Category Archives: Danish Royals

Princess Isabella of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Princess Isabella of Denmark; Photo: Danish Royal House © Hasse Nielsen

Princess Isabella of Denmark was born on April 21, 2007, at the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is the second of the four children and the elder of the two daughters of King Frederik X of Denmark and his Australian-born wife Queen Mary of Denmark, born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson. Princess Isabella was the first girl born into the Danish Royal Family since the birth in 1946 of her paternal great-aunt Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark who married King Constantine II of Greece.

Princess Isabella’s family: Princess Josephine, King Frederik X, Princess Isabella, Queen Mary, Prince Vincent, Prince Christian

Isabella has an elder brother and younger twin siblings:

Princess Isabella was christened at the Fredensborg Palace Chapel in Fredensborg, Denmark on July 1, 2007. She was given the names Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe.

H.K.H. Prinsesse Isabellas barnedåb

Princess Isabella with her parents, brother Christian, and godparents; Photo Credit – The Danish Monarchy, photographer Steen Brogaard

Isabella’s godparents were:

  • Queen Mathilde of Belgium, then the Duchess of Brabant, born Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz
  • Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark, her first cousin once removed
  • Nadine Johnston, her parents’ friend
  • Christian Buchwald, her parents’ friend
  • Major Peter Heering, her parents’ friend
  • Marie Louise Skeel, her parents’ friend

Denmark changed its succession law in 2008 to absolute primogeniture where the succession passes to the eldest child of the sovereign regardless of gender. Males and females have equal succession rights. This means that King Frederik X’s second-born child Isabella is ahead of her younger brother Vincent in the line of succession to the Danish throne. With the abdication of her grandmother Queen Margrethe II and the accession of her father as King Frederik X on January 14, 2024, Isabella is second in the line of succession after her elder brother Crown Prince Christian.

Isabella on her first day of school in 2013; Credit – Hello

On August 13, 2013, Princess Isabella began to attend the same public school her older brother attended, Tranegårdskolen (link in Danish) in Hellerup, Gentofte Municipality, a Copenhagen suburban municipality. Isabella started her secondary studies at Ingrid Jespersens Gymnasieskole in Copenhagen, Denmark in August 2022. She then started upper secondary school in August 2023, at Øregård Gymnasium in Hellerup, Gentofte Municipality, a Copenhagen suburban municipality, the same school her father Frederik and her paternal uncle Prince Joachim had attended.

Embed from Getty Images
Princess Isabella on her confirmation day

Isabella was confirmed in the Lutheran Evangelical Church at the Fredensborg Palace Chapel in Fredensborg, Denmark on April 30, 2022.

Left to right: Princess Isabella, Crown Prince Christian, King Frederik X, Queen Mary, Princess Josephine, and Prince Vincent on the balcony of Christiansborg Palace after the proclamation of King Frederik X as King of Denmark.

On January 14, 2024, the day of her father’s accession to the Danish throne Princess Isabella and her siblings Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine were created Knights of the Order of the Elephant. It is likely that the three new Knights of the Order of the Elephant will be presented with the Order of the Elephant’s insignias on their 18th birthdays. Isabella’s oldest brother, Crown Prince Christian was created a Knight of the Order of the Elephant on October 15, 2023, his 18th birthday.

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.

Princess Athena of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer

Credit: The Royal Danish House

Princess Athena of Denmark was born at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark on January 24, 2012. She is the only daughter of Prince Joachim of Denmark, the second of the two sons of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and his second wife Princess Marie, born Marie Cavallier.

Princess Athena has one elder brother:

Princess Athena has two older half-brothers from her father’s first marriage to Alexandra Manley, known as Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg since their divorce:

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Princess Athena’s christening was held on May 20, 2012, at the Møgeltønder Church in Møgeltønder, Denmark, the same church where her brothers Felix and Henrik were christened.

