Category Archives: Danish Royals

Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Credit – Wikipedia

Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway is known for making two bigamous marriages. He was the eldest of the four sons and the eldest of the seven children of Christian V, King of Denmark and Norway and Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel. He was born on October 11, 1671, at Copenhagen Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark. Frederik was the Crown Prince of Denmark from birth.

Frederik had six younger siblings:

King Christian V with his eldest son Frederik and his other sons Christian and Carl; Credit – Wikipedia

From his father’s 30-year affair with Sophie Amalie Moth, Frederik had six half-siblings who were all raised at court:

Frederik as Crown Prince of Denmark by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1693; Credit – Wikipedia

When it came time for Frederik to marry, his father decided that he should follow the tradition of the family and marry a German princess. He visited many Protestant northern German courts and was instructed by his father to ask his aunt Anna Sophia of Denmark and Norway, Electress of Saxony for advice. Anna Sophia advised Frederik to marry Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. Frederik was partial to Louise and readily agreed. Louise was the daughter of Duke Gustav Adolph of Mecklenburg-Güstrow and Magdalene Sibylle of Holstein-Gottorp. Like Frederik, Louise was a great-great-grandchild of King Frederik II of Denmark and Norway. On December 5, 1695, their wedding took place at Copenhagen Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow; Credit – Wikipedia

Frederik and Louise had four sons and one daughter. Sadly, three sons died in infancy.

King Christian V died on August 25, 1699, due to the after-effects of a hunting accident, ten months after he had suffered very severe injuries from being kicked by a deer. Frederik acceded to the Danish throne as King Frederik IV. Frederik and his wife were anointed King and Queen of Denmark and Norway on April 15, 1700, at the Frederiksborg Castle Chapel.

Despite having inadequate training, Frederik was a fairly successful ruler. He selected his advisors carefully and held audiences in which ordinary people could speak to him and present letters with complaints or requests. However, Frederik was not very familiar with the Danish language, which he only used on state occasions. He usually spoke and wrote in German and French. For a good part of Frederik IV’s reign, Denmark, along with Russia and Saxony, was engaged in the Great Northern War (1700 – 1721) against Sweden. He did not achieve his main goal, to regain the former eastern Danish provinces lost to Sweden in the 17th century. Denmark also had to return Holstein-Gottorp to its duke.

Fredensborg Palace; Credit – By Glån – https://www.flickr.com/photos/84554176@N00/5251098650/sizes/o/in/photostream/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12668133

Frederik IV was interested in Italian architecture and traveled to Italy several times and so he had two palaces built in the Italian Baroque style. Frederiksberg Palace, located in Frederiksberg, close to Copenhagen, was built 1699 – 1735 and served as the Danish royal family’s summer residence until the mid-19th century. It was vacant for several years but since 1869, it has been the home of the Royal Danish Military Academy. Fredensborg Palace built 1720 – 1726, is located on Lake Esrum in Fredensborg on the island of Zealand in Denmark. Today, it is the Danish royal family’s spring and autumn residence and is often the site of state visits and family events in the Danish royal family.

Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1699, Frederik began a relationship with Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg, a lady-in-waiting to his unmarried sister Sophia Hedwig. In 1703, without divorcing his wife Louise, Frederik made a bigamous marriage to Elisabeth. After Elisabeth died in 1704 due to childbirth complications giving birth to a son Frederik Gyldenløve, Frederik IV gave her an elaborate funeral. Little Frederik Gyldenløve lived for only nine months.

After the death of Elisabeth, Frederik began an affair with her lady-in-waiting, Charlotte Helene von Schindel. In 1709, Frederik wanted to again make a bigamous marriage but received strong opposition from the church which told him that the law against bigamy also applied to kings. Charlotte and Frederik had a daughter in 1710 who died in infancy.

After losing interest in Charlotte Helene von Schindel in 1711, Frederik then fell in love with 19-year-old Anna Sophie, daughter of Grand-Chancellor Conrad Reventlow who held a position similar to Prime Minister. In 1712, Frederik abducted her from her parents’ home and took her to Skanderborg Castle where they were married bigamously as Frederik’s wife Queen Louise was still alive. The adultery and bigamy of Frederik IV and the effect it had upon Queen Louise deeply affected and disturbed Crown Prince Christian. Christian distanced himself from his father and he came to detest Anna Sophie.

After the death of Queen Louise on March 15, 1721, Frederik and Anna Sophie were married in a second formal wedding conducted with great ceremony on April 4, 1721. Although the marriage was still scandalous, it was not declared morganatic and Anna Sophie was crowned as Queen at Frederiksberg Palace in May 1721.

Anna Sophie Reventlow; Credit – Wikipedia

Anna Sophie Reventlow and King Frederick IV had six children. Three were born before the legal marriage in 1721 but none survived. This was seen by many as divine punishment for their bigamy. The three children born after the 1721 marriage were styled as Prince/Princess of Denmark but none of them survived infancy either.

  • Frederika Sophie Reventlow (born and died before1721), died in infancy
  • Frederica Conradine Reventlow (born and before 1721), died in infancy
  • Stillborn (before 1721)
  • Princess Christiana Amalia (1723 – 1724), died in infancy
  • Prince Frederik Christian (1726 – 1727), died in infancy
  • Prince Karl (1728 – 1729), died in infancy

Toward the end of his life, Frederik IV suffered from edema, then called dropsy. He died on October 12, 1730, the day after his 59th birthday, at Odense Palace in the city of Odense on the Danish island of Funen. Frederik IV was buried at Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial place for the Danish royal family, in Roskilde Cathedral.

King Frederik IV’s tomb; 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.

Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Da.wikipedia.org. 2020. Frederik 4.. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederik_4.> [Accessed 29 April 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Friedrich IV. (Dänemark Und Norwegen). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_IV._(D%C3%A4nemark_und_Norwegen)> [Accessed 29 April 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Frederick IV Of Denmark. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_IV_of_Denmark> [Accessed 29 April 2020].

Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel, Queen of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Queen Charlotte Amalie with one of her children circa 1675; Credit – Wikipedia

Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel was the wife of Christian V, King of Denmark and Norway. During Christian V’s reign, colonies were established in the Caribbean. The islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island were originally a Danish colony, the Danish West Indies.  The city of Charlotte Amalie, on the island of St. Thomas, was named after Christian V’s wife. Denmark sold the islands to the United States in 1917 and now they are known as the United States Virgin Islands, and Charlotte Amalie is the capital.

Born on April 27, 1650, in Kassel, Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, now in the German state of Hesse, Charlotte Amalie was the eldest of the seven children and the eldest of the three daughters of Wilhelm VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Hedwig Sophia of Brandenburg.

Charlotte Amalie had six younger siblings:

Charlotte Amalie  circa 1667; Credit – Wikipedia

Unlike many other German royals of the time who were Lutheran, Charlotte Amalie’s parents followed Reformed Christianity which adhered to the teachings of John Calvin. Charlotte Amalie was a strict adherent to Reformed Christianity her whole life. She was well-educated in French, Italian, geography, history, and philosophy and was interested in physics and pharmacy.

Charlotte Amalie’s husband Christian V, circa 1675; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 25, 1667, at Nykøbing Castle in Falster, Denmark, 17-year-old Charlotte Amalie married 21-year-old Crown Prince Christian of Denmark, the son of Frederik III, King of Denmark and Norway and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Charlotte Amalie is the only post-Reformation Danish queen who was not Lutheran or did not convert to the Lutheran religion. Because of her strict adherence to Reformed Christianity, the marriage contract stated that she was allowed to keep her religion and that she was allowed to hold services in an enclosed room with her own Reformed minister.

The couple had seven children:

Christian V with his eldest son Frederik and his other sons Christian and Carl; Credit – Wikipedia

Charlotte Amalie’s husband succeeded his father in 1670 as Christian V, King of Denmark and Norway. Christian was anointed at Frederiksborg Palace Chapel on June 7, 1671, but Charlotte Amalie did not participate because it violated her religious beliefs.

Double portrait of Christian V and Charlotte Amalie; Credit – Wikipedia

Charlotte Amalie’s relationship with her husband cannot be described as a love affair but rather a mutual, respected friendship. In 1672, King Christian V began a long-term affair with 16-year-old Sophie Amalie Moth. Sophie Amalie, the daughter of King Frederik III’s doctor Paul Moth, had grown up at court with her siblings so she and Christian were well acquainted. Christian had five children with Sophie Amalie whom he publically acknowledged. In 1677, Sophie Amalie was recognized as Christian’s official mistress and was created Countess of Samsø. Although Christian V’s public adultery caused an embarrassing situation for Charlotte Amalie, she always made the most of her position as queen, both in her public life as well as in her private interactions with her husband.

During her tenure as Queen, Charlotte Amalie worked for the rights of those who practiced Reform Christianity, especially for displaced Huguenots from France who had settled in Denmark. In 1685, Christian V issued orders for a certain degree of religious freedom for religious refugees. In 1689, the first Reformed Church in Denmark was consecrated in Copenhagen and Charlotte Amalie was instrumental in its planning and funding. The church had a burial crypt, residences for the ministers, and later, two schools. Although Charlotte Amalie was deeply devoted to her faith, her view on religion was a Protestant ecumenical one and she corresponded with Protestants of different churches.

Charlottenborg Palace by Jacob Coning, 1694; Credit – Wikipedia

King Christian V died in 1699 and was succeeded by his son King Frederik IV. Charlotte Amalie allowed her daughter-in-law, Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, to take her rightful place as Queen. Charlotte Amalie kept a separate court and during the winter lived at Charlottenborg Palace, which is named after her, and then during the summer, she lived at Nykøbing Castle. She owned several estates and became quite wealthy from their income. In 1703, when her son Frederik IV made a bigamous marriage by marrying his mistress Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg while his wife was still living, Charlotte Amalie was deeply grieved by his behavior but never expressed her great displeasure to her son.

On March 27, 1714, Charlotte Amalie, Queen of Denmark and Norway, aged 63, died of scarlet fever after being ill for six days at Charlottenborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was buried in a baroque marble tomb designed by Christoph Sturmberg next to King Christian V’s tomb in the nave of Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial place of the Danish royal family, in Roskilde, Denmark.

Tomb of Charlotte Amalie in Roskilde Cathedral; Photo Credit – 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. 2020. Charlotte Amalie Af Hessen-Kassel. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Amalie_af_Hessen-Kassel> [Accessed 29 April 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Charlotte Amalie Von Hessen-Kassel. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Amalie_von_Hessen-Kassel> [Accessed 29 April 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Charlotte Amalie Of Hesse-Kassel. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Amalie_of_Hesse-Kassel> [Accessed 29 April 2020].

Christian V, King of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Credit – Wikipedia

King Christian V of Denmark and Norway was born on April 15, 1646, at Duborg Castle (link in Danish) in Flensburg, Duchy of Schleswig, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. He was the eldest of the seven children and the eldest of the three sons of Frederik III, King of Denmark and Norway and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Christian had seven siblings. His brother George (Jørgen) married Queen Anne of Great Britain and his sister Ulrika Eleonora married King Carl XI of Sweden.

As a teenager, Christian went on a Grand Tour of Europe, visiting Holland, England, France, and various German monarchies. In 1663, soon after his return, he became involved in government affairs as preparation for his future duties as king. In 1665, a hereditary, absolute monarchy was confirmed by law.

Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 25, 1667, at Nykøbing Castle in Falster, Denmark, Christian married Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel, the daughter of Wilhelm VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Hedwig Sophia of Brandenburg.

King Christian V with his eldest son Frederik and his other sons Christian and Carl; Credit – Wikipedia

Christian and Charlotte Amalie had seven children:

The anointing of Christian V in the palace chapel of Frederiksborg Castle by Michael van Haven,1671; Credit – Wikipedia

Upon his father’s death in 1670, Christian succeeded him as Christian V, King of Denmark and Norway. Christian was anointed at Frederiksborg Castle Church on June 7, 1671. During the time of the elected monarchs, the clergy and nobility placed the crown on the king’s head at the coronation ceremony. After the introduction of the absolute monarchy, the crowning was replaced by anointing. The king arrived at the church wearing the crown and was consecrated by being anointed with oil. The regalia used at Christian V’s anointing, except for a new crown, had been made for the crowning of Christian V’s father.

Crown of King Christian V (on the right) and the Queen’s Crown made in 1731 (on the left); Credit – Susan Flantzer

A magnificent throne chair had been constructed during his father’s reign, ready Christian V’s use. The throne chair was used at anointings between 1671 and 1840. When the absolute monarchy was replaced by a constitutional monarchy in 1849, Danish monarchs were no longer anointed. The throne chair and regalia are now on display at Rosenberg Castle in Copenhagen. Christian V’s crown and the regalia are still displayed on the coffin of the monarch while lying in state.

The Throne Chair of Denmark; Credit – By Sven Rosborn – This file has been extracted from another file: Rosenborg castle 8.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29203851

Shortly after Christian became king, 16-year-old Sophie Amalie Moth became his mistress. Sophie Amalie, the daughter of King Frederik III’s doctor Paul Moth, had grown up at court with her siblings. In 1677, she was recognized as Christian’s official mistress and was created Countess of Samsø. Christian and Sophie Amalie had six children who were all publicly acknowledged. Following the practice of his grandfather and father, Christian also gave his illegitimate children the surname Gyldenløve which means Golden Love.

