Frederik IX of Denmark

Frederik IX (Christian Frederik Franz Michael Carl Valdemar Georg; 11 March 1899 – 14 January 1972) was King of Denmark from 1947 to 1972.

Frederik was born into the House of Glücksburg during the reign of his great-grandfather King Christian IX. He was the first child of Prince Christian of Denmark and Princess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (later King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine). He became crown prince when his father succeeded as king in 1912. As a young man, he was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy. In 1935, he married Princess Ingrid of Sweden. They had three daughters: Margrethe, Benedikte and Anne-Marie. During Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark, Frederik acted as regent on behalf of his father from 1942 until 1943.

Frederik became king on his father's death in April 1947. During Frederik's reign, Danish society changed rapidly, the welfare state was expanded and, as a consequence of the booming economy of the 1960s, women entered the labour market. The modernization brought new demands on the monarchy and Frederik's role as a constitutional monarch. Frederik died in 1972, and was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Margrethe II.

Birth and family

Prince Frederik was born on 11 March 1899 at his parents' country residence, the Sorgenfri Palace, located on the shores of the small river Mølleåen in Kongens Lyngby north of Copenhagen on the island of Zealand in Denmark, during the reign of his great-grandfather King Christian IX. His father was Prince Christian of Denmark (later King Christian X), the eldest son of Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Louise of Sweden (later King Frederik VIII and Queen Louise). His mother was Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the eldest daughter of Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia.

He was baptised in the ''Garden Room'' at Sorgenfri Palace on 9 April 1899 by the royal confessor Jakob Paulli. The young prince had 21 godparents: Christian IX of Denmark (his paternal great-grandfather); Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (his paternal grandfather); the Dowager Grand Duchess Anastasia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (his maternal grandmother); Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia (his maternal great-grandfather); Dowager Grand Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (his maternal step-great-grandmother); Prince Carl of Denmark (his paternal uncle); Princess Thyra of Denmark (his paternal aunt); Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (his maternal uncle); George I of Greece (his paternal great-uncle); Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (his paternal great-uncle by marriage); Ernest August, Duke of Cumberland (his paternal great-uncle by marriage); Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia (his maternal great-uncle); his first cousins once removed, Nicholas II of Russia, George, Duke of York, Prince George of Greece and Denmark and Georg Wilhelm, Hereditary Prince of Hanover; Crown Prince Constantine and Crown Princess Sophia of Greece (his first cousin once removed, and his wife); his paternal great-granduncles, Prince Johann of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway; and Crown Prince Gustaf and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden (his first cousin twice removed and his wife).

Frederik's only sibling, Knud, was born one year after Frederik. The family lived in apartments in Christian VIII's Palace at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, in Sorgenfri Palace near the capital and in a summer residence, Marselisborg Palace in Aarhus in Jutland, which Frederik's parents had received as a wedding present from the people of Denmark in 1898. In 1914, the King also built the villa Klitgården in Skagen in Northern Jutland.

Early life

Christian IX died on 29 January 1906, and Frederik's grandfather Crown Prince Frederik succeeded him as King Frederik VIII. Frederik's father became crown prince, and Frederik moved up to second in line to the throne.

Just six years later, on 14 May 1912, King Frederik VIII died, and Frederik's father ascended the throne as King Christian X. Frederik himself became crown prince. On 1 December 1918, as the Danish–Icelandic Act of Union recognized Iceland as a fully sovereign state in personal union with Denmark through a common monarch, Frederik also became crown prince of Iceland (where his name was officially spelled Friðrik). However, as a national referendum established the Republic of Iceland on 17 June 1944, he never succeeded as king of Iceland.

Frederik was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy (breaking with Danish royal tradition by choosing a naval instead of an army career) and the University of Copenhagen. Before he became king, he had acquired the rank of rear admiral and he had had several senior commands on active service. He acquired several tattoos during his naval service including dragons, birds, and other traditional tattoo motifs that were popular among sailors of the time.

In addition, with his great love of music, Frederik was an able piano player and conductor.

Marriage and issue

In the 1910s, Alexandrine considered the two youngest daughters of her cousin Tsar Nicholas II, Grand Duchesses Maria and Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, as possible wives for Frederik until the execution of the Romanov family in 1918. In 1922, Frederik was engaged to Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark, his double second cousin, through King Christian IX of Denmark and the other through Frederick Francis II. They never wed.