She was given the names:

  • Athena (after the goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology)
  • Marguerite (after her paternal grandmother)
  • Françoise (after her maternal grandmother)
  • Marie (after her mother)

Her godparents were:

  • Gregory Grandet, her maternal uncle
  • Edouard Cavallier, her maternal uncle
  • Carina Axelsson, the long-term partner of her father’s first cousin Gustav, 7th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
  • Julie Mirabaud, a friend of her parents
  • Diego de Lavandeyra, a friend of her parents
  • Henriette Steenstrup, a friend of her parents
Royal_Athena_daab

Photo Credit – Danish Monarchy, photographer Steen Brogaard

On August 11, 2017, Princess Athena started school, attending a private Catholic school, St Joseph Søstrenes School in Ordrup, Denmark,

Learn more about royalty, past and present here.

Prince Henrik of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer

Prince Henrik of Denmark; Credit – The Danish Royal House, 2020

Prince Henrik of Denmark was born on May 4, 2009, at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is the only son of Prince Joachim of Denmark, the second of the two sons of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and his second wife Princess Marie, born Marie Cavallier.

Prince Henrik has one younger sister:

Prince Henrik has two older half-brothers from his father’s first marriage to Alexandra Manley, known as Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg since their divorce:

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On July 26, 2009, Prince Henrik was christened at the Møgeltønder Church in Møgeltønder, Denmark. He was given the names:

  • Henrik (after his paternal grandfather)
  • Carl (possibly after great-great uncle Count Carl Johan Bernadotte)
  • Joachim (after his father)
  • Alain (after his maternal grandfather)

His godparents were:

  • Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, his paternal aunt by marriage born Mary Donaldson
  • Charles Cavallier, his maternal uncle
  • Benjamin Grandet, his maternal uncle
  • Britt Davidsen Siesbye, his mother’s friend and lady-in-waiting
  • Christian Scherfig, his parents’ friend
Christening of HH Prince Henrik

Photo Credit – Danish Monarchy, photographer Steen Brogaard

In the autumn of 2015, Prince Henrik started school, attending a private Catholic school, St Joseph Søstrenes School in Ordrup, Denmark, which is close to the family’s home.

Wikipedia: Prince Henrik of Denmark

Louise Rasmussen, Countess Danner

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Louise Rasmussen, Countess Danner; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise Rasmussen, Countess Danner was the morganatic third wife of King Frederik VII of Denmark. Born in Copenhagen, Denmark on April 21, 1815, Louise Christine Rasmussen was born out of wedlock to a maid, Juliane Caroline Rasmussen, who raised her, and a merchant Gotthilf L. Køppen.

In 1826, Louise was admitted to the Royal Theater Ballet School which trained dancers for the Royal Danish Ballet. In 1830, she received a contract with the Royal Danish Ballet and became a member of the corps de ballet.

In 1841, Louise had a son, Carl Christian Berling, born out of wedlock, with Carl Berling, the heir of Berlingske Tidende, now known as just Berlingske, the oldest Danish newspaper still published and among the oldest newspapers in the world. Louise retired from the ballet and with Berling’s help, opened a women’s hat shop.

Louise Rasmussen; Credit – Wikipedia

Through Berling, Louise became acquainted with Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, the son of King Christian VIII. Frederik had already divorced two wives. Louise and Frederik had a relationship during the 1840s. In 1848, Frederik’s father died and he succeeded to the Danish throne as King Frederik VII. Upon becoming king, Frederik wished to marry Louise but the government was against the marriage. In 1849, King Frederik VII signed a new constitution, changing the monarchy from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. The signing of the new constitution made Frederik so popular that the government permitted him to marry Louise Rasmussen.

On August 8, 1850, by royal decree, Louise Rasmussen was given the title Countess Danner and married King Frederik VII at the Frederiksborg Palace Chapel. However, the marriage was a morganatic one.  Neither Louise nor any children would have royal titles and the children would not be in the line of succession to the Danish throne. The marriage appears to have been happy but had much opposition and Louise was treated poorly in social circles. Frederik and Louise did not have any children.

Louise and Frederik, early 1860s; Credit – Wikipedia

On Louise’s birthday in 1854, Frederik bought a country manor, Jægerspris Palace, to spend their private life away from Copenhagen and the aristocracy’s disdain for their marriage. After Frederik died in 1863, Louise inherited Jægerspris Palace. In 1867, she had a wing of Jægerspris Palace converted into an orphanage.

