August 3, 1872: Birth of King Haakon VII of Norway

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Christian IX, Christian X of Denmark, Frederick VIII of Denmark, King Haakon VII of Norway, Kingdom of Norway, Prince Carl of Denmark, Princess Maud of Wales

Haakon VII (born Prince Carl of Denmark; August 3, 1872 – September 21, 1957) was the King of Norway from 1905 until his death in 1957.

King Haakon VII of Norway

Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederik VIII of Denmark and Louise of Sweden. His father was the eldest son of King Christian IX and Louise of Hesse-Cassel, and his mother was the only daughter of King Carl XV of Sweden (who was also king of Norway as Charles IV), and Louise of the Netherlands.

future Frederik VIII of Denmark and Louise of Sweden. (Parents)

At Buckingham Palace on July 22, 1896, Prince Carl married his first cousin Princess Maud of Wales, youngest daughter of the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, eldest daughter of King Christian IX and Princess Louise. Their son, Prince Alexander, the future Crown Prince Olav (and eventually king Olav V of Norway), was born on July 2, 1903.

Princess Maud of Wales

Prince Carl was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy and served in the Royal Danish Navy. After the 1905 dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway, Prince Carl was offered the Norwegian crown. Following a November plebiscite, he accepted the offer and was formally elected King of Norway by the Storting. He took the Old Norse name Haakon and ascended to the throne as Haakon VII, becoming the first independent Norwegian monarch since 1387.

Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany in April 1940. Haakon rejected German demands to legitimise the Quisling regime’s puppet government, and refused to abdicate after going into exile in Great Britain. As such, he played a pivotal role in uniting the Norwegian nation in its resistance to the invasion and the subsequent five-year-long occupation during the Second World War. He returned to Norway in June 1945 after the defeat of Germany.

King Haakon VII of Norway

He became King of Norway when his grandfather Christian IX was still reigning in Denmark, and before his father and elder brother became kings of Denmark. During his reign he saw his father, his elder brother Christian X, and his nephew Frederick IX ascend the throne of Denmark, in 1906, 1912, and 1947 respectively. Haakon died at the age of 85 in September 1957, after having reigned for nearly 52 years. He was succeeded by his only son, who ascended to the throne as Olav V.

This date in History: December 1, 1844. Birth of Alexandra of Denmark, Queen Consort of the United Kingdom.

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Alexandra of Denmark, Christian IX, Edward VII, King Christian IX of Denmark, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, King George I of the Hellenes, Kingdom of Denmark, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Prince Albert Edward, Prince Albert Victor, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom

Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; December 1, 1844 – November 20, 1925) was Queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Empress consort of India as the wife of King Edward VII.

Alexandra was born at the Yellow Palace, an 18th-century town house at 18 Amaliegade, right next to the Amalienborg Palace complex in Copenhagen. Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel.

Although she and her family were of royal blood, her family lived a comparatively normal life. They did not possess great wealth; her father’s income from an army commission was about £800 per year and their house was a rent-free grace and favour property. Alexandra’s family had been relatively obscure until 1852, when her father was chosen with the consent of the major European powers to succeed his distant cousin, Frederik VII of Denmark.

Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, were already concerned with finding a bride for their son and heir, Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales. They enlisted the aid of their daughter, Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia, in seeking a suitable candidate. Alexandra was not their first choice, since the Danes were at loggerheads with the Prussians over the Schleswig-Holstein Question and most of the British royal family’s relations were German. Eventually, after rejecting other possibilities, they settled on her as “the only one to be chosen”.

On September 24, 1861, Crown Princess Victoria introduced her brother Albert Edward to Alexandra at Speyer. Almost a year later on September 9, 1862 (after his affair with Nellie Clifden and the death of his father) Albert Edward proposed to Alexandra at the Royal Castle of Laeken, the home of his great-uncle, King Leopold I of Belgium.

Thomas Longley, the Archbishop of Canterbury, married the couple on March 10, 1863 at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. The choice of venue was criticised widely. As the ceremony took place outside London, the press complained that large public crowds would not be able to view the spectacle. Prospective guests thought it awkward to get to and, as the venue was small, some people who had expected invitations were disappointed.

Later in 1863, Alexandra’s father had ascended the throne of Denmark as King Christian IX, and her brother Vilhelm was elected King George I of the Hellenes (Greece), her sister Dagmar was engaged to the Tsesarevich of Russia, (she was engaged to Tsarevich Nicholas until his death and then she married his brother, the future Alexander III). Early in 1864 Alexandra had given birth to her first child, Prince Albert-Victor (Eddy) future Duke of Clarence and Avondale.

