching for the exact look and tone he envisioned.  After passing on the elephant thigh bone (so big that it would require two percussionists to use), he ended up borrowing a giraffe thigh bone from the museum.

No word whether the giraffe received any royalties…

Who Knew?!

Unofficial Royalty: Prince Henrik of Denmark
Cantabile: A Symphonic Suite by Frederik Magle

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.