Sophie Amalie Moth, Christian V’s mistress; Credit – Wikipedia

Christian’s major disappointment was his unsuccessful attempt in the Scanian War to regain Skåne, Halland, and Blekinge, which had been annexed by Sweden during his father’s reign. Christian introduced the 1683 Danish Code (Danske Lov), the first law code for all of Denmark. He also introduced a similar 1687 Norwegian Code (Norske Lov) to replace Christian IV’s 1604 Norwegian Code in Norway. During Christian’s reign, colonies were established in Africa and the Caribbean as part of the Danish triangle trade. The city of Charlotte Amalie, on the island of St. Thomas, is the capital and the largest city of the United States Virgin Islands and was named after Christian V’s wife.

Christian V died from the after-effects of a hunting accident that occurred on October 19, 1698. Christian was hunting with his two surviving sons and his half-brother. While they were taking a break, they received the news that the hunting dogs had exhausted and surrounded a deer. Christian immediately left to give the deer the death blow. Instead, he missed and the deer kicked him. The injuries were severe and Christian never recovered, dying on August 25, 1699, aged 53, at Copenhagen Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was buried in The Chancel at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark.

Tomb of King Christian V; Credit – 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. 2020. Christian 5.. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_5.> [Accessed 29 April 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Christian V. (Dänemark Und Norwegen). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_V._(D%C3%A4nemark_und_Norwegen)> [Accessed 29 April 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Christian V Of Denmark. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_V_of_Denmark> [Accessed 29 April 2020].

King Christian IX of Denmark: Children, Grandchildren, Great-Grandchildren and Notable Descendants

by Susan Flantzer

King Christian IX with his family in the Garden Hall of Fredensborg Palace in 1883 by Laurits Tuxen; Credit – Wikipedia

King Christian IX of Denmark and Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel had six children and 39 grandchildren. Their grandchildren sat upon the thrones of Denmark, Greece, Norway, Russia, the United Kingdom. They are the ancestors of six of the ten current European monarchs: King Philippe of Belgium, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, King Harald V of Norway, King Felipe VI of Spain, King Charles III of the United Kingdom, and two former monarchs, the late King Michael of Romania and King Constantine II of Greece. See Wikipedia: Monarchs descended from King Christian IX.

King Christian IX and his family in 1862 (Front: Dagmar, Valdemar, Queen Louise, Thyra, Alexandra; Back: Frederik, King Christian, Vilhelm); Credit – Wikipedia

However, King Christian IX of Denmark was not born destined to be a king. King Christian IX was born a German prince, the sixth child and fourth son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg- Glücksburg and Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel, on April 8, 1818, at Gottorp Castle near the town of Schleswig in the Duchy of Schleswig, now in Germany.

Christian married his second cousin Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel, the daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Charlotte of Denmark. Both Christian and Louise were great-grandchildren of King Frederik V of Denmark. Their descents from King Frederik V are below.

King Frederik V of Denmark married Princess Louisa of Great Britain (1st wife) → Princess Louise of Denmark married Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel → Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel married Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg → King Christian IX of Denmark

King Frederik V of Denmark married Duchess Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (2nd wife) → Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark married Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin → Princess Charlotte of Denmark married Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel → Louise of Hesse-Kassel

So how did Christian become King of Denmark? When King Christian VIII, the son of Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark, died in 1848, he was succeeded by his son King Frederik VII, who had married three times but had no children, and this resulted in a succession crisis. Louise, Christian IX’s wife, had lived in Denmark from the time she was three years old. She was a niece of King Christian VIII of Denmark and a closer heir than her husband. Women could inherit the Danish throne only if there were no male heirs (Semi-Salic Law), and Louise and her mother Charlotte of Denmark both rescinded their succession rights to Christian, Louise’s husband, in 1851. The Act of Succession of 1853 officially made Christian the heir of King Frederik VII, and he became king in 1863 when King Frederik VII died.

Christian IX and his wife Louise were as much the “Grandparents of Europe” as were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Christian and Louise had 39 grandchildren and their grandsons included Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, King Constantine I of Greece, King George V of the United Kingdom, King Christian X of Denmark and King Haakon VII of Norway. Over the years, numerous large family reunions were held at Fredensborg Palace in Denmark with children, in-laws, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

A story has been told about King Christian IX. Whether it is true or not, it illustrates his relationship with other European monarchies:

One day, Christian IX and his son Vilhelm (George I of Greece) and the husbands of two of his daughters (Alexander III of Russia and the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII of the United Kingdom) went for a walk. They encountered a country gentleman who wondered who they were, thinking they were guests of some local squire. “I am your king,” explained Christian. “This is my son, the King of Greece, and this is my son-in-law, the Emperor of Russia, and my other son-in-law, the Prince of Wales.” The man was not impressed and said, “All right, I’ll tell you who I am. I am Jesus Christ!”

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All of King Christian IX’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are listed below. In addition, notable great-great-grandchildren and great-great-great-grandchildren are also included.  Monarchs and consorts from former monarchies and current monarchies, along with current heirs, who are King Christian’s descendants are in bold. The links below are either from Unofficial Royalty or Wikipedia. Not all people have Wikipedia links.

Frederik VIII and his wife with their four eldest children by Elfelt, bromide postcard print, (circa 1877), NPG x74398 © National Portrait Gallery, London

1) King Frederik VIII of Denmark (1843-1912) married (1869) Princess Louise of Sweden (1851-1926), had four sons and four daughters

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Embed from Getty Images 
Alexandra and her husband with their children, circa 1880

2) Princess Alexandra of Denmark (1844 – 1925) married (1863) King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (1841 – 1910), had three sons and three daughters

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King George and Queen Olga with six of their children, circa 1890; Credit – Wikipedia

3) Prince Vilhelm of Denmark, later King George I of Greece (1845–1913) married (1867) Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia (1851-1926), had five sons and three daughters

Male-line descendants below of King Christian IX of Denmark also who held the title Prince or Princess of Greece also held the title of Prince or Princess of Denmark and are traditionally referred to as Prince or Princess of Greece and Denmark.