Jægerspris Palace; Credit – Af Acrr – Eget arbejde, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5168738

In October 1873, six months before her death, Louise founded the King Frederik VII Foundation, still in existence. After her death, Louise intended for the foundation to convert Jægerspris Palace into a home for “destitute and abandoned girls, especially of the peasantry”.  Today the King Frederik VII Foundation works on behalf of poor, young working-class women and has offices at Jægerspris Palace. Visitors to Jægerspris Palace can see the rooms where Louise and Frederik lived and view many of their collections but part of Jægerspris Palace remains a children’s home.

Louise died in Genoa, Italy on March 6, 1874, at the age of 58. While King Frederik VII was buried at Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial place of the Danish Royal Family, Louise was not allowed a resting place near her husband. She was buried in a burial mound in the castle garden of Jægerspris Castle, which is perhaps fitting as it is the place where she put her wealth to work for others.

Louise’s burial mound at Jægerspris Castle; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise’s tomb inside the burial mound; Credit – Wikipedia

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.

Works Cited

  • Da.wikipedia.org. (2018). Grevinde Danner. [online] Available at: https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grevinde_Danner [Accessed 20 Sep. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Jægerspris Castle. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A6gerspris_Castle [Accessed 20 Sep. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Louise Rasmussen. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Rasmussen [Accessed 20 Sep. 2018].
  • Flantzer, S. (2018). King Frederik VII of Denmark. [online]. Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-frederik-vii-of-denmark/ [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].

Caroline Mariane of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Crown Princess of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Caroline Mariane of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Crown Princess of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

Caroline Mariane was the second wife of the future King Frederik VII of Denmark. Born in Neustrelitz in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, on January 10, 1821, she was the second of the two daughters and the third of the four children of Georg, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Marie of Hesse-Kassel.

Caroline Mariane had three siblings:

In 1839, King Christian VIII of Denmark succeeded to the Danish throne. His son Frederik, who had divorced his first wife, was now Crown Prince and needed to marry again. He heard about Caroline Mariane who had been taught Danish by a Danish poet and thought she might make a good wife. 33-year-old Frederik and 20-year-old Caroline Mariane were married in Neustrelitz in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on June 10, 1841. On June 21, they arrived in Denmark and made a festive entrance in Copenhagen.

The marriage was childless and unhappy. Frederik’s bad temperament, excessive drinking, and shameless womanizing put a great strain on Caroline Mariane. She was young, inexperienced, shy, and nervous, and no match for Frederik’s boisterous personality. In 1844, Caroline Mariane visited her parents and refused to return to Denmark. The couple divorced on September 30, 1846. The divorce documents stated: “The divorce was due to the inherited morbidity and broken health of the Princess.” The truth was that Caroline Mariane had been completely run down by her husband’s wild and unbearable life and that Frederik was pleased to reconnect with his mistress Louise Rasmussen who became his morganatic third wife in 1850.

Carolinepalais in Neustrelitz; Credit – Von Concord – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31904684

Caroline Mariane lived quietly in Neustrelitz where her parents built the Carolinenpalais for her in 1850. She retained her Danish titles after her divorce and never remarried. Nor did Caroline Mariane ever speak about her former husband except when she described him to Danish visitors as “He was much too bizarre!” In 1860, Caroline Mariane donated funds for the construction of the Carolinenstift, a hospital in Neustrelitz.

Caroline Mariane died in Neustrelitz on June 1, 1876, at the age of 55. She was buried at the traditional burial site of the Grand Ducal Family of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the Johanniterkirche (Church of St. John) (in German) in Mirow, now in Germany.

The Johanniterkirche in Mirow; Credit – Thomas Kohler – originally posted to Flickr as Kirche Mirow, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12084832

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.

Works Cited

  • Da.wikipedia.org. (2018). Mariane af Mecklenburg-Strelitz. [online] Available at: https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariane_af_Mecklenburg-Strelitz [Accessed 20 Sep. 2018].
  • De.wikipedia.org. (2018). Caroline zu Mecklenburg. [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_zu_Mecklenburg [Accessed 20 Sep. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Duchess Caroline Mariane of Mecklenburg. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess_Caroline_Mariane_of_Mecklenburg [Accessed 20 Sep. 2018].
  • Flantzer, S. (2018). King Frederik VII of Denmark. [online]. Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-frederik-vii-of-denmark/ [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].

Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark, Princess Frederik of Denmark, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Princess Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark was the first wife of the future King Frederik VII of Denmark, the wife of Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and the younger of the two surviving daughters of King Frederik VI of Denmark and his wife Marie of Hesse-Kassel. She was born on January 18, 1808, in Kiel Castle in Kiel, Duchy of Holstein, now in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

Vilhelmine Marie had seven siblings but unfortunately, six of them died in infancy:

  • Christian (born and died September 1791), died in infancy
  • Marie Louise (1792 – 1793), died in infancy
  • Caroline (1793 – 1881), married her father’s first cousin Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Denmark, no children
  • Louise (August 1795 – December 1795), died in infancy
  • Christian (born and died September 1797), died in infancy
  • Juliana Louise (born and died February 1802), died in infancy
  • Frederikke Marie (June 1805 – July 1805), died in infancy

King Frederik VI and Queen Marie with their daughters Vilhelmine Maria and Caroline by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, 1821; Credit – Wikipedia

Vilhelmine Marie had several prospects for marriage including the future King Oscar I of Sweden of the new Bernadotte dynasty but an internal Danish marriage was arranged for her to Prince Frederik of Denmark (the future King Frederik VII), the only surviving child of King Christian VIII and his first wife Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Vilhelmine Marie and Frederik were half-second cousins, both descended from King Frederik V of Denmark. Vilhelmine Marie was a great-grandchild of King Frederik V of Denmark and his first queen Louisa of Great Britain. Frederik was a great-grandchild of King Frederik V and his second queen Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

The future King Frederik VII, Vilhelmine Marie’s first husband; Credit – Wikipedia

This marriage arrangement was mainly due to the desirability of a union of the two branches of the Danish royal family whose relationship was strained. Frederik and Vilhelmine Marie’s wishes and needs were not considered at all. Vilhelmine Marie and Frederick were engaged on May 28, 1826. The wedding was postponed for two years while Frederik was sent on an educational trip to Switzerland, France, and Italy. Frederik and Vilhelmine Marie were married on November 1, 1828, at the Christiansborg Castle Church in Copenhagen, Denmark. The wedding was very popular with the Danish people who participated in the many wedding festivities.

However, the marriage was childless and unhappy. Not only was Frederik a heavy drinker, but he was also unfaithful. Vilhelmine Marie, who had a kind-hearted and mild personality, was unable to have any influence on her husband who frequently hurt her feelings. Even Vilhelmine Marie’s parents, the reigning King Frederik VI and his wife Queen Marie, felt sorry for their daughter. The couple separated in 1834 and divorced in 1837.

Vilhelmine Marie’s second husband, Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg; Credit – Wikipedia

One year later, on May 19, 1838, at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, Vilhelmine Marie married her first cousin Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the eldest son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel. Karl was also the elder brother of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the future King Christian IX of Denmark who would succeed King Frederik VII, Vilhelmine Marie’s thrice-married but childless first husband. The marriage was a happy one but Vilhelmine and Karl had no children. It is believed that Vilhelmine Marie was unable to have children as there are no records of any miscarriages or stillbirths.

During the First Schleswig War (1848–1851), which Denmark won, Karl served as commander of a Schleswig-Holstein brigade fighting against Denmark. This caused Vilhelmine Marie’s relations with her Danish family to be cut off for some time. In 1852, Vilhelmine Marie reconciled with her Danish relatives. From then on, Vilhelmine Marie and her husband Karl lived mainly in Kiel Castle and Louisenlund Castle in Schleswig-Holstein

In 1864, after the Second Schleswig War, which Denmark lost, Karl’s duchy was annexed by Prussia and Karl lost his ducal title. Vilhelmine Marie and Karl were able to live at Karl’s family ancestral home Schloss Glücksburg which Wilhelm I, German Emperor allowed the former ducal family to keep. On October 24, 1878, Karl died at Schloss Glücksburg.