Her father’s accession gave rise to further conflict over the fate of Schleswig-Holstein. The German Confederation successfully invaded Denmark, reducing the area of Denmark by two-fifths. To the great irritation of Queen Victoria and the Crown Princess of Prussia, Alexandra and Albert Edward supported the Danish side in the war. The Prussian conquest of former Danish lands heightened Alexandra’s profound dislike of the Germans, a feeling which stayed with her for the rest of her life.

Alexandra showed devotion to her children: “She was in her glory when she could run up to the nursery, put on a flannel apron, wash the children herself and see them asleep in their little beds.” Albert Edward and Alexandra had six children in total: The aforementioned Albert Victor, George (future King), Louise, Victoria, Maud (future Queen Consort of Norway) and Alexander John, who died within a day.

From left to right: Prince George, the Princess and Prince of Wales and Princess Victoria (back row), Princess Maud, Prince Albert Victor and Princess Louise (front row)

Alexandra was Princess of Wales from 1863 to 1901, the longest anyone has ever held that title, and became generally popular; her style of dress and bearing were copied by fashion-conscious women. Largely excluded from wielding any political power, she unsuccessfully attempted to sway the opinion of British ministers and her husband’s family to favour Greek and Danish interests. Her public duties were restricted to uncontroversial involvement in charitable work.

November 26, 1847: Birth of Princess Dagmar of Denmark. Part I.

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Birthday, Christian IX, Dagmar of Denmark, Emperor Alexander III of Russia, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, Kingdom of Denmark, Maria Feodorovna, Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich

Maria Feodorovna (November 26, 1847 – October 13, 1928), known before her marriage as Princess Dagmar of Denmark, was a Danish princess and Empress of Russia as spouse of Emperor Alexander III (reigned 1881–1894). She was the second daughter and fourth child of King Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Cassel; her siblings included Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, King Frederik VIII of Denmark and King George I of Greece, Thera Duchess of Cumberland and Valdemar of Denmark. Her eldest son became the last Russian monarch, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia. She lived for ten years after he and his family were killed.

Princess Marie Sophie Frederike Dagmar was born at the Yellow Palace in Copenhagen. Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a member of a relatively impoverished princely cadet line. Her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel.

She was baptised as a Lutheran and named after her kinswoman Marie Sophie of Hesse-Cassel, Queen Dowager of Denmark as well as the medieval Danish queen, Dagmar of Bohemia. Her godmother was Queen Caroline Amalie of Denmark. Growing up, she was known by the name Dagmar. Most of her life, she was known as Maria Feodorovna, the name which she took when she converted to Orthodoxy immediately before her 1866 marriage to the future Emperor Alexander III. She was known within her family as “Minnie”.

Princess Dagmar, Prince Vilhelm, Christian IX of Denmark and Princess Alexandra

The rise of Slavophile ideology in the Russian Empire led Alexander II of Russia to search for a bride for the heir apparent, Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich, in countries other than the German states that had traditionally provided consorts for the tsars. In 1864, Nicholas, or “Nixa” as he was known in his family, went to Denmark where he was betrothed to Dagmar. On April 22, 1865 he died from meningitis. His last wish was that Dagmar would marry his younger brother, the future Alexander III. Dagmar was distraught after her young fiancé’s death. She was so heartbroken when she returned to her homeland that her relatives were seriously worried about her health.

Dagmar of Denmark and Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich

She had already become emotionally attached to Russia and often thought of the huge, remote country that was to have been her home. The disaster had brought her very close to “Nixa’s” parents, and she received a letter from Alexander II in which the Emperor attempted to console her. He told Dagmar in very affectionate terms that he hoped she would still consider herself a member of their family. In June 1866, while on a visit to Copenhagen, the Tsarevich Alexander asked Dagmar for her hand. They had been in her room looking over photographs together.

