by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2019
Born on October 11, 1753, at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark, Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark and Norway was the only child of King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway and his second wife Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
Frederik 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 (1745 – 1747)
- Sophia Magdalena (1746 – 1813) married King Gustav III of Sweden, had one surviving son King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
- Caroline (1747 – 1820) married Wilhelm I, Elector of Hesse, had four children
- King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway (1749 – 1808) married his first cousin Princess Caroline Matilda of Wales, sister of King George III of the United Kingdom had two children including King Frederik VI of Denmark
- Louise (1750 – 1831) married Prince Karl of Hesse-Kassel, had six children
Frederik received an excellent education as he was the second in the line of succession after his elder half-brother Christian. Among Frederik’s teachers were Jens Schielderup Sneedorff, author and professor of political science, and Ove Høegh-Guldberg, statesman and historian. In 1766, when Frederik was 13-years-old, his father King Frederik V died at the age of 42, and was succeeded by his 17-year-old son from his first marriage as King Christian VII. From 1766 – 1768, Frederik was the heir to the Danish throne until the birth of King Christian VII’s son, the future King Frederik VI.
On October 21, 1774, 21-year-old Hereditary Prince Frederik married 16-year-old Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Charlotte Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Although the couple was fond of each other, they both had lovers and the father of Sophia Frederica’s children was rumored to be her husband’s adjutant Frederik von Blücher (in Danish).
The couple had two stillborn daughters before the birth of five children:
- Princess Juliana Marie (May 1784 – October 1784), died in infancy
- King Christian VIII of Denmark (1786 – 1848), married (1) Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, had one surviving son King Frederik VII of Denmark (2) Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, no children
- Princess Juliane Sophie (1788 – 1850), married Wilhelm, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, no children
- Princess Charlotte (1789 – 1864), married Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel, had six children including Louise who married King Christian IX of Denmark
- Hereditary Prince Ferdinand (1792 – 1863), married Caroline of Denmark, daughter of King Frederik VI of Denmark, no children
Soon after the succession of Frederik’s half-brother King Christian VII, it became clear that he was not quite normal. Christian had been personable and intelligent as a child but he had been poorly educated and terrorized by a brutal governor, Christian Ditlev Reventlow, Count of Reventlow. It is unknown if Christian’s mental illness was caused by the brutal treatment of Reventlow, possible porphyria inherited from his Hanover mother, or schizophrenia. Christian’s behavior wandered into excesses, especially sexual promiscuity. His symptoms included paranoia, self-mutilation, and hallucinations. It was becoming clearer and clearer that Christian could not fulfill his role as king.
During a trip arranged because it was believed that new environments could change Christian’s behavior, Christian became acquainted with the physician Johann Friedrich Struensee. Struensee was the first person who understood that Christian was seriously ill. When Christian came home from the trip, Struensee accompanied him and was employed as Christian’s personal physician. Because of Christian’s confidence in him, Struensee gained political power. He also became the lover of the ill-treated Caroline Matilda, whose marriage was less than satisfactory. When Caroline Matilda gave birth to her daughter Louise, no one doubted that Struensee was her father. Eventually, Frederik’s mother Queen Dowager Juliana Maria maneuvered a coup that would bring about the fall of Struensee and discredit Caroline Matilda. She arranged for King Christian VII to sign Struensee’s arrest warrant after he had already been arrested. In 1772, Struensee was executed and Caroline Matilda was exiled.
After the fall of Struensee, Frederik and his mother Juliana Maria took charge of the Council of State. Christian VII was only nominally king from 1772 onward. Between 1772 and 1784, Denmark was ruled by Hereditary Prince Frederik as Regent and his mother. Crown Prince Frederik, King Christian VII’s son, had no intention of allowing Frederik and his mother Juliana to continue their rule. In 1784, the Crown Prince reached the age of legal majority and then ruled permanently as Prince Regent. He somehow managed to get his insane father to sign an order dismissing Frederik and Juliana Maria’s supporters from the council and declaring that no royal order was legal unless co-signed by the Crown Prince, thereby deposing his stepgrandmother and uncle.
After losing power, Hereditary Prince Frederik was left without much influence at the court. In 1794, Christiansborg Palace was destroyed by fire, and Frederik and his family moved to Amalienborg. That same year, on November 29, Frederik’s wife Sophia Frederica died at the age of 36, at Sorgenfri Palace in Kongens Lyngby north of Copenhagen, Denmark. She was buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark, the traditional burial site of the Danish royal family. Hereditary Prince Frederik survived his wife by eleven years, dying at Amalienborg in Copenhagen on December 7, 1805, at the age of 52. He also was buried at Roskilde Cathedral.
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Works Cited
- Da.wikipedia.org. (2018). Arveprins Frederik. [online] Available at: https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arveprins_Frederik [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
- Da.wikipedia.org. (2018). Sophie Frederikke af Mecklenburg-Schwerin. [online] Available at: https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Frederikke_af_Mecklenburg-Schwerin [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
- En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess_Sophia_Frederica_of_Mecklenburg-Schwerin [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
- En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick,_Hereditary_Prince_of_Denmark [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
- Flantzer, S. (2017). Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Queen of Denmark. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/juliana-maria-of-brunswick-wolfenbuttel-bevern-queen-of-denmark/ [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].