Vilhelmine Marie’s charitable work made her popular in Glücksburg. She was sad about Denmark’s loss of the Schleswig-Holstein duchies but the new Danish dynasty founded by her brother-in-law King Christian IX gave her much joy. Eventually, she became more and more isolated as her hearing loss made it difficult to communicate. Vilhelmine Marie survived her husband Karl for thirteen years, dying on May 30, 1891, at the age of 83 at Schloss Glücksburg in Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia, German Empire. She was buried next to her husband in the Ducal Mausoleum in the Neuer Friedhof Glücksburg (New Cemetery Glücksburg).

Entrance to the royal section at the Neuer Friedhof Glücksburg; Credit – www.findagrave.com

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.

Works Cited

  • Da.wikipedia.org. (2018). Vilhelmine af Danmark. [online] Available at: https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilhelmine_af_Danmark [Accessed 20 Sep. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl,_Duke_of_Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Gl%C3%BCcksburg [Accessed 20 Sep. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Princess Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Vilhelmine_Marie_of_Denmark [Accessed 20 Sep. 2018].
  • Flantzer, S. (2018). King Frederik VII of Denmark. [online]. Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-frederik-vii-of-denmark/ [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].

King Frederik VII of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

King Frederik VII of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

The last monarch of the House of Oldenburg and also the last absolute monarch of Denmark, Frederik Carl Christian was born on October 6, 1808, at Amalienborg in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the only surviving child of King Christian VIII of Denmark and his first wife Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. When Frederik was not even a year old, his mother was accused of adultery, divorced, and banished from the Danish court. Frederik never saw her again. His father married again to Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderborg-Augustenburg but the marriage was childless.

Frederik as a boy; Credit – By Øyvind Holmstad – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34770222

Because his father, as Governor-General of Norway, was often away, Frederik’s upbringing was left to relatives and strangers. A team of seven renowned professors was appointed to teach him Danish, Latin, French, German, religion, history, geography, geometry, mathematics, gymnastics, music, and dance. The professors’ orthodox teaching methods did little to stimulate Frederik and his favorite subject was gymnastics.

Princess Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

When Frederik was nearly 18-years-old, he was betrothed to Princess Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark, the younger of the two daughters of the reigning King of Denmark, Frederik VI. This marriage arrangement was mainly due to the desirability of a union of the two branches of the Danish royal family whose relationship was strained. Frederik was a direct male-line descendant of King Frederik V by his second queen Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Vilhelmine Marie was a daughter of King Frederik VI of Denmark and a granddaughter of King Christian VII, son of King Frederik V by his first queen Louisa of Great Britain. Frederik and Vilhelmine Marie’s wishes and needs were not considered at all. The wedding was postponed for two years while Frederik was sent on an educational trip to Switzerland, France, and Italy.

Frederik and Vilhelmine Marie were married on November 1, 1828, at the Christiansborg Palace Church in Copenhagen, Denmark. The wedding was very popular with the Danish people who participated in many festivities. However, the marriage was childless and unhappy, mostly due to Frederik’s affairs and drinking. The couple separated in April 1834 and divorced on September 4, 1837.

Caroline Mariane of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1839, when Frederik’s father succeeded to the Danish throne, Frederik became Crown Prince. Frederik needed to marry again. He heard about Caroline Mariane of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, a German princess who had been taught Danish by a Danish poet. Caroline Mariane was the daughter of Georg, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel. 33-year-old Frederik and 20-year-old Caroline Mariane were married in Neustrelitz in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on June 10, 1841. On June 21, they arrived in Denmark and made a festive entrance in Copenhagen. Once again, the marriage was childless and unhappy. Caroline Mariane was inexperienced, shy, and nervous and no match for Frederik’s boisterous temperament. In 1844, she visited her parents and refused to return to Denmark. The couple divorced on September 30, 1846.

Louise Rasmussen; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1848, Frederik’s father died and he succeeded to the Danish throne as King Frederik VII. During the 1830s, he met Louise Rasmussen, a ballerina and stage actress. Frederik began a relationship with Louise during the 1840s and upon becoming king, he wished to marry Louise but the government was not in favor of the marriage.

In December 1847, a month before his death, Frederik’s father King Christian VIII commissioned the drafting of a new constitution in which the absolute monarchy would be abolished. He died before the draft was finished. Upon his deathbed, Christian VIII urged his son to continue with the work of the new constitution. On June 5, 1849, King Frederik VII signed the new constitution which made him a constitutional monarch.