Dagmar of Denmark and the future Emperor Alexander III of Russia

She converted to Orthodoxy and became Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna of Russia. The lavish wedding took place on November 9, 1866 in the Imperial Chapel of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. Financial constraints had prevented her parents from attending the wedding, and in their stead, they sent her brother, Crown Prince Frederick. Her brother-in-law, the Prince of Wales, had also travelled to Saint Petersburg for the ceremony; pregnancy had prevented the Princess of Wales from attending. After the wedding night, Alexander wrote in his diary, “I took off my slippers and my silver embroidered robe and felt the body of my beloved next to mine… How I felt then, I do not wish to describe here. Afterwards we talked for a long time.” After the many wedding parties were over the newlyweds moved into the Anichkov Palace in Saint Petersburg where they were to live for the next 15 years, when they were not taking extended holidays at their summer villa Livadia in the Crimean Peninsula.

On May 18, 1868, Maria Feodorovna gave birth to her eldest son, Nicholas. Her next son, Alexander Alexandrovich, born in 1869, died from meningitis in infancy. She would bear Alexander four more children who reached adulthood: George (b. 1871), Xenia (b. 1875), Michael (b. 1878), and Olga (b. 1882). As a mother, she doted on and was quite possessive of her sons. She had a more distant relationship with her daughters.

In 1873, Maria, Alexander, and their two eldest sons made a journey to the United Kingdom. The imperial couple and their children were entertained at Marlborough House by the Prince and Princess of Wales. The royal sisters Maria and Alexandra delighted London society by dressing alike at social gatherings. The following year, Maria and Alexander welcomed the Prince and Princess of Wales to St. Petersburg; they had come for the wedding of the Prince’s younger brother, Alfred, to Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, daughter of Tsar Alexander II and the sister of the tsarevich.

November 18, 1905: Prince Carl of Denmark elected King of Norway as King Haakon VII.

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Alexandra of Denmark, Christian IX, Denmark, Frederick VIII of Denmark, Haakon VII, Haakon VII of Norway, Norway, Prince Carl of Denmark, Princess Maud of Wales, Sweden

Born Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel on 3 August 1872 at Charlottenlund Palace near Copenhagen, known as Prince Carl of Denmark (namesake of his maternal grandfather the King of Sweden-Norway) was the second son of (the future) King Frederik VIII of Denmark and his wife Louise of Sweden (She was the only surviving child of Carl XV of Sweden and his consort, Louise of the Netherlands). Carl was also a younger brother of Christian X, a paternal grandson of King Christian IX of Denmark, and a maternal grandson of King Carl XV of Sweden (who was also king of Norway as Carl IV). He was christened on 7 September 1872 at Charlottenlund Palace.

Prince Carl of Denmark

Prince Carl belonged to the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg branch of the House of Oldenburg. The House of Oldenburg had been the Danish royal family since 1448; between 1536–1814 it also ruled Norway when it was part of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway. The house was originally from northern Germany, where the Glucksburg (Lyksborg) branch held their small fief. The family had permanent links with Norway beginning from the late Middle Ages.

Several of his paternal ancestors had been kings of independent Norway (Haakon V of Norway, Christian I of Norway, Frederik I, Christian III, Frederik II, Christian IV, as well as Frederik III of Norway who integrated Norway into the Oldenburg state with Denmark, Schleswig and Holstein, after which it was not independent until 1814). Christian Frederik, who was King of Norway briefly in 1814, the first king of the Norwegian 1814 constitution and struggle for independence, was his great-granduncle.

Princess Maud of Wales

At Buckingham Palace on 22 July 1896, Prince Carl married his first cousin Princess Maud of Wales, youngest daughter of the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, eldest daughter of King Christian IX and Princess Louise. Their son, Prince Alexander, the future Crown Prince Olav (and eventually king Olav V of Norway), was born on July 2, 1903.

The tomboyish Maud was known as “Harry” to the royal family, after Edward VII’s friend Admiral Henry Keppel, whose conduct in the Crimean War was considered particularly courageous at the time. Maud married relatively late, waiting until her late twenties to find a husband. She had initially wanted to marry a distant cousin, Prince Francis of Teck, younger brother of her sister-in-law Mary of Teck, wife of the future King George V of the United Kingdom. Despite being relatively impoverished from mounting gambling debts and being in a position to possibly benefit from Maud’s status, Prince Francis ignored her advances.

Prince Carl and Princess Maud greet Queen Victoria at their wedding.

After the Union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved in 1905, a committee of the Norwegian government identified several princes of European royal houses as candidates to become Norway’s first king of its own since 1387. Gradually, Prince Carl became the leading candidate, largely because he was descended from independent Norwegian kings. He also had a son, providing an heir-apparent to the throne, and the fact that his wife, Princess Maud, was a member of the British Royal Family was viewed by many as an advantage to the newly independent Norwegian nation.