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Empress Maria Feodorovna and her husband with their five surviving children; Credit – Wikipedia

4) Princess Dagmar of Denmark, Maria Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia (1847-1928) married (1866) Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia (1845–1894), had four sons and two daughters

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Thyra and her husband with their six children; Credit – Wikipedia

5) Princess Thyra of Denmark (1853–1933), married (1878) Crown Prince Ernst August of Hanover, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale (1845-1923), had three sons and three daughters

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Valdemar and his wife with their five children; Credit – Wikipedia

6) Prince Valdemar of Denmark (1858-1939) married (1885) Princess Marie of Orléans (1865-1909), had four sons and one daughter

  • Prince Aage, Count of Rosenborg (1887-1940), born Prince Aage of Denmark, after marrying without the monarch’s consent, he lost his succession rights and his royal style and the title Prince of Denmark, married (1914) Matilda Calvi Dei Conti di Bergolo (1885-1949), had one son, divorced
    • Valdemar, Count of Rosenborg (1915-1995) married (1949) Baroness Floria d’Huart Saint-Mauris (1925-1995), no children
  • Prince Axel of Denmark (1888-1964), married (1919) Princess Margaretha of Sweden (1899-1977), had two sons
    • Prince George Valdemar of Denmark (1920-1986), married (1950) Anne Bowes-Lyon (maternal first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, no children
    •  Count Flemming Valdemar of Rosenborg (1922-2002), born Prince Flemming Valdemar of Denmark, after marrying without the monarch’s consent, he lost his succession rights and his royal style and title, married (1949) Alice Nielson (1924-2010), had three sons and one daughter
  • Prince Erik, Count of Rosenborg (1890-1950), born Prince Erik of Denmark, after making an unequal marriage, he lost his succession rights and the title Prince of Denmark, he did retain his style His Highness, married (1924) Lois Frances Booth (1897-1941), had one son and one daughter, divorced
    • Countess Alexandra  of Rosenborg (1927-1992) married (1951) Ivar Emil Vind-Röj (1921-1977), had one daughter and two sons
    • Count Christian of Rosenborg (1932-1997), married (1962) Karin Lüttichau, had one son and one daughter
  • Prince Viggo, Count of Rosenborg (1893-1970), born Prince Viggo of Denmark, after marrying without the consent of the monarch, he lost his succession rights and his royal style and the title Prince of Denmark, married (1924) Eleonor Green (1895-1966), no children
  • Princess Margrethe of Denmark (1895-1992) married (1921) Prince René of Bourbon-Parma (1894-1962), had three sons and one daughter
    • Prince Jacques of Bourbon-Parma (1922-1964) married (1947) Birgitte von Holstein-Ledreborg, Countess of Holstein-Ledreborg, had  three children
    • Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma (1923-2016) married (1948) former King Michael I of Romania (1921-2017), had five daughters
    • Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma (1926-2018) married (1) (1951) Princess Yolande de Broglie-Revel, had three daughters and two sons, divorced; married (2) (2003) Princess Maria Pia of Savoy, no children
    • Prince André of Bourbon-Parma (1928-2011) married (1960) Marina Gacry, had  three children

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First Cousins: Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit – http://kongehuset.dk/english – photographer: Jacob Jørgensen

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark (born 1940)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark was born on April 16, 1940, at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was the eldest daughter of the three daughters of King Frederik IX of Denmark and Princess Ingrid of Sweden. Her paternal grandparents were King Christian X of Denmark and Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Her maternal grandparents were King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, who died before her husband became king. Queen Margrethe married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat and had two sons.

Margrethe has nine genetic first cousins and two first cousins by adoption. She shares her first cousins with her siblings Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, Queen of Greece.

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Queen Margrethe II’s Paternal Uncle: Child of King Christian X of Denmark and Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

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Queen Margrethe II’s Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught

PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Hereditary Prince Knud of Denmark and Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark

Embed from Getty Images 

Princess Elisabeth of Denmark (1935 – 2018)

Princess Elisabeth was the only daughter and the eldest of the three children of Prince Knud of Denmark, the younger son of King Christian X of Denmark, and Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark. Because she did not receive any funds from the Danish government, Elisabeth worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and retired after 45 years of employment. Princess Elisabeth never married, perhaps to retain her position within the Danish Royal Family. Until her death, she was the last person in the line of succession to the Danish throne. Elisabeth had a long-term relationship with Claus Hermansen, a videographer, until his death in 1997.

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Count Ingolf of Rosenborg with his wife Countess Sussie

Count Ingolf of Rosenborg, born Prince Ingolf of Denmark (born 1940)

Born Prince Ingolf of Denmark, he was the elder son of the two sons and the second of the three children of Prince Knud of Denmark (son of King Christian X) and Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark. Ingolf decided to marry Inge Terney, an untitled commoner, without seeking the permission of his uncle King Frederik IX because he had little chance of succeeding to the throne and it was expected that the King would not give his permission. After his marriage, he lost both his royal style and title and his place in the Danish line of succession. He was styled His Excellency Count Ingolf of Rosenborg. After the death of his first wife, Ingolf married lawyer Sussie Hjorhøy Pedersen. He had no children from either marriage.

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Count Christian of Rosenborg and his wife Countess Anne Dorte; Credit – http://danishroyalmediawatch.blogspot.com

Count Christian of Rosenborg, born Prince Christian of Denmark (1942 – 2013)

Born Prince Christian of Denmark, he was the younger son of the two sons and the youngest of the three children of Prince Knud of Denmark (son of King Christian X) and Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark. Like his brother Ingolf, Christian married Anne Dorte Maltoft-Nielsen without his uncle King Frederik IX, forfeiting his succession rights and his royal style and title. After his wedding, he was styled His Excellency Count Christian of Rosenborg. The couple had three daughters who are not in the Danish line of succession.

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Princess Margaretha of Sweden, Mrs. Ambler (born 1934)

Princess Margaretha was the eldest of the five children and the eldest of the four daughters of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her father was the son of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught. Her mother was the daughter of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein. She is a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria through both of her parents. Princess Margaretha married British businessman John Ambler. Upon marriage, she lost her royal style and was styled Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler. The couple settled in England and had three children.

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Princess Birgitta of Sweden, Princess of Hohenzollern (born 1937)

Princess Birgitta was the second of the five children and the second of the four daughters of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her father was the son of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught. Her mother was the daughter of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein. She is a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria through both of her parents. Princess Birgitta married Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern and the couple had three children. Because she married a man of princely status, Birgitta retained her royal style and title as Princess of Sweden and is the only one of her sisters to remain an official member of the Swedish Royal House.

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Princess Désirée of Sweden, Baroness Silfverschiöld (born 1938)

Princess Désirée was the third of the five children and the third of the four daughters of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her father was the son of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught. Her mother was the daughter of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein. She is a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria through both of her parents. The princess married Baron Nils-August Otto Carl Niclas Silfverschiöld and the couple had three children. Due to her husband’s non-royal status, Désirée lost her royal status was styled Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld.

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Princess Christina of Sweden, Mrs. Magnuson  (born 1943)

Princess Christina was the fourth of the five children and the fourth of the four daughters of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her father was the son of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught. Her mother was the daughter of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein. She is a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria through both of her parents. Christina married Tord Magnuson and they had three sons. Like her sisters Margaretha and Désirée, she lost her royal style and title, becoming Princess Christina, Silfverschiöld.