King Frederik VII and Countess Danner; Credit – Wikipedia

The signing of the new constitution made Frederik so popular that the government granted him permission to marry Louise Rasmussen. On August 8, 1850, by royal decree, Louise Rasmussen was given the title Countess Danner and was married to King Frederik VII at Frederiksborg Palace Chapel in Hillerød, Denmark. However, the marriage was morganatic, and any children of the marriage would not be in the line of succession to the Danish throne. The marriage appears to have been happy but had much opposition and Countess Danner was treated poorly in social circles. Frederik and Louise did not have any children.

King Frederik VII had to deal with the succession crisis as he had no children. Princess Charlotte of Denmark was the daughter of Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark, the surviving son of King Frederick V of Denmark and his second wife Juliana Maria of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. As the sister of Frederik’s father King Christian VIII, Charlotte was King Frederik VII’s aunt. She had married Wilhelm, Prince and later titular Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and was the only sibling of King Christian VIII to have children. This meant that it was likely that one of Princess Charlotte’s children would inherit the Danish throne. Princess Charlotte supported the solution that her branch of the family should succeed to the throne.

Princess Charlotte’s daughter Louise of Hesse-Kassel had married her second cousin Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Christian had spent much of his youth in Denmark and also had a claim on the Danish succession. Through his father, he was a direct male-line descendant of King Christian III of Denmark. Through his mother, Christian was a great-grandson of King Frederik V of Denmark. King Frederik VI of Denmark was the first cousin of Christian’s mother and had been married to Christian’s maternal aunt Marie of Hesse-Kassel. Women could inherit the Danish throne only if there were no male heirs (Semi-Salic Law). On July 15, 1851, Charlotte and her son Friedrich renounced their claims to the Danish throne in favor of Charlotte’s daughter Louise, who in turn renounced her claim in favor of her husband Christian. The Act of Succession of 1853 officially made Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg the heir of King Frederik VII.

King Frederik VII, 1861; Credit – Wikipedia

King Frederik VII of Denmark died from erysipelas on November 15, 1863, aged 55, in Glücksburg, Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. He was buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark in the Frederik V Chapel.

Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg succeeded to the Danish throne as King Christian IX, the first monarch of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg which still occupies the Danish throne today. Among King Christian IX’s children were King Frederik VIII of Denmark, King George I of Greece, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom (wife of King Edward VII) and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (born Dagmar of Denmark, wife of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia). King Christian IX is the ancestor of six of the ten current European royal families: Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom, and also two former monarchies: Greece and Romania.

Tomb of King Frederik VII – Photo by 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

Works Cited

  • Da.wikipedia.org. (2018). Frederik 7.. [online] Available at: https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederik_7. [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Frederick VII of Denmark. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_VII_of_Denmark [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Duchess Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess_Charlotte_Frederica_of_Mecklenburg-Schwerin [Accessed 17 Sep. 2018].
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Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Queen of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Queen of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

Caroline Amalie was the second wife of King Christian VIII of Denmark and was his Queen Consort from 1839 – 1848. Born in Copenhagen, Denmark on June 28, 1796, she was the eldest of the three children and the only daughter of Friedrich Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, and Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark. Caroline Amalie’s mother was the only daughter of King Christian VII of Denmark and Caroline Matilda of Wales, the sister of King George III of the United Kingdom. There is strong evidence that Louise Auguste’s father was her mother’s lover Johann Friedrich Struensee.

Caroline Amalie had two younger brothers:

Princess Caroline Amalie; Credit – Wikipedia

Caroline Amalie spent most of her childhood in Denmark, moving with her family to Augustenborg Palace in her father’s duchy in 1807. In 1808, Prince Christian of Denmark, the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederik of Denmark, became the heir presumptive to the Danish throne when his half-uncle King Christian VII died. King Frederik VI, the new king, the only son of King Christian VII, had no surviving sons. Prince Christian had divorced his first wife and needed a new wife. His half-aunt Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark, also the sister of King Frederik VI, suggested her only daughter Caroline Amalie.

In December 1814, Caroline Amalie became engaged to Christian, now the Hereditary Prince of Denmark. The couple was married on May 22, 1815, at Augustenborg Palace.  After having no success conceiving a child, Christian and Caroline Amalie visited many spas throughout Europe from 1818 – 1822 seeking a cure for their inability to have children. Sadly, the couple remained childless.