The democratically-minded Carl, aware that Norway was still debating whether to remain a kingdom or to switch instead to a republican system of government, was flattered by the Norwegian government’s overtures, but he made his acceptance of the offer conditional on the holding of a referendum to show whether monarchy was the choice of the Norwegian people.

After the referendum overwhelmingly confirmed by a 79 percent majority (259,563 votes for and 69,264 against) that Norwegians desired to retain a monarchy, Prince Carl was formally offered the throne of Norway by the Storting (parliament) and was elected on November 18, 1905. When Carl accepted the offer that same evening (after the approval of his grandfather Christian IX of Denmark), he immediately endeared himself to his adopted country by taking the Old Norse name of Haakon, a name which had not been used by kings of Norway for over 500 years. In so doing, he succeeded his maternal great-uncle, Oscar II of Sweden, who had abdicated the Norwegian throne in October following the agreement between Sweden and Norway on the terms of the separation of the union.

King Haakon VII of Norway

The new royal family of Norway left Denmark on the Danish royal yacht Dannebrog and sailed into Oslofjord. At Oscarsborg Fortress, they boarded the Norwegian naval ship Heimdal. After a three-day journey, they arrived in Kristiania (now Oslo) early on the morning of November 25, 1905. Two days later, Haakon took the oath as Norway’s first independent king in 518 years. The coronation of Haakon VII and Maud took place in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on June 22, 1906.

He became King of Norway when his grandfather, Christian IX was still reigning in Denmark; and before his father and older brother became kings of Denmark. During his reign he saw his father, his elder brother Christian X, and his nephew Frederik IX ascend the throne of Denmark, in 1906, 1912, and 1947 respectively. Haakon died at the age of 85 in September 1957, after having reigned for nearly 52 years. He was succeeded by his only son, who ascended to the throne as Olav V.

A Brief history of the twin Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein: Part III

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Beck, Christian IX, Holy Roman Empire, House of House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, House of of Glücksburg, John the Younger of Denmark, King Christian III of Denmark, King Constantine II of Greece, King Harald V of Norway, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of Greece, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark., Queen Sofia of Spain

The House of Glücksburg

The House of Glücksburg (also spelled Glücksborg), shortened from House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, is a Dano-German branch of the House of Oldenburg, members of which have reigned at various times in Denmark, Norway, Greece and several northern German states.

The family takes its ducal name from Glücksburg, a small coastal town in Schleswig, on the southern, German side of the fjord of Flensburg that divides Germany from Denmark. In 1460, Glücksburg came, as part of the conjoined Dano-German duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, to Count Christian VII of Oldenburg whom, in 1448, the Danes had elected their king as Christian I, the Norwegians likewise taking him as their hereditary king in 1450.

Older Line

History

In 1564, Christian I’s great-grandson, King Frederik II, in re-distributing Schleswig and Holstein’s fiefs, retained some lands for his own senior royal line while allocating Glücksburg to his brother Duke Johann II the Younger (1545-1622), along with Sonderburg, in appanage. Both King Frederik II and Johann II the Younger were sons of King Christian III of Denmark and his wife, Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg.

Johann II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg

This line was founded by the duke Philip of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1584–1663) a son of Johann II the Younger of Denmark. Johann’s heirs further sub-divided their share and created, among other branches, a line of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg dukes at Beck (an estate near Minden bought by the family in 1605), who remained vassals of Denmark’s kings.

The line was named after Glücksburg Castle, where he had his headquarters. Members of this line bore the title of Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. However, they had limited powers in ruling their territory, since it was not an estate of the Realm, but a fief of the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp. Later, the family gave up these rights altogether and continued as titular dukes.

The last duke of this line, Frederik Henrik Wilhelm, died in 1779 without any hires and this older line of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg became extinct.

Younger Line

By 1825, the castle of Glücksburg had returned to the Danish crown and was given that year by King Frederick VI, along with a new ducal title, to his kinsman Frederich of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck. Friedrich suffixed the territorial designation to the ducal title he already held, in lieu of “Beck” (an estate the family had, in fact, sold in 1745). Thus emerged the extant Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

The Danish line of Oldenburg kings died out in 1863, and the elder line of the Schleswig-Holstein family became extinct with the death of the last Augustenburg duke in 1931. Thereafter, the House of Glücksburg became the senior surviving line of the House of Oldenburg. Another cadet line of Oldenburgs, the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp, consisted of two branches which held onto sovereignty into the 20th century. But members of the Romanov line were executed in or exiled from their Russian Empire in 1917, while the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg was abolished in 1918, although its dynastic line survives.