Instead, on 15 March 1935, a few days after his 36th birthday, his engagement to Princess Ingrid of Sweden (1910–2000), a daughter of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf (later King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden) and his first wife, Princess Margaret of Connaught, was announced. They had gotten engaged in private in the beginning of February. Frederik and Ingrid were related in several ways. In descent from Oscar I of Sweden and Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden, they were double third cousins. In descent from Paul I of Russia, Frederik was a fourth cousin of Ingrid's mother. They married in Stockholm Cathedral on 24 May 1935. Their wedding was one of the greatest media events of the day in Sweden in 1935, and among the wedding guests were the King and Queen of Denmark, the King and Queen of Belgium and the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway.

Upon their return to Denmark, the couple were given Frederik VIII's Palace at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen as their primary residence and Gråsten Palace in Northern Schleswig as a summer residence.

Their daughters are:
* Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, born 16 April 1940, married to Count Henri de Laborde of Monpezat and has two sons
* Princess Benedikte of Denmark, born 29 April 1944, married to Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and has three children
* Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, born 30 August 1946, married to King Constantine II of Greece and has five children

Reign

From 1942 until 1943, Frederik acted as regent on behalf of his father who was temporarily incapacitated after a fall from his horse in October 1942.

On 20 April 1947, Christian X died, and Frederik succeeded to the throne. He was proclaimed king from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace by Prime Minister Knud Kristensen.

Frederik IX's reign saw great change. During these years, Danish society shook off the restrictions of an agricultural society, developed a welfare state, and, as a consequence of the booming economy of the 1960s, women entered the labour market. In other words, Denmark became a modern country, which meant new demands on the monarchy.

In 1948, one year into the king's reign, the Faroe Islands obtained home rule and became a self-governing country within the Danish Realm.

Changes to the Act of Succession

As King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid had no sons, it was expected that the king's younger brother, Prince Knud, would inherit the throne, in accordance with Denmark's succession law (Royal Ordinance of 1853).

However, in 1953, an Act of Succession was passed, primarily changing the method of succession to male-preference primogeniture, allowing his daughters to succeed him if he had no sons. As a result, his eldest daughter, Margrethe, became heir presumptive.

Death and funeral

Shortly after Frederik delivered his New Year's address on 31 December 1971, he became ill with flu-like symptoms. On 1 January 1972, he received treatment for pneumonia, with his New Year levées scheduled for 5 and 6 January being cancelled. On 3 January, he suffered a cardiac arrest and was rushed to the Copenhagen Municipal Hospital. After a brief period of apparent improvement, the king's condition deteriorated further on 11 January, and he died three days later, on 14 January, at 7:50 pm surrounded by his immediate family and closest friends, having been unconscious since the previous day. He was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Margrethe II.

Following his death, Frederik's coffin was transported to his home at Amalienborg Palace, where it stood until 18 January, when it was moved to the chapel at Christiansborg Palace. There, the coffin was placed on '' castrum doloris'', a ceremony largely unchanged since introduced at the burial of Frederik III in 1670, and the last remaining royal ceremony where the Danish Crown Regalia is used. The king then lay in state for six days until his funeral, during which period the public could pay their last respects.

The funeral took place on 24 January 1972, and was split in two parts. A brief ceremony was first held in the chapel where the king had lain in state, in which the Bishop of Copenhagen, , said a brief prayer, followed by a hymn, before the coffin was carried out of the chapel by members of the Royal Life Guards and placed on a gun carriage for a procession to the Copenhagen Central Station. The gun carriage was pulled by 48 seamen and was escorted by honor guards from the Danish Army, Air Force, and Navy, as well as honor guards from France, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

At the Copenhagen Central Station, the coffin was placed on a special railway carriage for the rail journey to Roskilde. The funeral train was pulled by two DSB class E steam engines. Once in Roskilde, the coffin was pulled through the city by a group of seamen to Roskilde Cathedral where the final ceremony took place. Previous rulers had been interred in the cathedral, but it was the King's wish to be buried outside.

Queen Ingrid survived her husband by 28 years. She died on 7 November 2000. Her remains were interred alongside him at the burial site outside Roskilde Cathedral.

Legacy

In 1934, the Crown Prince Frederik Range in Greenland was named after him when it was first mapped by Sir Martin Lindsay during the British Trans-Greenland Expedition."French Honour For British Explorer", ''The Times'', 12 April 1935.
On 20 April 1982, a statue of King Frederik IX dressed in the uniform of an admiral was unveiled by the Copenhagen harbour on the 35th anniversary of his accession to the throne in 1947 and in the tenth year after his death.

Folktale

In the southern city of Sønderborg

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases