The Danish royal family is the

dynastic A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A d ...

family of the

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

. All members of the Danish royal family except

Queen Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

hold the title of ''Prince/Princess of Denmark''. Dynastic children of the monarch and of the

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

are accorded the style of ''His/Her Royal Highness'', while other members of the dynasty are addressed as ''His/Her Highness''. The Queen is styled ''Her Majesty''. The Queen, her siblings and her descendants belong to the

House of Glücksburg The House of Glücksburg (also spelled ''Glücksborg'' or ''Lyksborg''), shortened from House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, is a collateral branch of the German House of Oldenburg, members of which have reigned at various times ...

, which is a branch of the Royal

House of Oldenburg The House of Oldenburg is a German dynasty with links to Denmark since the 15th century. It has branches that rule or have ruled in Denmark, Iceland, Greece, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Schleswig, Holstein, and Oldenburg. The cu ...

. The Queen's children and male-line descendants also belong agnatically to the family de Laborde de Monpezat, and were given the concurrent title ''Count/Countess of Monpezat'' by royal decree on 30 April 2008. The Danish royal family receives remarkably high approval ratings in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, ranging between 82% and 92%.

Main members

The Danish royal family includes: * The

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

(the monarch) ** The

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the w ...

and

Crown Princess A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...

(the Queen's son and daughter-in-law) *** Prince Christian (the Queen's grandson) *** Princess Isabella (the Queen's granddaughter) *** Prince Vincent (the Queen's grandson) *** Princess Josephine (the Queen's granddaughter) ** Prince Joachim and Princess Marie (the Queen's son and daughter-in-law) *** Prince Nikolai (the Queen's grandson) *** Prince Felix (the Queen's grandson) ***

Prince Henrik Prince Henrik of Denmark (; born Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat; 11 June 1934 – 13 February 2018) was the husband of Margrethe II of Denmark. He served as her royal consort from Margrethe's accession on 14 January 1972 unt ...

(the Queen's grandson) *** Princess Athena (the Queen's granddaughter) * The Dowager Princess of Sayn-Wittenstein-Berleburg (the Queen's sister) *

Queen Anne-Marie of Greece Anne-Marie, ( el, Άννα-Μαρία ; born 30 August 1946) is a Greek and Danish royal who was the last Queen of Greece from 1964 to 1973 as the wife of King Constantine II. The Greek monarchy was abolished with the 1974 Greek Republic Re ...

(the Queen's sister)

Family tree of members

;Note * ''Extended members include the Greek Royal Family''

Members of the extended royal family

Royal family of Greece

Most of the members of the deposed royal family of Greece hold the title of ''Prince'' or ''Princess of Greece and Denmark'' with the qualification of ''His'' or ''Her Highness'', pursuant to the Royal Cabinet Order of 1774 and as

agnatic Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

descendants of

George I of Greece George I ( Greek: Γεώργιος Α΄, ''Geórgios I''; 24 December 1845 – 18 March 1913) was King of Greece from 30 March 1863 until his assassination in 1913. Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen, and seemed destined for ...

, who, as the son of the future King Christian IX of Denmark, was (and remained) a "Prince of Denmark" prior to his accession to the throne of Greece in 1863. Until 1953 his dynastic male-line descendants remained in Denmark's order succession. However, no Danish act has revoked usage of the princely title for these descendants, neither for those living in 1953, nor for those born subsequently or who have since married into the dynasty. There are three members of the Greek royal family who are not known to bear the title of ''Prince/ss of Denmark'' with the qualification of ''His/Her Highness. * Marina, Princess Michael of Greece and Denmark ** Princess Alexandra of Greece ** The Duchess of Aosta The following, consorts of royal monarchs today, were born with the titles of Prince/Princess of Greece and Denmark although they are not descended from King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie: *

Queen Sofia of Spain Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

(King Constantine's sister and Queen Anne-Marie's sister-in-law)

Royal family of Norway

The royal family of Norway descends in the legitimate male line from

Frederick VIII of Denmark Frederick VIII ( da, Christian Frederik Vilhelm Carl; 3 June 1843 – 14 May 1912) was King of Denmark from 29 January 1906 until his death in 1912. The eldest son of King Christian IX, nicknamed the ''Father-in-law of Europe'', Frederi ...

, Queen Margrethe II's great-grandfather.

Haakon VII of Norway Haakon VII (; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957. Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederick V ...

, who was born Prince Carl of Denmark as Frederick VIII's younger son, was, like his uncle, George I of Greece, invited to

reign A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Andorra), of a people (e.g., the Franks, the Zulus) or of a spiritual community (e.g., Catholicism, Tibetan Buddhism ...

over another nation. As with the Greek branch's descendants, members of the Norwegian line no longer have succession rights to the Danish crown, but unlike the Greek dynasts they discontinued use of Danish royal titles upon ascending to the Norwegian throne in 1905.

Counts and countesses of Monpezat

On 30 April 2008, the Queen of Denmark granted to her two sons, Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim, and their legitimate patrilineal descendants of both sexes the hereditary title " Count of Monpezat". The title is based on the French title "Comte de Laborde de Monpezat" which was used by their father Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark. On 29 September 2022, it was announced that from 1 January 2023 on, the titles of Prince and Princess of Denmark, and style of ''

Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style used to address (in second person) or refer to (in third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty. It is typically used with a possessive adje ...

'' of the 4 children of

's younger son, Prince Joachim, will be discontinued. They will be instead titled as "His/Her Excellency Count/Countess Nikolai/ Felix/ Henrik/

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...

of Monpezat".All four grandchildren maintain their places in the order of succession to the throne.

Counts and countesses of Rosenborg

Danish princes who marry without consent of the Danish monarch lose their succession rights, as do their descendants. They are then usually accorded the

hereditary title Hereditary titles, in a general sense, are nobility titles, positions or styles that are hereditary and thus tend or are bound to remain in particular families. Though both monarchs and nobles usually inherit their titles, the mechanisms often di ...

"Count of Rosenborg". They, their wives, and their legitimate male-line descendants are: * Count Ingolf and Countess Sussie of Rosenborg ( Prince Knud of Denmark's elder son and his wife) * Countess Josephine of Rosenborg (daughter of Prince Knud of Denmark's younger son,

Count Christian of Rosenborg Count Christian of Rosenborg (Christian Frederik Franz Knud Harald Carl Oluf Gustav Georg Erik; 22 October 1942 – 21 May 2013) was a member of the Danish royal family. Born Prince Christian of Denmark, he was high in the line of succession unt ...

) * Countess Camilla of Rosenborg (daughter of Prince Knud of Denmark's younger son, Count Christian of Rosenborg) * Countess Feodora of Rosenborg (daughter of Prince Knud of Denmark's younger son, Count Christian of Rosenborg) * Count Ulrik and Countess Judi of Rosenborg (son of

Prince Harald of Denmark Prince Harald of Denmark (''Harald Christian Frederik''; 8 October 1876 – 30 March 1949) was a member of the Danish Royal Family. He was the third son and fourth child of Frederick VIII of Denmark and his wife, Lovisa of Sweden, and thus brothe ...

's younger son, Count Oluf of Rosenborg, and his wife) ** Count Philip of Rosenborg (Count Ulrik's son) ** Countess Katharina of Rosenborg (Count Ulrik's daughter) * Countess Charlotte of Rosenborg (daughter of Prince Harald of Denmark's younger son, Count Oluf of Rosenborg) * Count Axel and Countess Jutta of Rosenborg (son of Prince Axel of Denmark's younger son,

Count Flemming Valdemar of Rosenborg Count Flemming Valdemar Carl Axel of Rosenborg (9 March 1922 – 19 June 2002) was a former Danish prince. Life Prince Flemming was the youngest son and child of Prince Axel of Denmark (himself a son of Prince Valdemar of Denmark) and Princess Ma ...

, and his wife) ** Count Carl Johan of Rosenborg (Count Axel's son) ** Count Alexander of Rosenborg (Count Axel's son) ** Countess Julie of Rosenborg (Count Axel's daughter) ** Countess Désirée of Rosenborg (Count Axel's daughter) * Count Birger and Countess Lynne of Rosenborg (son of Prince Axel of Denmark's younger son, Count Flemming Valdemar of Rosenborg, and his wife) ** Countess Benedikte of Rosenborg (Count Birger's daughter) * Count Carl Johan and Countess Lisa Jeanne of Rosenborg (son of Prince Axel of Denmark's younger son, Count Flemming Valdemar of Rosenborg, and his wife) ** Countess Caroline of Rosenborg (Count Carl Johan's daughter) ** Countess Josefine of Rosenborg (Count Carl Johan's daughter) * Countess Désirée of Rosenborg (daughter of Prince Axel of Denmark's younger son, Count Flemming Valdemar of Rosenborg) * Countess Karin of Rosenborg (widow of Count Christian of Rosenborg, son of

Prince Valdemar of Denmark Prince Valdemar of Denmark (27 October 1858 – 14 January 1939) was a member of the Danish royal family. He was the third son and youngest child of Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. He had a lifelong naval career. Early l ...

's third son, Count Erik of Rosenborg) ** Count Valdemar of Rosenborg (Count Christian's son) *** Count Nicolai of Rosenborg (Count Valdemar's son) *** Countess Marie of Rosenborg (Count Valdemar's daughter) ** Countess Marina of Rosenborg (Count Christian's daughter)

Counts and countesses of Samsøe

The

Danneskiold-Samsøe The House of Danneskiold-Samsøe is a Danish family of high nobility associated with the Danish Royal Family, and who formerly held the island of Samsø as a fief. By royal statutory regulation, the Counts Danneskiold-Samsøe and their male-li ...

family have been descendants of the eldest son of

Christian V Christian V (15 April 1646 25 August 1699) was king of Denmark and Norway from 1670 until his death in 1699. Well-regarded by the common people, he was the first king anointed at Frederiksborg Castle chapel as absolute monarch since the dec ...

and his mistress

Sofie Amalie Moth Sophie Amalie Moth, Countess of Samsøe (28 March 1654 – 17 January 1719) was the officially acknowledged royal mistress of King Christian V of Denmark. Together they had six acknowledged illegitimate children, all of whom bore the surname G ...

, whom the king elevated to be the first Lensgrevinde til Samsø ("Countess of Samsø"). A descendant, Countess Frederikke Louise af Danneskiold-Samsøe (1699-1744) married her kinsman Christian August, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. By royal statutory regulation, the Counts of Danneskiold-Samsøe and their male-line descendants are ranked as the second-highest nobles in Denmark, second only to the Counts of Rosenborg, whom also descent from the Danish Kings. With a place in the 1st Class No. 13, they are entitled to the

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

" His/Her Excellency".

Line of succession

The first law governing the succession to the Danish throne as a hereditary monarchy was the ''Kongeloven'' (''Lex Regia''), enacted 14 November 1665, and published in 1709.Gråsten Palace
/ref> It declared that the crown of Denmark shall descend by heredity to the legitimate descendants of King Frederick III, and that the

order of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.semi-Salic primogeniture, according to which the crown is inherited by an heir, with preference among the Monarch's children to males over females; among siblings to the elder over the younger; and among Frederick III's remoter descendants by substitution, senior branches over junior branches. Female descendants were eligible to inherit the throne in the event there were no eligible surviving male dynasts born in the

male line Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritan ...

. As for the duchies,

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

and Lauenburg where the King ruled as duke, these lands adhered to

Salic law The Salic law ( or ; la, Lex salica), also called the was the ancient Frankish civil law code compiled around AD 500 by the first Frankish King, Clovis. The written text is in Latin and contains some of the earliest known instances of Old D ...

(meaning that only males could inherit the ducal throne), and by mutual agreement were permanently conjoined. The duchies of

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...

(a Danish

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

), Holstein and Lauenburg (German fiefs) were joined in

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interli ...

with the Crown of Denmark. This difference caused problems when

Frederick VII of Denmark Frederick VII (Frederik Carl Christian; 6 October 1808 – 15 November 1863) was King of Denmark from 1848 to 1863. He was the last Danish monarch of the older Royal branch of the House of Oldenburg and the last king of Denmark to rule as ...

proved childless, making a change in dynasty imminent, and causing the lines of succession for the duchies on one hand and for Denmark on the other to diverge. That meant that the new King of Denmark would not also be the new Duke of Schleswig or Duke of Holstein. To ensure the continued adhesion of the Elbe duchies to the Danish Crown, the line of succession to the duchies was modified in the London Protocol of 1852, which designated Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, as the new

, although he was, strictly, the heir neither to the Crown of Denmark nor to the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein or Lauenburg by primogeniture. Originally, the Danish prime minister

Christian Albrecht Bluhme Christian Albrecht Bluhme (27 December 1794 – 6 November 1866) was a Danish lawyer and conservative politician who was the second Prime Minister of Denmark (first time from 1852 to 1853 with title of Prime Minister, second time from 1864 to ...

wanted to keep the separate hereditary principles, but in the end the government decided on a uniform

agnatic primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

, which was accepted by the Parliament. This order of succession remained in effect for a hundred years, then the Salic law was changed to

male-preference primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

in 1953, meaning that females with no brothers could inherit. In 2009, the mode of inheritance of the throne was once more changed, this time into an

absolute primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

. This imposed no immediate change on the line of succession as it was then, as Prince Vincent had not yet been born. the line of succession was: # The Crown Prince Frederik # Prince Christian # Princess Isabella # Prince Vincent # Princess Josephine # Prince Joachim # Prince Nikolai # Prince Felix #

# Princess Athena # Princess Benedikte

Privileges and restrictions

Following the transformation of Denmark's monarchy from elective (at least theoretically, although it had generally descended to the eldest son of the House of Oldenburg since 1448) to hereditary in 1660, the so-called ''Kongelov'' (''Lex Regia'' in Latin) of 1665 established the reign "by the grace of God" of King Frederick III and his posterity. Of the articles of this law, all except Article 21 and Article 25 have been repealed by amendments to the Constitution in 1849, 1853, 1953, and 2009. Article 21 states "No Prince of the Blood, who resides here in the Realm and in Our territory, shall marry, or leave the Country, or take service under foreign Masters, unless he receives Permission from the King". Under this provision, princes of Denmark who permanently reside in other realms by express permission of the Danish Crown (i.e. members of the dynasties of Greece, Norway and the United Kingdom) do not thereby forfeit their royalty in Denmark, nor are they bound to obtain prior permission to travel abroad or to marry from its sovereign, although since 1950 those not descended in male-line from King Christian IX are no longer in the line of succession to the Danish throne. However, those who do reside in Denmark or its territories require the monarch's prior permission to travel abroad and to marry. Article 25 stipulates, with respect to blood members of the Royal dynasty: "They should answer to no Magistrate Judges, but their first and last Judge shall be the King, or to whomsoever He decrees.". The wording excludes those whose blood cannot be traced to a Danish monarch (e.g., the present Crown Princess).

Notes

¹Princess Benedikte's children have no succession rights. This is because the marriage consent given to her had very specific provisions; if Benedikte ever became the heir presumptive, she and her husband would have to take permanent residence in Denmark and her children would only have succession rights if they had applied for naturalization upon reaching adulthood, and taken up residence in Denmark: (a) at the time of becoming the immediate heir to the throne, and (b) no later than when they reached the age of mandatory schooling under Danish law. Since the children continued to be educated in Germany well past the mandatory schooling age, they are deemed to no longer have succession rights. ²Queen Anne-Marie has no succession rights, and her descendants have none through her, because the permission granted for her marriage stipulated that she renounced her claim to the Danish throne upon becoming Queen consort of the Hellenes.

References

External links

Kongehuset.dk
Official site of the Danish Monarchy.

{{European Royal Families

Royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term pa ...

Danish culture Danish royal houses