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King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (born 1946)

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden was the fifth of the five children and the only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her father was the son of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught. Her mother was the daughter of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein. He is a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria through both of his parents. When Carl Gustaf was only nine months old, his father died in an airplane crash. At that time, Carl Gustaf became second in the line of succession behind his grandfather. His grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf died in 1973 and Carl Gustaf became king at the age of 27. Carl Gustaf married Silvia Sommerlath, born in Germany, and the couple had two daughters and one son.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Count Sigvard Bernadotte of Wisborg, born Prince Sigvard of Sweden, and Sonia Robbert

Count Michael Bernadotte of Wisborg (born 1944)

Count Michael Bernadotte of Wisborg married Christine Diotima Elisabeth Wellhofer and they had one daughter.

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Maternal First Cousins:  Adopted Children of Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Wisborg, born Prince Carl Johan of Sweden, and Kerstin Wijkmark

Monika Bernadotte (born 1948, adopted in 1951)

Monika Bernadotte married Count Johan Peder Bonde. They had three children and divorced after 21 years of marriage.

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Christian Bernadotte (born 1949, adopted in 1950)

Christian Bernadotte married Marianne Jenny. They have three children.

The Peerage: Christian Bernadotte, Count Bernadotte

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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

  • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
  • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

Harthacnut, King of Denmark and England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit – Wikipedia

The last of the House of Denmark to reign in England, Harthacnut was the elder of the two children and the only son of Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway and his second wife Emma of Normandy, daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy. Harthacnut was born in England around 1018.

After Cnut’s conquest of England in 1016, he had put aside his first wife Ælfgifu of Northampton and married Emma of Normandy, the widow of Æthelred II the Unready, King of the English. At that time, it was acceptable to put aside one wife and take another. Cnut succeeded his brother Harald II as King of Denmark in 1019. In 1029, Cnut invaded Norway and when King Olaf II of Norway was killed in 1030 at the Battle of Stiklestad, Cnut became King of Norway. He also ruled parts of Sweden, Pomerania, and Schleswig. Cnut’s dominions were known as the North Sea Empire.

The North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great; Credit – By Hel-hama – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19863973

Harthacnut had one younger sibling:

Harthacnut had two half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Ælfgifu of Northampton:

Harthacnut’s mother Emma of Normandy, with her two sons by Æthelred II; Credit – Wikipedia

Harthacnut had three half-siblings from the first marriage of his mother Emma of Normandy to Æthelred II, King of the English:

Harthacnut was first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle when he and his mother attended the transfer of the remains of Ælfheah, Archbishop of Canterbury from London to Canterbury in June 1023. In 1028, at the age of ten, Harthacnut accompanied his father to Denmark. Cnut left his son there as his deputy and he was still in Denmark when Cnut died on November 12, 1035.

Cnut, King of England, Denmark, and Norway, and his sons Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut; Credit – Wikipedia

Cnut had decreed that any sons of his second marriage should take precedence over the sons of his first marriage. This meant that Cnut and Emma’s only son Harthacnut was the legitimate heir to England and Denmark. As Harthacnut was in Denmark, he easily succeeded his father as King of Denmark. However, he was unable to come to England because Denmark was under threat of invasion by Norway and Sweden. Because of this, the council elected Cnut’s son by his first wife Harold Harefoot Regent of England as a temporary measure. Harold Harefoot, almost immediately, requested that he be proclaimed King of England but Æthelnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to do so.

In 1037, with the support of Leofric, Earl of Mercia and other nobles, Harold Harefoot was proclaimed King of England and crowned in Oxford. One of his first acts was to banish his stepmother Emma, who went into exile in Bruges, then in Flanders, now in Belgium. Harold Harefoot had a short reign, dying in Oxford, England on March 17, 1040, aged about 24-years-old.

On June 14, 1040, Harthacnut arrived at Sandwich, England with sixty-two warships and ascended the English throne unchallenged. He had Harald Harefoot’s body exhumed, decapitated, and thrown into a swamp but then it was retrieved and thrown in the River Thames. Shortly afterward, Harold Harefoot’s body was pulled from the River Thames by a fisherman and was buried at St. Clement Danes Church in London.

Harthacnut was crowned at Canterbury Cathedral on June 18, 1040, by Eadsige, Archbishop of Canterbury. England was accustomed to the king ruling with a council but Harthacnut became more authoritarian. To enlarge and maintain his naval fleet, he severely increased the taxation rate. At the same time, the tax rate was increased, the harvest was poor and this caused hardship and dissatisfaction. The town of Worcester became the focal point of the tax resistance against Harthacnut. Two tax collectors were killed there in May 1041. A military force was sent to deal with the situation but the townspeople defended themselves by moving away from the town. However, Harthacnut’s army sacked and burned Worcester. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says about Harthacnut, “He never did anything worthy of a king while he reigned.”

Death of King Harthacnut at a wedding feast; Credit – Wikipedia

Harthacnut was unmarried and in 1041, he invited his half-brother Edward (the Confessor) home from his exile in Normandy and made him his heir. On June 8, 1042, Harthacnut attended a wedding in Lambeth, London, England. As he was drinking to celebrate the wedding, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, “He died while standing with his drink. Suddenly he fell to the ground with violent convulsions.” Harthacnut was only 23-24 years old. There were unproven suspicions that he was poisoned and certainly there were people who would have benefitted from his death. His death also could have been caused by a stroke due to excessive drinking. A 2015 study speculated that perhaps up to fourteen Danish kings, including Harthacnut, who suddenly died at a relatively young age without being ill, possibly died of Brugada Syndrome, a genetic disorder in which the electrical activity in the heart is abnormal. It increases the risk of abnormal heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death.

Harthacnut’s half-brother Edward the Confessor succeeded him as King of England. A political agreement Harthacnut had made with King Magnus I of Norway stated Magnus would succeed him as King of Denmark. Harthacnut was initially buried at the Old Minster in Winchester, England. When the Old Minster was demolished in 1093, Harthacnut’s remains were moved to Winchester Cathedral and were placed in a mortuary chest near the shrine of St. Swithun. However, his remains were ultimately interred in a tomb below the eastern arch of the cathedral in the north aisle. In 1525, Harthacnut’s tomb was remodeled and a plaque was placed on the tomb.

Harthacnut’s tomb in Winchester Cathedral; Credit – http://www.dandebat.dk/

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.

England: House of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Ashley, M. (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub.
  • Cannon, J. and Griffiths, R. (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Harthacnut. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harthacnut [Accessed 4 Mar. 2019].
  • Flantzer, S. (2019). Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/cnut-the-great-king-of-england-denmark-and-norway/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].
  • Flantzer, S. (2019). Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, Denmark, and Norway. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/emma-of-normandy-queen-of-england-denmark-and-norway/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].
  • Flantzer, S. (2019). Harold I Harefoot, King of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at:  https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/harold-harefoot-or-harold-i-king-of-england/[Accessed 28 Feb. 2019]
  • Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit – Wikipedia

One of only two British monarchs to be given the epithet “the Great” (the other was Alfred the Great), Cnut was King of England, Denmark, and Norway and together his dominions were called the North Sea Empire. He was born circa 995 in Denmark, the elder son of Sweyn Forkbeard, then King of Denmark and Norway, later also King of England. Sweyn Forkbeard had two wives: Sigrid Storråda (the Haughty) and Gunhilda of Wenden. Both women are mentioned in the Norse sagas but there is very little information about them in the medieval chronicles. Sweyn Forkbeard had seven known children but which of the two women are their mothers is uncertain. It is probable that Gunhilda of Wenden was the mother of Cnut and his brother Harald.

