Frederik IX
- King of Denmark from 1947 to 1972
- Motto: "With God for Denmark"
- Born: 11 March 1899
- Son of: Christian 10. and Queen Alexandrine, born Duchess of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin
- Married: 24 May 1935 to Princess Ingrid Victoria Sofia Louise Margareta,
born 1910, daughter of Crown Prince Gustav Adolf, later King Gustav VI Adolf of
Sweden (1882-1973) and Crown Princess Margaretha (1882-1920)
- Children: Princesses: Margrethe (II), Benedikte and Anne-Marie
The King's reign coincided with one of the greatest and swiftest periods of
change in the history of Denmark. During these years, Danish society shook off
the restrictions of an agricultural society marked by scarcity and developed at
breakneck speed towards a welfare state characterised by abundance.
Simultaneously, in the light of the experience gained from the Second World War,
the former policy of neutrality was replaced by a policy of actively joining
alliances. Furthermore, as a consequence of the booming economy of the 1960s,
women entered the labour market and achieved in decisive areas the equality that
their mothers and grandmothers had fought for over the years. In other words,
Denmark became a modern country, which meant altogether new demands on the
monarchy and its ability to adjust.
Tactfully supported by the Queen, King Frederik IX with a definite sense of
the requirements of the day carried through the change of the monarchy from a
distant, elevated institution to a general, symbolic image of the levelling out
of class distinctions, which was a result of the modernisation of society.
The King's behaviour was cheerful and straightforward, and he possessed the
gift of being able to deal with all people with natural friendliness and warmth
without jeopardising the inherent dignity of a monarch. He was helped in this
through his training as an officer of the navy with its binding but informal
environment, which he felt strongly related to throughout his life. Before he
became King, he had acquired the rank of Rear-Admiral and he had had several
senior commands on active service. In addition, with his great love of music the
King was an able piano player and conductor.
Due to the relaxed and loving tone in the Royal Family, which the King and
Queen in contrast to previous tradition were prepared to give the public an idea
of, the Royal Family in the reign of Frederik IX became a popular reflection of
the typical Danish family as it developed in line with the modernisation of
society. Shortly after the King had delivered his New Year's Address to the
Nation at the 1971/72 turn of the year, he fell seriously ill. His death
following a short period of illness was felt as a great loss by the Danish
population, which to an unprecedented extent had taken the King and his family
to heart.
Christian X
- King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and of Iceland until 1944
- Motto: "My God, my Country, my Honour"
- Born: 26 September 1870
- Son of: Frederik VIII and Queen Lovisa
- Married: 26 April 1898 to Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
(1879-1952)
- Children: Prince Frederik (IX) and Prince Knud
As the first of the House of Glücksborg, Prince Christian was born to succeed
to the throne, and everything was done to prepare him for his future task as
King. In 1889, he was the first heir to the throne to pass the upper secondary
examination. His subsequent education was, however, in line with the family
tradition, characterised by the military, which impacted heavily on his
personality. He always saw himself as a whole-heartedly committed soldier. When
Frederik VIII died in 1912, Crown Prince Christion succeeded to the throne.
Thus, the two World Wars marked the beginning and the end of his long reign.
At first, the King had some difficulty in coming to terms with the
parliamentary system, which had been introduced with the Change of System in
1901. This led to several clashes with the political leaders, culminating in
Prime Minister Zahle's resignation after a heated exchange of words with the
King and the following Easter Crisis of 1920, which for a few critical days put
the continued existence of the monarchy at risk. Subsequently, the King fully
accepted his constitutional role, and he never again acted without full
parliamentary support. During the turbulent political climate of the 1930s, the
King stood by the Government and Rigsdag (Danish Parliament) in the fight
against the totalitarian movements.
The foundation of the King's later position as a national rallying point was
established in connection with the festivities over the reunification with North
Schleswig in 1920 and was strengthened during the Royal Couple's many travels
throughout the country. When Denmark was occupied by German troops on 9 April
1940, the King won the hearts of the population by continuing his daily rides
through the streets of Copenhagen. The image of the tall, upright royal figure
on horseback, and the King's dignified, but reserved behaviour towards the
representatives of the occupation became in the years of occupation the very
symbol of courage and unity between the King and his people. The King's 70th
birthday a few months after the beginning of the occupation was a grand popular
manifestation of these feelings.
In October 1942, the King suffered a fall from his horse during his daily
ride. This caused permanent damage to his health, and only rarely did he appear
in public after the accident. He attended the reopening of the Rigsdag on 9 May
1945, in a wheelchair and was visibly weakened. On 20 April 1947, he died
quietly. On the occasion of the castrum doloris, an armlet worn by members of
the WW II Resistance Movement was placed on his coffin.
Frederik VIII
-
King of Denmark from 1906 to 1912
-
Motto: "The Lord is my Help"
-
Born: 3 June 1843
-
Son of: Christian IX and Queen Louise, born Princess of Hessen-Kassel
-
Married: 28 July 1869 to Princess Lovisa of Sweden (1851-1926)
-
Children: Prince: Christian (10.), Carl (who was crowned King Haakon VII of
Norway in 1905), Harald and Gustav. Princesses: Louise, Ingeborg, Thyra and
Dagmar
When His father became King in 1863, Crown Prince Frederik entered the State
Council where he actively supported the King's fruitless opposition to the
coming into effect of the November Constitution. Apart from this, he was in
general reduced to the role of a passive onlooker during his 43 years as Crown
Prince because the King almost consistently kept him out of affairs of
state.
Crown Prince Frederik had had a military education, but throughout life he
had taken a keen interest in politics and was a declared supporter of the
parliamentary system, which his father remained opposed to for so long. The
provisional legislation, i.e. the adoption of provisional Finance Bills against
the majority of the Folketing (Danish Parliament), was in his opinion directly
dangerous for society as well as the monarchy. He sympathised openly with the
efforts of the supporters of rapprochement, which eventually led to the
political Change of System of 1901.
After the death of his father in 1906, Frederik VIII succeeded to the throne
at the age of 63, and subsequently developed cooperation based on confidence
with the changing Venstre (Liberal) Governments. He was particularly interested
in the defence issue as a result of the growing danger of a major war. The
half-hearted defence agreement of 1909 was therefore a great disappointment to
him.
In his relations with people, Frederik VIII like his father was kind and
unobtrusive, and he soon became popular both with politicians and with the
population at large. However, he did not reign for long. For quite some time he
had suffered from heart problems. While staying in Hamburg in 1912 on his way
home from Nice where he had visited a health resort, he died all of a sudden
during one of the anonymous, unaccompanied city walks that he had always
enjoyed. It meant that he was spared the experience of the large-scale war whose
ominous shadow had loomed over his reign. It meant, at the same time, that
society took finally leave of the old order whose last death throes coincided
with the rule of Frederik VIII.
Christian IX
- King of Denmark from 1863 to 1906
- Motto: "With God for Honour and Justice"
- Born: 8 April 1818
- Son of: Duke Wilhelm of Schleswig-Holstein-Sønderborg-Glücksborg and
Princess Louise Caroline of Hessen-Kassel
- Married 26 May 1842 to Princess Louise of Hessen-Kassel (1817-1898)
- Children: Princes: Frederik (VIII), Wilhelm (George I), and Valdemar.
Princesses: Alexandra, Dagmar and Thyra
When it became clear that Frederik VII would have no heir to the throne, the
great powers with the Treaty of London in 1852 accepted that the throne passed
to his relative, Prince Christian of Glücksborg, who belonged to a branch of the
Royal House of Oldenburg. In accordance with the Act of Succession of 1853, he
was officially appointed as successor to the throne. From 1831, he had lived
permanently in Copenhagen where he had made a career for himself as an officer
of the Royal Horse Guard.
As the first representative of the House of Glücksborg, Christian IX became
King in November 1863 at a very difficult moment in time. The late King had not
managed to sign the November Constitution, which had just been adopted. It was a
special constitution for the joint affairs of Denmark and Schleswig, which in
violation of the agreements concluded by the great powers would tie Schleswig
more closely to Denmark. When the new King, therefore, refused to sign this new
constitution, his nationalist feelings and loyalty to Denmark were much
disputed, especially by the National Liberals. Under this pressure, he decided
to sign the November Constitution. Very soon the King's reservations proved all
too justified. The result was the War of 1864 and the subsequent loss of the two
duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. The first part of his reign was stongly
marked by this national catastrophe.
The King's support for Højre (right-wing political party) and Prime Minister
Estrup throughout the following decades of entrenched constitutional fights made
him, in the beginning, unpopular among broad segments of the population.
However, gradually the King and the people became one in a joint effort to make
the most of the difficult situation after 1864. When the King eventually bowed
to the demand for Parliamentarism and appointed a government of Venstre (liberal
political party) in 1901, his popularity increased substantially. During his
last few remaining years' reign, the King enjoyed much popular sympathy for his
always correct and quiet behaviour. His death in 1906 gave rise to general
national mourning.
This development was also due to Queen Louise, born Princess of Hessen-Kassel
(1817-98, married 1842). With an eye to the future, she arranged her daughters'
marriages in such a manner that the Danish Royal House obtained dynastic
connections with the most important European royal and princely houses. Thus,
Alexandra married Edward VII of Great Britain, Dagmar became Empress of Russia
through her marriage to Tsar Alexander III of Russia, and the third daughter,
Thyra, married Duke Ernest Augustus of Cumberland, heir to the Kingdom of
Hanover. In addition, the King's second-oldest son, Vilhelm, became King of the
Hellenes in 1863 under the name of George I, whereas the King's grandson, Prince
Carl, became King of Norway in 1905 under the name of Haakon VII. All these many
connections may not have had much political significance. However, especially
throughout the summers of the 1880s, there were great gatherings of Europe's
most important ruling royalty and princes during the so-called Fredensborg Days
at the residence of "Europe's parents-in-law", the Danish King and Queen.
