by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2016

King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway was born on January 29, 1749, at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the only surviving son of King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway and his first wife Princess Louisa of Great Britain and a grandson of King George II of Great Britain. Among his first cousins were King George III of the United Kingdom; Christian’s wife Caroline Matilda of Wales, Queen of Denmark and Norway; and Willem V, Prince of Orange. Christian was christened two hours after his birth. His godparents were:

• King Frederik V (his father)
• Queen Dowager Sophie Magdalene (born Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach,
  his paternal grandmother)
• Princess Louise of Denmark and Norway (his paternal aunt)
• Princess Charlotte Amalie of Denmark and Norway (his paternal grand-aunt)

Christian had four siblings:

• Prince Christian (1745 – 1747), died in early childhood
• Sophia Magdalena, Queen of Sweden (1746 – 1813), married King Gustav III of Sweden, had issue
• Wilhelmina Caroline, Electress of Hesse (1747 – 1820), married, 1763, William I, Elector of Hesse, had issue
• Louise, Princess Charles of Hesse (1750 – 1831), married Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel, had issue

Christian also had one half-brother from his father’s second marriage to Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel:

• Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark (1753 – 1805), married Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, had issue including King Christian VIII of Denmark

When Christian was not quite two years old, his mother Queen Louisa died at age 27 due to complications from a miscarriage. The next year, his father made a second marriage to Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Christian seemed to be an intelligent child and was taught Danish, German, and French. However, he had a nervous disposition and was poorly educated and terrorized by a brutal governor, Christian Ditlev Reventlow, Count of Reventlow.

In 1766, Christian succeeded to the Danish and Norwegian thrones after the early death of his father at age 42. Since there was a connection between the British and Danish royal families and both families were Protestant, it was natural that a British bride should be sought for Christian. Even before the death of King Frederik V, negotiations for such a marriage were started. The preferred choice for a bride was initially his first cousin Princess Louisa of Wales, daughter of Christian’s deceased maternal uncle Frederick, Prince of Wales, but when the Danish representative in London heard of her ill health, her younger sister Princess Caroline Matilda of Wales became the prospective bride. The betrothal was announced on January 10, 1765.

On October 1, 1766, a proxy marriage was held at St. James’s Palace in London, with Caroline Matilda’s brother King George III standing in for King Christian VII. Fifteen-year-old Caroline Matilda soon left England for Denmark with a large contingent of attendants and servants. When she crossed the Danish border, Danish envoys sent her English attendants and servants back and replaced them with Danish ones. Caroline Matilda arrived in Copenhagen on November 8, 1766, and married Christian in person later that day in the Christiansborg Palace Chapel in Copenhagen.

Caroline Matilda and Christian had two children, but it is probable that Christian was not the father of Louise Auguste.

• • King Frederik VI of Denmark and Norway (1768 – 1839), married Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel, had issue but the only surviving children were two daughters
  • Princess Louise Auguste (1771 – 1843), married Friedrich Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, had issue including Caroline Amalie, Queen Consort of King Christian VIII of Denmark

It was soon clear that Christian was not quite normal. It is unknown if Christian’s mental illness was caused by the brutal treatment of the Count of Reventlow, possible porphyria inherited from his Hanover mother, or schizophrenia. Christian’s behavior wandered into excesses, especially sexual promiscuity. He publicly declared that he could not love Caroline Matilda because it was “unfashionable to love one’s wife”. His symptoms included paranoia, self-mutilation, and hallucinations. Christian wandered the streets of Copenhagen visiting the city’s taverns and brothels with his favorite Count Frederik Vilhelm Conrad Holck. It was becoming clearer and clearer that Christian could not fulfill his role as king.

In May of 1768, Christian took a long tour of Europe, including stays in Altona (now in Germany, then in Denmark), Paris, and London. The trip had been arranged because it was believed that new environments could change Christian’s behavior. It was on this journey that he 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. Struensee could handle Christian’s instability, which was a great relief to the king’s advisers, and Christian developed confidence in him.

Because of Christian’s confidence in him, Struensee gained political power. In 1770, Struensee became Master of Requests and Minister of the Royal Cabinet. 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 Auguste, no one doubted that Struensee was the father of the princess, who was given the unflattering nickname la petite Struensee, although Christian VII officially acknowledged her as his daughter. Eventually, Queen Dowager Juliana Maria maneuvered a coup that would bring about the fall of Struensee and discredit Caroline Matilda.