Neither the Dukes of Beck nor of Glücksburg had been sovereign rulers; they held their lands in fief from the ruling Dukes of Schleswig and Holstein, i.e. the Kings of Denmark and (until 1773) the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp.

Christian IX, King of Denmark.

Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the fourth son of Duke Friedrich of Glücksburg, was recognized in the London Protocol of 1852 as successor to the childless King Frederik VII of Denmark. He became King of Denmark as Christian IX on November 15, 1863.

Christian IX’s older brother inherited formal headship of the family as Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. It is his descendants who now represent the senior line of the Schleswig-Holstein branch of the House of Oldenburg.

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Harald V of Norway, King Constantine II of Greece, Queen Sofía of Spain and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (and his eldest son and heir to the British throne Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince George of Cambridge) are patrilineal members of cadet branches of the Glücksburg dynasty, via their descent from Christian IX of Denmark.

Prince Julius of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (younger brother Christian IX of Denmark).

Election of the King of the Hellenes.

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Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Christian IX, Christian IX of Denmark, Election, Ernest II Duke of Save-Coburg-Gotha, George I of Greece, King George I of the Hellenes, Kingdom of Greece, Kingdom of the Hellenes, Ludwig I of Bavaria, Otto of Greece, Plebiscite, Queen Victoria

On this date in History: March 30, 1863. Prince Wilhelm of Denmark was elected as King of the Hellenes (Greece).

George I (born Prince Wilhelm of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg; 24 December 24, 1845 – March 18, 1913) was King of the Hellenes (Greece) from 1863 until his assassination in 1913.

George was born at the Yellow Palace, an 18th-century town house at 18 Amaliegade, right next to the Amalienborg Palace complex in Copenhagen. He was the second son of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (Christian IX of Denmark) and Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel. Although his full name was Prince Christian Wilhelm Ferdinand Adolf Georg of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, until his accession in Greece, he was known as Prince Wilhelm the namesake of his paternal and maternal grandfathers, Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Cassel.

Although he was of royal blood, his family was relatively obscure and lived a comparatively normal life by royal standards. In 1853, however, George’s father was designated the heir presumptive to the childless King Frederik VII of Denmark, and the family became princes and princesses of Denmark. George’s siblings were Frederik (who succeeded their father as King of Denmark), Alexandra (who became wife of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and the mother of King George V), Dagmar (who, as Empress Maria Feodorovna, was consort of Emperor Alexander III of Russiaand the mother of Emperor Nicholas II), Thyra (who married Prince Ernest Augustus, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale) and Valdemar.

King of the Hellenes

Following the overthrow of the Bavarian-born King Otto of Greece (son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen) in October 1862, the Greek people had rejected Otto’s brother and designated successor Leopold, although they still favored a monarchy rather than a republic. Many Greeks, seeking closer ties to the pre-eminent world power, Great Britain, rallied around Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. British prime minister Lord Palmerston believed that the Greeks were “panting for increase in territory”, hoping for a gift of the Ionian Islands, which were then a British protectorate.

The London Conference of 1832, however, prohibited any of the Great Powers’ ruling families from accepting the crown, and in any event, Queen Victoria was adamantly opposed to the idea. The Greeks nevertheless insisted on holding a plebiscite in which Prince Alfred received over 95% of the 240,000 votes. There were 93 votes for a Republic and 6 for a Greek.King Otto received one vote. Prince Alfred was also the designated heir to his uncle, Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha should the Duke remain childless.

With Prince Alfred’s exclusion, the search began for an alternative candidate. The French favored Henri d’Orléans, duc d’Aumale, while the British proposed Queen Victoria’s brother-in-law Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, her nephew Prince Leiningen, and Archduke Maximilian of Austria, among others. Eventually, the Greeks and Great Powers winnowed their choice to Prince William of Denmark, who had received 6 votes in the plebiscite.

Aged only 17, he was elected King of the Hellenes on March 30, 1863 by the Greek National Assembly under the regnal name of George I. Paradoxically, he ascended a royal throne before his father, who became King Christian IX of Denmark on November 15 of the same year. There were two significant differences between George’s elevation and that of his predecessor, Otto. First, he was acclaimed unanimously by the Greek Assembly, rather than imposed on the people by foreign powers. Second, he was proclaimed “King of the Hellenes” instead of “King of Greece”, which had been Otto’s style.