Cnut had six known siblings:

Hardly anything is known about Cnut until 1013 when he was part of an army under his father Sweyn Forkbeard in his invasion of England. This was a culmination of Sweyn Forkbeard’s raids in England since 1003. According to The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 1002 Æthelred II, King of the English was told that the Danish men in England “would faithlessly take his life, and then all his councilors, and possess his kingdom afterward.” In response, Æthelred “ordered slain all the Danish men who were in England.” St. Brice’s Day Massacre occurred on November 13, 1002. There was a significant loss of life including Gunhilde, the sister of Sweyn Forkbeard. In retaliation, Sweyn attacked England during 1003 – 1004 but famine in 1005 caused him to retreat. The Danish invaders returned and within a few years, all of England came under Danish rule. On Christmas Day in 1013, Sweyn was formally proclaimed King of England. Æthelred II had fled to the Isle of Wight and then to Normandy.

However, Sweyn Forkbeard’s reign was short-lived as he suddenly died on February 3, 1014. Sweyn’s younger son succeeded him as Harald II, King of Denmark, and his elder son Cnut, was proclaimed King of England by the Danes in England. However, English noblemen sent a deputation to Æthelred II to negotiate his restoration to the throne. Æthelred returned from exile in Normandy in the spring of 1014, managed to drive Cnut out of England, and then reigned until his death on April 23, 1016.

Medieval illumination depicting Kings Edmund Ironside (left) and Cnut (right), from the Chronica Majora written and illustrated by Matthew Paris; Credit – Wikipedia

Æthelred II’s son Edmund Ironside became King of the English but had to fight Cnut to keep the Kingdom of England. He earned the added name “Ironside” because of his bravery in resisting the Danish invasion led by Cnut the Great. The war between Edmund and Cnut ended in a decisive victory for Cnut at the Battle of Assandun on October 18, 1016. Because Edmund’s reputation as a warrior was great, Cnut agreed to divide England, with Edmund taking Wessex and Cnut the rest of the country beyond the River Thames. However, Edmund died on November 30, 1016, and Cnut the Great became King of England. Cnut succeeded his brother Harald II as King of Denmark in 1019. In 1029, Cnut invaded Norway and when King Olaf II of Norway was killed in 1030 at the Battle of Stiklestad, Cnut became King of Norway. He eventually also ruled parts of Sweden, Pomerania, and Schleswig.

Cnut’s North Sea Empire: Red = Countries where Cnut was king, Orange = Countries where rulers submitted to Cnut, Yellow = Countries who were allies of Cnut; Credit – By Soerfm – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65042103

Cnut’s first wife was Ælfgifu of Northampton, daughter of Ælfhelm, Ealdorman of Northumbria. In 1006, her father and brothers came under suspicion of consorting with the Danes in northern England. Her father was murdered and her brothers were blinded, probably at the command of Æthelred II. When Sweyn Forkbeard invaded England, the people of the north, many of them of Scandinavian descent, immediately submitted to him. He then married his son Cnut to Ælfgifu to seal their loyalty.

After Cnut’s conquest of England in 1016, he married Emma of Normandy, the widow of King Æthelred II. At that time, it was acceptable to put aside one wife and take another. Exactly how Cnut’s second marriage affected Ælfgifu’s status is unknown but there is no evidence to suggest that she was repudiated. In fact, in 1030, after the defeat and death of King Olaf II of Norway by forces loyal to Cnut, Cnut sent Ælfgifu with their eldest son Sweyn to govern Norway. Their rule was considered oppressive by the Norwegians and they were expelled in 1035.  Magnus the Good, a son of Olaf II, then became King of Norway. There are no records of Ælfgifu after 1036 but it is unknown when she died.

Cnut and Ælfgifu had two sons:

Cnut’s second wife, Emma of Normandy, with her two sons by Æthelred II; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1017, Cnut thought it would be expedient to marry Æthelred II’s widow and sent for Emma of Normandy, a daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy. It is unclear whether Emma married Cnut by force or if she chose to accept Cnut’s proposal but she returned to England from Normandy and married Cnut.

Emma and Cnut had two children:

Emma’s children by Æthelred II remained in exile in Normandy:

Emma and Cnut’s marriage had begun as a loveless, political strategy but Emma’s importance in the affairs of the kingdom grew. Chroniclers often mentioned that Emma was alongside her husband as if they were inseparable from each other one. After Cnut became King of Denmark in 1019 and King of Norway in 1028, it was often necessary for him to be absent from England and Emma assumed a form of regency during those periods with the main nobles of the kingdom and the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.

Cnut the Great died on November 12, 1035, when he was about 40-years-old. He was buried at the Old Minster in Winchester. When the Old Minster was demolished in 1093, Canute’s remains were moved to Winchester Cathedral. They are among the remains in the mortuary chests that rest on top of the choir screen. Cnut was succeeded in England by Harold Harefoot, his son from his first marriage to Ælfgifu of Northampton, and in Denmark by Harthacnut, his son from his second marriage to Emma of Normandy.

Mortuary chest from Winchester Cathedral that claims to contain the remains of Cnut and his second wife Emma; 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.

England: House of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Ashley, M. (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub.
  • Cannon, J. and Griffiths, R. (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Da.wikipedia.org. (2019). Knud den Store. [online] Available at: https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knud_den_Store [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].
  • Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Cnut the Great. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnut_the_Great [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].
  • Flantzer, S. (2019). Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, Denmark, and Norway. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/emma-of-normandy-queen-of-england-denmark-and-norway/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].
  • Flantzer, S. (2019). Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark, Norway, and England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/sweyn-forkbeard-king-of-denmark-king-of-norway-king-of-england/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].
  • Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark, Norway, and England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Sweyn Forkbeard, from an architectural element in the Swansea Guildhall, Swansea, Wales; Credit – Wikipedia

Born about 960, Sweyn Forkbeard was the son of Harald Bluetooth, King of Denmark and Norway and probably his first wife Gunhild of Wenden. Harald Bluetooth, who unified Denmark and Norway in the tenth century and eventually lost Norway, was the inspiration for the name of the wireless technology company Bluetooth. The Bluetooth logo    is a bind rune merging the runes  Runic letter ior.svg (Hagall) (ᚼ) and Runic letter berkanan.svg (Bjarkan) (ᛒ), Harald’s initials.