King Frederik VI died on December 3, 1839, and Christian inherited the throne as King Christian VIII and Caroline Amalie became Queen. On June 28, 1849, Caroline Amalie attended Christian VIII’s anointing at the Frederiksborg Castle Church. He was the last Danish monarch to be anointed.

Anointing of King Christian VIII and Queen Caroline Amalie by Joseph-Désiré Court, 1841; Credit – Wikipedia

Caroline Amalie was a composer of piano music and founded and supported several orphanages. She also was instrumental in opening a school for disadvantaged children and establishing the Women’s Care Association, whose purpose was to provide maternity nursing care for needy women.

On January 20, 1848, at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, 61-year-old King Christian VIII died of blood poisoning after a blood-letting. After her husband’s death, Caroline Amalie spent the winters at Amalienborg Palace and the summers at Sorgenfri Castle north of Copenhagen. Caroline Amalie continued her charitable projects. When Queen Marie, wife of King Frederik VI died in 1852, she took over as patron of the charitable women’s society Det Kvindelige Velgørende Selskab, which remained in existence until 2004.

Caroline Amalie, 1879; Credit -Wikipedia

Caroline Amalie outlived her stepson King Frederik VII and in 1863, saw the resolution of the Danish succession crisis with the establishment of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg when King Christian IX, born Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, became the King of Denmark.

Queen Caroline Amalie survived her husband by 33 years, dying at Sorgenfri Castle north of Copenhagen, Denmark on March 9, 1881, surrounded by the Danish royal family, at the age of 84. She was buried next to her husband at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark in the Frederik V Chapel.

Tomb of Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg – Photo by 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

Works Cited

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Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hereditary Princess of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hereditary Princess of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

The first wife of the future King Christian VIII of Denmark, Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, was born December 4, 1784, in Ludwigslust Palace in Ludwigslust, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. She was fifth of the six children and the youngest of the two daughters of Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

Charlotte Frederica in 1791; Credit – Wikipedia

Charlotte Frederica had five siblings:

During a visit to the court of his maternal uncle Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Prince Christian of Denmark (the future King Christian VIII), the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederik of Denmark and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin fell in love with his first cousin Charlotte Frederica, who was two years younger. Christian and Charlotte Frederica were married at Ludwigslust Palace in Ludwigslust, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, on June 21, 1806.

Charlotte Frederica’s husband Christian in 1813; Credit – Wikipedia

Christian and Charlotte Frederica had two sons:

Christian and Charlotte Frederica’s marriage soon became unhappy. Charlotte Frederica had an affair with her singing teacher Édouard Du Puy. In 1809, when Christian found out, Charlotte Frederica was sent into exile in Horsens, Denmark while Du Puy was banished from Denmark. The marriage officially ended with a divorce in 1810 and Charlotte Frederica never saw her son again.

While in Horsens and later in Aarhus, both in Denmark, Charlotte Frederica cultivated friendships with the local gentry and allegedly had affairs with army officers. In 1829, she was allowed to travel out of Denmark and moved to Carlsbad, a spa town, then in Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic. She made one last move in 1830 to Rome, Italy where she lived in the Palazzo Bernini on Rome’s main street and converted to Roman Catholicism.

Charlotte Frederica had been exiled when her son, now King Frederik VI of Denmark, was only one year old. She hoped to see her son again but she soon became ill. Charlotte Frederica died in Rome on July 13, 1840, at the age of 55. She was buried in a tomb paid for by her son and created by the Danish sculptor Jens Adolf Jerichau at the Teutonic Cemetery, a burial site adjacent to St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City that had been dedicated to the German-speaking residents of Rome.

On July 11, 2019, the tomb of Charlotte Frederica and the adjacent tomb of Princess Sophia of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Bartenstein were opened to search for the remains of Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old who disappeared in 1983. Not only was there no sign of Emanuela’s remains, but the remains of Princess Sophia and Duchess Charlotte Frederica were missing. It is possible that their remains were moved due to renovations at the end of the 1800s and again in the 1960s and 1970s. For more information see Unofficial Royalty: The Strange Case of the Tombs of Two 19th Century Princesses and a 20th Century 15-Year-Old Missing Girl.