His ceremonial enthronement in Copenhagen on 6 June was attended by a delegation of Greeks led by First Admiral and Prime Minister Constantine Kanaris. Frederick VII awarded George the Order of the Elephant, and it was announced that the British government would cede the Ionian Islands to Greece in honor of the new monarch.

King George I is the paternal grandfather of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, husband of HM Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark.

Death of King Pavlos of Greece

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Christian IX, Elizabeth II, Frederica of Hanover, Frederick III of Germany, King of the Hellenes, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of Greece, Maximilian of Bavaria, Paul of Grreece, Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh

Pavlos was born at Tatoi Palace in Athens, the third son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. He trained as an army officer at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and later at the Hellenic Military Academy in Kypseli, Athens. Paul was an army officer cadet in the Coldstream Guards and Lieutenant with the Evzones.

From 1917 to 1920, Pavlos lived in exile with his father, Constantine I. From 1923 to 1935, he lived in exile again in England, this time with his brother, George II. He worked briefly in an aircraft factory under an alias, and through Viscount Tredegar.

On January 9, 1938, Pavlos married Princess Frederica of Hanover, his first cousin once removed through Friedrich III, German Emperor and Victoria, Princess Royal, and second cousin through Christian IX of Denmark, at Athens. They had three children:
* Sophia, Queen of Spain (born 1938).
* Constantine II, King of the Hellenes (born 1940).
* Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark (born 1942).

Pavlos returned to Greece in 1946. He succeeded to the throne in 1947, on the death of his childless elder brother, King George II, during the Greek Civil War (between Greek Communists and the non-communist Greek government). In 1947 he was unable to attend the wedding of his first cousin, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh to the future Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as he was suffering from typhoid fever.

By 1949 the Civil War was effectively over, with the Communist insurgents ceasing the majority of their operations, and the task of rebuilding the shattered north of the country began

In the 1950s Greece recovered economically, and diplomatic and trade links were strengthened by Pavlos’ state visits abroad. He became the first Greek Monarch to visit a Turkish Head of State. However, links with Britain became strained over Cyprus, where the majority Greek population favored union with Greece, which Britain, as the colonial power, would not endorse. Eventually, Cyprus became an independent state in 1960.

In December 1959, Prince Maximillian of Bavaria presented King Otto’s coronation regalia to King Pavlos. It had been almost a century since they were last in Greece.

Meanwhile, republican sentiment was growing in Greece. Both Pavlos and Frederica attracted criticism for their interference in politics, frequent foreign travels, and the cost of maintaining the Royal Family. Pavlos responded by economising and donated his private estate at Polidendri to the State.

In 1959, he had an operation for a cataract, and in 1963 an emergency operation for appendicitis. In late February 1964, he underwent a further operation for stomach cancer, and died about a week later, March 6, 1964 in Athens. He was succeeded by his son, Constantine II.

King Christian IX of Denmark, Part II

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Christian IX, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Frederik VI, Friedrich Christian II, House of Oldenburg, King Frederik III of Denmark, London Protocol 1852, Marie Sophie of Hesse-Cassel, Salic Law, Wilhelmine of Denmark

Resuming our look at King Christian IX of Denmark we will begin in the mid 1840s when he began to be a claimant to the throne of Denmark. In 1839 King Christian VIII mounted the throne of Denmark and by the the mid 1840s it was apparent that the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Frederik, would not be producing any heirs, nor would Prince Ferdinand of Denmark, the other in line to the throne. The succession to the Danish throne was semi-Salic among the descendants of King Frederik III of Denmark. This means that after all the direct male descendants of Frederik III had died off those of the female line could inherit the throne.

The problem with the extinction of the Oldenburg line was not too problematic in Denmark as far as the Danish throne itself was concerned. The problem was with the twin duchies of Schleswig-Holstein. These two territories have been claimed by both the Kingdom of Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire for centuries. The history of these duchies is too complex to do it justice in this simple post on this blog. Suffice it to say that by the 19th century the question of what to do with the duchies was vitally important as German nationalism was on the rise and the question to which state did these duchies belonged, had to be resolved. From the Danish perspective, finding an heir who also had legal claims to both Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein would resolve the issue.