Besides Gunhild, Harald Bluetooth had two other wives: Tove of the Obotrites and Gyrid Olafsdottir of Sweden. Harald had three other children besides Sweyn but there is no certainty which of his wives were their mothers.

Sweyn Forkbeard’s siblings:

In 986, Sweyn became King of Denmark. Sweyn and Olav I, King of Norway sailed up the River Thames and raided London in 994. Æthelred II, King of the English and his council bought them off with 22,000 pounds of gold and silver, thereby instituting the policy of paying regular protection money called Danegeld to the Danes. These raids and the subsequent payment of Danegeld continued for several years.

Sweyn later made an alliance with Olof Skötkonung, King of Sweden, and Eirik Hákonarson, Jarl of Lade and together they ambushed Sweyn’s former ally Olav I, King of Norway in the Baltic Sea. Norway was divided up among the three victors.

Sweyn Forkbeard invading England; Credit – Wikipedia

According to The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 1002 Æthelred II, King of the English was told that the Danish men in England “would faithlessly take his life, and then all his councilors, and possess his kingdom afterward.” In response, Æthelred “ordered slain all the Danish men who were in England.” St. Brice’s Day Massacre occurred on November 13, 1002, the feast day of St. Brice, fifth-century Bishop of Tours. There was a significant loss of life including Gunhilde, the sister of Sweyn Forkbeard. In retaliation, Sweyn attacked England during 1003 – 1004, burning Norwich but a famine in 1005 caused him to retreat. The Danish invaders returned and within a few years, all of England came under Danish rule. On Christmas Day in 1013, Sweyn was formally proclaimed King of England. Æthelred had fled to the Isle of Wight and then to Normandy.

Sweyn’s marriage history is sketchy. Sigrid Storråda (the Haughty) supposedly was the daughter of Skogul-Tosti, a powerful Swedish nobleman and the widow of Eric the Victorious, King of Sweden. Gunhilda of Wenden supposedly was a Polish or Slavic princess. Both women are mentioned in the Norse sagas but there is very little information about them in medieval chronicles. Sweyn had seven known children but which of the two women are their mothers is uncertain.

Sweyn Forkbeard’s daughter, Estrid Svendsdatter, was the mother of King Sweyn II of Denmark. Her descendants have reigned in Denmark ever since. One of her descendants, Margaret of Denmark, married James III, King of Scots in 1469, introducing Sweyn’s bloodline into the Scottish royal house. In 1603, James VI, King of Scots inherited the English throne upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I. Since that time, all English and British monarchs have been Sweyn’s descendants.

Swen Forkbeard by Lorenz Frølich, circa 1883-1886. The work was made as decoration in Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark and was inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry from the 1000s; Credit – Wikipedia

Sweyn made his English base in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire and he began to organize his new kingdom. However, his reign was short-lived as he suddenly died in Gainsborough on February 3, 1014, at around the age of 54. Although there are reports that Sweyn died after a fall from his horse, a 2015 study speculated that he may have died from Brugada Syndrome, a genetic disorder in which the electrical activity in the heart is abnormal. It increases the risk of abnormal heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death. The study showed that perhaps up to fourteen Danish kings who suddenly died at a relatively young age without being ill possibly died of Brugada Syndrome.

Sweyn’s father Harald Bluetooth had named Roskilde the capital of Denmark in 960 and a small wooden church dedicated to the Holy Trinity was built on the site of the current Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial site of the Danish monarchs. Harald Bluetooth was buried at the Holy Trinity Church. Sweyn Forkbeard was first buried in England and his remains were later moved to Denmark where they were interred near his father at the Holy Trinity Church. However, their tombs have never been found.

Sweyn’s younger son succeeded him as Harold II, King of Denmark, and his elder son Cnut (the Great), was proclaimed King of England by the Danes in England. However, leading English noblemen sent a deputation to Æthelred II to negotiate his restoration to the throne. Æthelred returned from exile in Normandy in the spring of 1014 and managed to drive Cnut out of England. In 1016, following the deaths of Æthelred and his son Edmund Ironside, Cnut became King of England. He succeeded his brother as King of Denmark in 1019.  He eventually also became King of Norway, and also ruled parts of Sweden, Pomerania, and Schleswig. Cnut and his sons Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut ruled England from 1016 – 1042. After Harthacnut’s death, the English throne reverted to the House of Wessex under Æthelred II’s younger son Edward the Confessor.

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.

England: House of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Ashley, M. (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub.
  • Cannon, J. and Griffiths, R. (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Da.wikipedia.org. (2019). Svend Tveskæg. [online] Available at: https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svend_Tvesk%C3%A6g [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019].
  • Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Sweyn Forkbeard. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweyn_Forkbeard [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019].
  • Flantzer, S. (2015). Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/aethelred-ii-the-unready-king-of-the-english/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2019].
  • Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

Emma of Normandy was the queen consort of two Kings of England and the mother of two Kings of England. Born in Normandy around 985, she was the eldest daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, and his second wife Gunnora de Crêpon. Richard and Gunnora met shortly after the death of his childless first wife. Gunnora was living with her sister Seinfreda and her husband, the local forester. Richard had heard how beautiful Seinfreda was and stopped by her home while hunting. He ordered Seinfreda to come to his bed but she substituted her unmarried sister Gunnora. Richard was pleased with Gunnora and the couple went on to have three sons and three daughters. The Dukes of Normandy recognized marriage by cohabitation. However, Richard was prevented from nominating his son Robert as Archbishop of Rouen because, in the eyes of the Church, his children were illegitimate, and so the couple married.

Emma had five siblings:

Æthelred II, King of the English; Credit – Wikipedia

Shortly after the death of his first wife, Æthelred II, King of the English sent an emissary to Normandy to ask for Emma’s hand in marriage. The marriage would benefit both Æthelred and Emma’s brother Richard II, Duke of Normandy. Viking raids on England were often based in Normandy and Æthelred hoped to quell the Viking threat. Richard hoped to improve relations with the English in the wake of the recent conflict. This marriage would also prove important in the future because it gave Richard II’s grandson, William the Conqueror, the basis of his claim to the throne of England.

During Lent 1002, Emma and her entourage arrived in England. It is probable that she married Æthelred sometime after Easter, most likely in April. Emma was given the Anglo-Saxon name of Ælfgifu, to be used for formal and official matters, and became Queen of England.

Emma with her sons Edward and Alfred; Credit – Wikipedia

Emma and Æthelred had three children:

Emma also became the stepmother to Æthelred’s children from his first marriage to Ælfgifu of York. All of Æthelred’s sons were named after Æthelred’s predecessors. Ætheling was used in Anglo-Saxon England to designate princes of the royal dynasty who were eligible for the kingship.

