Frederick IX of Denmark

Frederick IX of Denmark (Christian Frederik Franz Michael Carl Valdemar Georg; Sorgenfri Palace, Copenhagen March 11, 1899 - Copenhagen, 14 January 1972) was king of Denmark from April 20, 1947 until his death. Born in the House of Glücksburg, Frederick was the eldest son of King Christian X and Queen Alexandrina of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He became crown prince when his father became king in 1912. As a young man, he was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy. In 1935 he married Princess Ingrid of Sweden and they had three daughters, Margaret, Benedicta and Anna Maria. During the occupation of Denmark by Nazi Germany, Frederick acted as regent on behalf of his father from 1942 to 1943.

Frederick became king upon the death of his father in early 1947. During the reign of Frederick IX, Danish society changed rapidly, the welfare state expanded and, as a consequence of the booming economy of the decade In the 1960s, women entered the labor market. Modernization brought new demands on the monarchy and Frederick's role as constitutional monarch. Frederick IX died in 1972, and was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Margaret II. Her motto was Med Gud for Danmark (With God for Denmark).

Biography

Birth

Prince Frederick was born on March 11, 1899 at Sorgenfri Palace in Kongens Lyngby, Zealand, 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 Frederick and Princess Louise of Sweden (later Kings Frederick VIII and Louise). His mother was Alexandrina of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Frederick Francis III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia.

He was baptized at Sorgenfri Palace on April 9, 1899. The young prince had 21 godparents, among them his great-grandfather Christian IX of Denmark, Nicholas II of Russia, George I of Greece, Oscar II of Sweden and Norway, his grandfather Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII of the United Kingdom) and his uncle Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

He had only one brother, Prince Canute, who was born a year after him. The family lived in Copenhagen in apartments in the palace of Christian VIII in Amalienborg in Copenhagen, in the palace of Sorgenfri, near the capital, and had as their summer residence the palace of Marselisborg in Aarhus, in Jutland, which Frederick's parents they had received as a wedding gift from the people of Denmark in 1898. In 1914, the king also built the villa Klitgården, in Skagen, in northern Jutland.

Childhood and youth

Christian IX died on January 29, 1906, and his grandfather Crown Prince Frederick succeeded him as Frederick VIII. His father thus became the crown prince and he became second in line to the Danish throne.

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

Frederick was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy (breaking with Danish royal tradition by choosing a naval career instead of a military career) and the University of Copenhagen. Before becoming king, he had acquired the rank of Rear Admiral carrying out several important missions during his active service. He got several tattoos during his naval service.

He was an accomplished musician and pianist who regularly conducted concerts with the Copenhagen Symphony Orchestra. He was also a Knight of the Order of the Garter, the highest British distinction.

Marriage and offspring

In the 1910s, his mother Alexandrina considered the two youngest daughters of her cousin Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Grand Duchesses Maria Nikolaevna and Anastasia Nikolaevna, as possible wives for Frederick until the subsequent execution of the Romanov family in 1918.

In 1922, he was engaged to marry his second cousin, Princess Olga of Greece, daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece, who was also his cousin, but the engagement ended up breaking off.

Instead, on March 15, 1935, a few days after his 36th birthday, he became engaged to Princess Ingrid of Sweden (1910–2000), a daughter of Crown Prince Gustav Adolf (later King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden) and his first wife, Princess Margaret of Connaught. They were related in several ways. As descendants of Oscar I of Sweden and Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden, they were third cousins. In the family line of Paul I of Russia, Frederick was Ingrid's mother's fourth cousin. They were married in Stockholm Cathedral on May 24, 1935. Their wedding was one of the most important media events of the day in Sweden in 1935, and among the guests at the wedding were the King and Queen of the Belgians and Prince and the crown princess of Norway.

On their return to Denmark, the couple received Frederick VIII's palace at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen as their main residence and Grasten Palace in northern Schleswig as their summer residence.

His daughters were:

• Margarita (1940-). Queen of Denmark.
• Benedicta (1944-). Wittgenstein-Berleburg widow princess.
• Ana María (1946-). Consort Queen of Greece, wife of Constantine II.

During World War II he strongly opposed the occupation of Denmark by the Third Reich, which made him very popular among the Danish population. He used to ride a bicycle through Copenhagen or take his first-born Margaret in his stroller, occasions in which he was spontaneously accompanied by the population, which was considered a symbol of unity of the Danish people in difficult times.

Reign

From 1942 to 1943, Federico acted as regent for his father, who was temporarily incapacitated after a fall from his horse in October 1942.

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

The reign of Frederick IX was marked by great changes. During these years, Danish society overcame the restrictions of an agricultural society and developed the welfare state. As a result of a booming economy during the 1960s, a large section of women entered the labor market. In other words, Denmark became a modern country, which meant new demands on the monarchy.

Changes in the law of succession

Having no male offspring, his younger brother Knud was expected to inherit the throne, in accordance with Denmark's succession law (the Royal Ordinance of 1853). However, on March 27, 1953, the method of succession of primogeniture was changed to male preference, suppressing the Salic Law, thus allowing her daughter Margaret to occupy the throne as Margaret II of Denmark on January 14, 1953. 1972.

Death

Shortly after the king delivered his New Year's Address to the Nation at the turn of the year in 1971/72, he fell ill with flu-like symptoms. After a few days of rest, he suffered cardiac arrest and was rushed to Copenhagen City Hospital on January 3. After a brief period of apparent improvement, the king's health took a negative turn on January 11, and he died 3 days later, on January 14, at 7:50 p.m. m. surrounded by his immediate family and his closest friends, having been unconscious since the day before.

After his death, the king's coffin was moved to his residence at Amalienborg Palace, where it remained until January 18, when it was moved to the chapel at Christiansborg Palace. Mourning was held there, a ceremony virtually unchanged since it was introduced at the burial of Frederick III in 1670, and the last royal ceremony to use the Danish Crown. The king then remained recumbent for six days until his funeral, during which period the public could pay their last respects to him.

The funeral took place on January 24, 1972 and was divided into two parts. A brief ceremony was first held in the chapel where the king had lain, where the Bishop of Copenhagen, Willy Westergaard Madsen, gave a brief prayer, followed by a hymn, before members of the Danish Royal Guard carried the coffin out of the chapel and placed it on a trunk for transport through Copenhagen to Copenhagen Central Station. The harmon was pulled by 48 sailors and 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 Copenhagen central station, the coffin was placed in a special carriage for the train journey to Roskilde. The funeral train was pulled by two DSB class E steam engines. Once in Roskilde, the coffin was carried through the city by a group of sailors to Roskilde Cathedral, where the final ceremony took place. He was buried outside the cathedral and not inside like his predecessors, according to his express wishes.

He was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Queen Margaret II. Queen Ingrid survived her husband by some 28 years, dying on November 7, 2000. Her remains were buried alongside those of her husband in the mausoleum outside Roskilde Cathedral.

Ancestors