However, finding and heir who held claims to both presented a rather large problem. The closest female relative of Frederik VII was his paternal aunt, Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark, who had married Landgraf Wilhelm of Hesse-Casse. Their eldest son, Friedrich Wilhelm, was also a possible heir.  Louise Charlotte and Wilhelm had five daughter and one of the eldest, Louise, was married to Prince Christian. The problem was that since they were not agnatic descendants of the Danish royal family they were not eligible to succeed in Schleswig-Holstein.

The female heiress of the House of Oldenburg considered most eligible according to the original law of primogeniture established by Frederik III was Princess Caroline of Denmark (1793–1881) who was the eldest daughter of the late king Frederick VI. The problem with Caroline was that by 1847 she was 54 years of age and childless and incapable of producing an heir. Her sister, Princess Wilhelmine of Denmark (1808–1891) presented a similar problem. She had been married and divorced from her cousin, the future Frederik VII, and her second marriage was to Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the older brother of Prince Christian, and this union was also childless. The next female heir was Princess Louise of Denmark, sister of Frederik VI, who had married Friedrich Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. By the 1840s the heir to that line was the her grandson, Duke Frederick of Augustenburg, who would lay claim the throne of Schleswig-Holstein in 1863.

The House of Glücksburg, the line from which Christian IX descended, also desired the succession to the throne. Even though this was a Junior line of the Danish Royal House and did not hold a claim according to the laws of succession which limited the succession to the throne via the male line of Frederik III, they were also descendants of his through the daughter of King Frederik V of Denmark and after the extinction of all the male descendants of Frederik III the Glücksburg line did have claims to the throne.

There were many other issues besides his direct genealogy that made Prince Christian a suitable claimant to the Danish throne. At one point he had been a a foster “grandson” of the Frederik VI and his Queen consort Marie Sophie (born Princess Marie Sophie of Hesse-Cassel). During his time spent with Frederik VI and Marie Sophie he had become familiar with the royal court and the traditions of the Danish kings. Despite belonging to a line of the Royal Family that was Germanic in every way, Christian was raised as if he were Danish and he lived in areas that were Danish-speaking and he shunned German nationalism. He did hold a distant claims to both the thrones of Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein although there were people who had superior claims. As was said last week, in 1842 Prince Christian had married a woman, Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel, with a better claim to the throne than he himself possessed.

In 1842, Louise’s mother and brother, and elder sister all renounced their rights to the thrones of Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein in favor of Louise and her husband. Prince Christian’s wife was now the closest female heiress of Frederick VII. In 1852, the difficult question of Denmark’s succession was resolved by the London Protocol of that year. The London Protocol selected Christian as next-in-line for the throne after Frederick VII and his uncle. This decision was made a law in Denmark entitled the Danish Law of Succession of 31 July 1853. It was at this time his wife rennounced her claim to the Danish throne and Prince Christian was granted the title of His Highness Prince Christian of Denmark. In 1858 he was raised once again in rank to His Royal Highness Prince Christian of Denmark.

On November 15, 1863 King Frederik VII of Denmark passed away and Prince Christian succeeded to the throne of Denmark as King Christian IX.

Well, I see I have still a way to go before I am done…so stay tuned to next Friday for more on Christian IX. I am not sure if I will complete it next week, but we shall see!

Top Favorite Monarchs ~ Part II

Tags

Alexander III of Russia, Christian IX, Denmark, Edward VII, George I of Greece, George III, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Wilhelm I of Germany, Wilhelm II of Germany

 

Part II

Queen Victoria (my favorite picture of her)

6. George III, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Hanover
Born: 4 June, 1738. Died: 29 January 1820. Reign: 1760-1820

George III is Britain’s longest reigning king. He was the first of the Hanoverian monarchs to speak English as his native language. Suffered from the blood disease porphyria which caused mental breakdowns. The king had a passion for agriculture and earned the nickname “Farmer George.” He was not the tyrant of the American revolution and it was in his reign which saw a further erosion of political powers and the move toward a symbolic monarchy where the king embodied moralistic virtue.

7. Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
Born: 24 May, 1819. Died: 22 January, 1901. Reign: 1837-1901

Queen Victoria is Britain’s longest reigning monarch and gave her name to an entire era. Her reign saw great advancement of changes with the industrial revolution. Dependent on her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, she became isolated and withdrawn for years after his death in 1861. Political power was lost during her reign as Victoria placed the monarchy above partisan politics. Her reign saw the British Empire reach its zenith.

8. Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
Born: 9 November, 1841. Died: 6 May, 1910. Reign: 1901-1910

As Prince of Wales the future Edward VII lived in the shadow of his mother. Although Edward reigned for only 9 years an era was named for him also. The Edwardian era contrasted with the Victorian era in that social life became more vibrant after the many years of official mourning at his mother’s court. Edward was a very gregarious king and his personal relationships with other monarchs in Europe gave Edward the reputation as a efficient diplomat.

9. Christian IX, King of Denmark
Born: 8 April, 1818. Died: 29 January 1906. Reign: 1863-1906

Prince Christian was born the son of Duke Wilhelm of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, from 1825 Duke of Glücksburg, and was a direct descendant of King Christian I of Denmark in the male line; the future Christian IX was born without rights to the Danish throne. In 1847 the great European powers selected prince Christian as heir presumptive to the Danish throne with the extinction of the most senior line of Danish kings was growing imminent seeing that the Frederik VII seemed incapable of fathering children. Christian unsuccessfully sought the hand of the future Queen Victoria of Great Britain. He eventually married Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel, a great-niece of Christian VII of Denmark and she actually was a closer heir to the throne than her husband. Christian and Louise, like Victoria and Albert of Great Britain, had children that married into many of the Great royal houses of Europe earning Christian IX the nickname “the father-in-law of Europe.” His eldest son became king of Denmark, his eldest daughter became Queen of Great Britain (wife of Edward VII). Another daughter became Empress of Russia (married to Emperor Alexander III). His second son was elected to the Greek throne a few months before he was even king of Denmark. His grandson was elected the first king of an independent Norway in centuries.

10. Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia
Born: 27 January, 1859. Died: 4 June, 1941. Reign: 1888-1918

The last German Emperor is a fascinating study. He was the eldest grandson to both Queen Victoria of Great Britain on his mother’s side and to German Emperor Wilhelm I on his father’s side. This set a battle between liberal and conservative ideologies which would have a great impact on his life. He also had an injury at birth which gave him an non-functioning left hand and arm. These and other issues had a great influence on his personality. A very intelligent man who would suffer violent outbursts of temper and depression. In an era where monarchs were becoming symbols of their nation and above partisan politics, Wilhelm II had considerable powers which he tried to implement, often with disastrous results. He was the Emperor-King that saw the dissolution of his empire at the end of the First World War and many nations placed sole blame on his shoulders. Although he held responsibility for the war, historians have come to see that there were many other factors that lead to war that were beyond his control.

Royal Numbering ~ Denmark

Tags

Absolute cognatic primogeniture, Christian I, Christian IX, Denmark, Margrethe II, Waldemar III, Waldemar IV

In Denmark there is only one name that is numbered inconsistently and that name is Waldemar. The first king of Denmark by that name was Waldemar I the Great who was king from 1157-1182. Waldemar II The Victorious, was the son of Waldemar the Great and was king from 1202-1241. There are two individuals that have been labeled Waldemar III. The first is Waldemar the Young son of Waldemar II who was co-king with his father until his death in 1231 but was never sole king in his own right. The other king claiming to be Waldemar III was the son of Duke Eric II of Schleswig and Adelaide of Rendsborg. He was set up as a rival king to the unpopular Christopher II of Denmark 1320-1326. This Waldemar ruled briefly from 1326 to 1329 and again in 1325–26 during the times of upheaval with Christopher II. The son of Christopher II ascended the throne in 1340 as Waldemar IV Atterdag and ruled as a powerful king of Denmark until his death in 1375.

Although not a discrepancy, it is more of an oddity, is the tradition where the kings of Denmark alternated between the names of Christian and Frederik. King Christian I of Denmark, (1448-1481), Norway (1450-1481) and Sweden (1457-1464) was followed by his son Hans (John) of Denmark. John, in turn, was followed by his son, Christian II, until his death in 1523. Christian II was followed by Frederik II and from then on the names of Christian and Frederik alternated until 1972 when it was interrupted with the accession of Denmark’s present queen, Margrethe II. This tradition will carry on for a while it seems after Margrethe when her son, Crown Prince Frederik, eventually succeeds as King Frederik X and when his son eventually succeeds as King Christian XI. After the reign of Christian XI, far in the future, it remains to be seen how this tradition will be continued given the fact that absolute Absolute cognatic primogeniture was adopted in 2009.  Absolute cognatic primogeniture  is where titles and inheritance is passed to the eldest child regardless of gender.