In 1013, Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark and Norway launched an invasion with the goal of also becoming King of England. As Sweyn’s forces approached southern England, Emma and her children were sent to the Isle of Wight for safety. Æthelred soon followed them to the Isle of Wight and in August 1013, he sent Emma and their children to safety in Normandy. By the end of 1013, English resistance had collapsed and Sweyn had conquered the country, became King of England, and forced Æthelred into exile in Normandy.

Sweyn Forkbeard’s reign did not last long as he died on February 3, 1014. The Danes in England swore their allegiance to Sweyn’s son Cnut the Great but leading English noblemen sent a deputation to Æthelred to negotiate his restoration to the throne. Æthelred launched an attack against Cnut and his allies. However, Cnut’s army had not completed its preparations and in April 1014, he decided to withdraw from England without a fight. Æthelred returned to England and reigned until his death in London on April 23, 1016.

Æthelred was succeeded by his eldest surviving son from his first marriage Edmund II (Ironside). After Æthelred’s death, Cnut attacked London and demanded a large sum of money for Emma’s ransom. London held out and Cnut was forced to retreat from London but he did not leave England. Edmund fought five battles against the Danes, ending in his defeat on October 18, 1016, at the Battle of Assandun. Edmund and Cnut agreed to divide the Kingdom of England with Edmund taking Wessex and Cnut the rest. However, Edmund died on November 30, 1016, leaving two young sons. Cnut became the king of all England and exiled the remaining members of Edmund’s family.

Emma and Cnut; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1017, Cnut thought it would be expedient to marry Æthelred’s widow and sent for Emma. It is unclear whether Emma married Cnut by force or if she chose to accept Cnut’s proposal but she returned to England and married Cnut. Her children by Æthelred remained in exile in Normandy.

Emma and Cnut had two children:

Emma and Cnut’s marriage had begun as a loveless, political strategy but Emma’s importance in the affairs of the kingdom grew. Chroniclers often mentioned that Emma was alongside her husband as if they were inseparable from the other one. Cnut became King of Denmark in 1019 and King of Norway in 1028. It was often necessary for Cnut to be absent from England and Emma assumed a form of regency during those periods with the main nobles of the kingdom and the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.

Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

Cnut died in 1035 and was succeeded in England by Harold Harefoot, his son from his first marriage to Ælfgifu of Northampton, and in Denmark by Harthacnut, his son from his second marriage to Emma. In 1036, Edward the Confessor and Alfred Ætheling, Emma’s sons from her marriage to Æthelred, returned to England from their exile in Normandy to visit their mother. As they made their way to London, they were betrayed. Alfred Ætheling was blinded with a hot iron to his eyes and died soon afterward. Edward escaped the attack and returned to Normandy. It is unclear exactly who was behind the attack on Alfred Ætheling. Some historians claim Harold Harefoot was behind the attack so he could rid himself of two more potential claimants to the English throne by killing Edward and Alfred. Other historians argue that Godwin, Earl of Wessex, who was traveling with Alfred and Edward as their protector, could have been the instigator of the attack.

When Harold Harefoot died in 1040, Harthacnut, King of Denmark also became King of England. Harthacnut lived only two more years and upon his death in 1042, Emma’s surviving son from the marriage to Æthelred, Edward the Confessor, became King of England. Harthacnut’s throne in Denmark was inherited by Magnus I, King of Norway. Emma was present at Edward’s coronation on Easter, April 3, 1043, at the Old Minster in Winchester, England.

Emma died on March 6, 1052, at St. Mary’s Abbey in Winchester, England, aged 66-67. She was buried at the Old Minster in Winchester beside her second husband Cnut and their son Harthacnut. When the Old Minster was demolished in 1093, Emma’s remains were moved to Winchester Cathedral. They were among the remains in the labeled mortuary chests that rest on top of the choir screen.  During the English Civil War, Winchester Cathedral was ransacked and the remains were scattered.  The remains were returned to the mortuary chests but were mixed up. In 2012, an examination of the remains in the chests began. The examination included DNA testing, reassembly of the skeletons, and analysis to determine the sex, age, and other characteristics of the remains. In May 2019, it was announced that Emma’s remains were found in several chests.

Mortuary chest from Winchester Cathedral that claims to contain the remains of Cnut and Emma; Credit – Wikipedia

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England: House of Wessex Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Ashley, M. (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub.
  • Cannon, J. and Griffiths, R. (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Cnut the Great. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnut_the_Great [Accessed 25 Feb. 2019].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Emma of Normandy. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_of_Normandy [Accessed 25 Feb. 2019].
  • Flantzer, S. (2015). Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/aethelred-ii-the-unready-king-of-the-english/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2019].
  • Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

Princess Josephine of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Princess Josephine and her twin brother Prince Vincent; Photo: Dennis Stenild, Kongehuset © 2024

Princess Josephine of Denmark was born on January 8, 2011, at the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is the fourth of the four children and the younger of the two daughters of King Frederik X of Denmark and his Australian-born wife Queen Mary of Denmark, born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson. 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 Princess Isabella is ahead of her younger brother Prince Vincent in the line of succession to the Danish throne. Josephine was born twenty-six minutes after the birth of her twin brother which means she comes after him in the line of succession. With the abdication of her grandmother Queen Martgrethe II and the accession of her father as King Frederik X on January 14, 2024, Princess Josephine is fourth in the Danish line of succession after her elder brother Crown Prince Christian, her elder sister Princess Isabella, and her twin brother Prince Vincent.

Princess Josephine’s family: Princess Josephine, Crown Prince Frederik, Princess Isabella, Crown Princess Mary, Prince Vincent, Prince Christian (change photo Janunary14)

Josephine has an older brother and an older sister along with her twin brother:

Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine with their parents; Credit – The Danish Monarchy, photographer Steen Brogaard

Princess Josephine was christened along with her twin brother Prince Vincent on April 14, 2011, at Holmen Kirke in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was given the names Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda. Ivalo is a Greenlandic name given in honor of Denmark’s autonomous territory Greenland.

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Princess Josephine with her parents & godparents; Credit – The Danish Monarchy, photographer Steen Brogaard

Her godparents were:

  • Princess Marie of Denmark, wife of her paternal uncle, born Marie Cavallier
  • Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro
  • Patricia Bailey, her maternal aunt
  • Count Bendt Wedell, her parents’ friend
  • Birgitte Handwerk, her mother’s friend
  • Josephine Rechner, her mother’s friend
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Josephine with her twin brother and parents on the twins’ first day of school

On August 15, 2017, Princess Josephine started attending a public school her elder siblings attend, Tranegårdskolen (link in Danish) in Hellerup, Gentofte Municipality,  a Copenhagen suburban municipality. In August 2023, Josephine started attending Kildegård Privatskole (link in Danish) in Hellerup.

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 Josephine and her siblings Princess Isabella and Prince Vincent 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. Josephine’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.