Tomb of Charlotte Frederica; Credit – By Altera levatur – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59545772

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.

Works Cited

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King Christian VIII of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

King Christian VIII of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

Christian VIII was King of Denmark for eleven years, from 1839 to 1848. Christian Frederik was born on September 18, 1786, at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark, the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederik of Denmark and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Christian’s father was the only child of King Frederik V of Denmark and his second wife Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. King Christian VII of Denmark, the mentally ill son of King Frederik V of Denmark and his first wife Princess Louisa of Great Britain, was Christian’s half-uncle.

Christian had four siblings:

Christian had five half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Princess Louisa of Great Britain, daughter of King George II of Great Britain:

Christian grew up at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. After it was destroyed by fire in 1794, Hereditary Prince Frederick moved his family to Amalienborg Palace. Shortly after the move, Christian’s mother Sophia Frederica died. Christian was just eight years old. Eleven years later, when Christian was nineteen, his father died. Christian received a thorough education from statesman and historian Ove Høegh-Guldberg. He developed an early love for art and science and was exposed to artists and scientists connected to the Danish court. Later in life, Christian served as president of the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.

During a visit to the court of his maternal uncle Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Christian fell in love with his first cousin Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin who was two years younger. Christian and Charlotte Frederica were married at Ludwigslust Palace in Ludwigslust, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, on June 21, 1806.

Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, circa 1806; Credit – Wikipedia

Christian and his first wife Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hereditary Princess of Denmark had two sons:

Christian and Charlotte Frederica’s marriage soon became unhappy. Charlotte Frederica had an affair with her singing teacher Édouard Du Puy. In 1809, when Christian found out, Charlotte Frederica was sent into internal exile to the city of Horsens, Denmark while Du Puy was banished from Denmark. The marriage officially ended with a divorce in 1810 and Charlotte Frederica never saw her son again.

Christian as Hereditary Prince of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1808, when his half-uncle King Christian VII died, Christian became the heir presumptive to the Danish throne. King Frederik VI, the new king, the only son of King Christian VII, had no surviving sons. Christian needed a new wife and his half-aunt Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark, the only daughter of King Christian VII and also the sister of King Frederik VI, suggested her only daughter Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg whose father was Friedrich Christian II, the reigning Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

In December 1814, Caroline Amalie became engaged to Christian, now Hereditary Prince of Denmark. The couple was married on May 22, 1815, at Augustenborg Palace, Caroline Amalie’s home.  After having no success conceiving a child, Christian and Caroline Amalie visited many spas throughout Europe from 1818 – 1822 seeking a cure for their inability to have children. Sadly, the couple remained childless.

King Frederik VI died on December 3, 1839, and Christian inherited the throne as King Christian VIII. In 1660, the full coronation ritual had been replaced with a ceremony of anointing. On June 28, 1849, Christian VIII’s anointing was held at the Frederiksborg Palace Chapel. He was the last Danish monarch to be anointed.

Anointing of King Christian VIII and Queen Caroline Amalie by Joseph-Désiré Court, 1841; Credit – Wikipedia

During Christian VIII’s reign, the National Liberal Party expected that he would agree with their agenda but the king rejected all of their proposals except administrative reform. The problems in the twin duchies of Schleswig and Holstein continued, with segments of the population identifying with either German or Danish nationality and mobilizing politically.

Christian VIII’s only son, the future King Frederik VII, had been married three times but had no children. Wanting to avert a succession crisis, Christian VIII commenced discussions regarding succession to the throne but the final arrangements would not be completed until the reign of his son.

In December 1847, a month before his death, King Christian VIII commissioned the drafting of a new constitution in which the absolute monarchy would be abolished. He died before the draft was finished and the new constitution would eventually be signed by his son.

On January 20, 1848, at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark 61-year-old King Christian VIII died of blood poisoning after a blood-letting. He was buried at Roskilde Cathedral in the Frederik V Chapel. Christian’s wife Queen Caroline Amalie survived her husband by 33 years, dying on March 9, 1881, at the age of 84.

Tomb of King Christian VIII – Photo by 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

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