Early on the morning of January 17, 1772, following a ball at the court theater at Christiansborg Palace, Christian was awakened and forced to sign orders for the arrest of Struensee, his friend Count Enevold Brandt, and Caroline Matilda. Caroline Matilda was immediately taken to Kronberg Castle in Helsingør, Denmark, immortalized as Elsinore in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, to await her fate. She was allowed to keep her daughter with her, but the four-year-old Crown Prince Frederik stayed with his father. Upon hearing of Caroline Matilda’s arrest, Struensee confessed to his relationship with her, and eventually, Caroline Matilda also confessed. Struensee and Brandt were condemned to death and both suffered a brutal execution. In the presence of thousands of people, their right hands were severed first, then their bodies were broken on the wheel, and finally, they were beheaded.

Caroline Matilda and Christian’s marriage was dissolved on April 6, 1772.  She lost her title of Queen and was forcibly separated from her children whom she never saw again. Caroline Matilda was not quite 20 years old. Originally, it was decided that Caroline Matilda was to be held in custody for life at Aalborghus Castle in Aalborg, Denmark, but her brother King George III intervened. King George III sent Sir Robert Murray Keith, a British diplomat, to negotiate her release from Danish imprisonment. On May 28, 1772, Caroline Matilda was sent to Celle in her brother’s Kingdom of Hanover and lived the rest of her life at Celle Castle.

Caroline Matilda’s dowry was restored and she was able to live in comfort, but she missed her children terribly. Her imprisonment was not to last long. Caroline Matilda died of “a putrid fever and sore throat,” probably scarlet fever, on May 10, 1775, at the age of 23. She was buried at the Stadtkirche St. Marien in Celle next to her great-grandmother Sophie Dorothea of Celle who suffered a similar fate.

Caroline Matilda’s story was told in several novels including Norah Loft’s The Last Queen (1969) and Per Olov Enquist’s The Visit of the Royal Physician (1999) and also in the Danish film A Royal Affair (2012). Stella Tillyard also covers Caroline Matilda’s affair in her nonfiction book A Royal Affair: George III and His Scandalous Siblings (2006). King George III’s six daughters had very sheltered upbringings and they spent most of their time with their parents and each other. The living conditions of King George III’s daughters came to be known as “the Nunnery.” None of the daughters was allowed to marry at the age when most princesses would marry, and only three of the six daughters ever married. Perhaps this over-protection of King George III’s daughters was due to what happened to his sister Caroline Matilda when she married King Christian VII of Denmark.

After the fall of Struensee, Christian’s stepmother Dowager Queen Juliana Marie and her son, Christian’s half-brother Hereditary Prince Frederik reinstated the Council of State. Christian was only nominally king from 1772 onward. Between 1772 and 1784, Denmark was ruled by Queen Dowager Juliana Marie, Hereditary Prince Frederik, and Cabinet Secretary Ove Høegh-Guldberg. From 1784, Christian’s son, the future King Frederik VI, ruled permanently as a prince regent.

Christian lived in isolation with a caretaker. When he was behaving too violently, he was locked up in his room or tied to his chair. His only involvement with the government was when he had to sign “Christian Rex” on formal papers. On March 13, 1808, in Rendsburg, Schleswig (then in Denmark, now in Germany) King Christian VII died from a stroke at the age of 59. He was buried in Frederik V’s Chapel at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark.

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

• Kingdom of Denmark Index
• Danish Orders and Honours
• Danish Royal Burial Sites: House of Oldenburg, 1448 – 1863
• Danish Royal Burial Sites: House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, 1863 – present
• Danish Royal Christenings
• Danish Royal Dates
• Danish Royal Residences
• Danish Royal Weddings
• Line of Succession to the Danish Throne
• Profiles of the Danish Royal Family

Works Cited
“Christian VII of Denmark.” Wikipedia. N.p.: Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Aug. 2016. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
“Christian 7.” Wikipedia. N.p.: Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Feb. 2013. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
Susan. “Caroline Matilda of Wales, Queen of Denmark and Norway.” British Royals. Unofficial Royalty, 27 Oct. 2016. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.