Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark

Prince Knud
Hereditary Prince of Denmark
Spouse	Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark
Issue
Princess Elisabeth Prince Ingolf (later Count of Rosenborg) Prince Christian (later Count of Rosenborg)
Full name
Knud Christian Frederik Michael
House	House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Father	Christian X of Denmark
Mother	Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Born	27 July 1900(1900-07-27) Sorgenfri Palace, Lyngby-Taarbæk, Copenhagen, Denmark
Died	14 June 1976(1976-06-14) (aged 75) Copenhagen, Denmark
Burial	Roskilde Cathedral
Religion	Church of Denmark

Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark, formerly Prince of Denmark and Iceland (Knud Christian Frederik Michael, Danish: Arveprins Knud) (27 July 1900 – 14 June 1976) was the second son and youngest child of King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine.

From 1947 to 1953, he was heir presumptive of his older brother King Frederick IX, and would have become king in his turn, but a change in the Danish constitution caused him to lose his place in the succession to his niece, Margrethe II.

Birth and family

Prince Knud's birth place Sorgenfri Palace in 1895.

Prince Knud was born on 27 July 1900 at Sorgenfri Palace in Kongens Lyngby north of Copenhagen, 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 Frederick and Princess Louise of Sweden (later King Frederick VIII and Queen Louise). His mother was Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, a daughter of Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia.

The name Knud (sometimes anglicized as Knut or Canute) was borne by six early Danish kings. The most well known of these was King Canute the Great, and the last was King Canute VI who died in 1202.

Frederick's only sibling, Frederick, had been born one year before Knud.

Early life

Prince Frederick and Prince Knud, ca. 1912.

Prince Knud (right) and his brother Crown Prince Frederick in 1920.

Prince Knud (right) in Barcelona in 1929.

Christian IX died on 29 January 1906, and Knud's grandfather Crown Prince Frederick succeeded him as King Frederick VIII with Knud's father becoming crown prince.

Just six years later, on 14 May 1912, King Frederick VIII died, and Knud's father ascended the throne as King Christian X.

As was customary for princes at that time, he started a military education and entered the naval college.

Marriage

He married his first cousin, Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark, on 8 September 1933 at Fredensborg Palace. She was a daughter of Prince Harald of Denmark, son of King Frederick VIII of Denmark, and Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

Knud and Caroline-Mathilde had three children: Princess Elisabeth, Prince Ingolf and Prince Christian.

Heir presumptive

On 20 April 1947, Christian X died, and Knud's brother Frederick succeeded to the throne as King Frederick IX. Since Frederick IX had fathered no sons and the Danish Act of Succession at the time followed the principle of Agnatic primogeniture, Prince Knud became heir presumptive and next in line to succeed his brother as king.

Frederick IX had, however, fathered three daughters, who were unable to inherit their father's throne due to the law of succession. In 1953, the Danish Act of Succession was amended to follow the principle of cognatic primogeniture. The new law made Frederick IX's thirteen-year-old Princess Margrethe the new heiress presumptive, placing her and her two sisters before Prince Knud and his family in the line of succession. (Upon her 1964 marriage to then-King Constantine II of Greece, Princess Anne-Marie, the youngest of King Frederick's daughters, renounced her rights to the Danish throne.)

Following the change in succession, Prince Knud was given the title of Hereditary Prince.

Later life

King Frederick IX died in 1972 and was succeeded by his daughter Margrethe II.

Hereditary Prince Knud died in Gentofte on 14 June 1976. He was burried at Roskilde Cathedral. Hereditary Princess Caroline Mathilde survived her husband by 19 years and died on 12 December 1995.

Protector

In 1953 a students home in Copenhagen/Denmark was named "Arveprins Knuds Kollegium" in honor of Prince Knud.

At the time, Prince Knud was protector of Sydslesvigsk Studie- og Hjælpefond (Study and relief fund of Southern Schleswig),(see Danish minority of Southern Schleswig), an area that could be considered the birthplace of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the royal family Knud was a part of.

Issue

• HH Princess Elisabeth Caroline-Mathilde Alexandrine Helena Olga Thyra Feodora Estrid Margarethe Désirée (born 8 May 1935)
• HH Prince Ingolf Christian Frederik Knud Harald Gorm Gustav Viggo Valdemar Aage of Denmark (17 February 1940). Lost his title and became HE Count Ingolf of Rosenborg after marrying without consent to Inge Terney.
• HH Prince Christian Frederik Franz Knud Harald Carl Oluf Gustav Georg Erik of Denmark (22 October 1942). Lost his title and became HE Count Christian of Rosenborg after marrying without consent to Anne Dorte Maltoft-Nielsen. He has issue.

Styles of Prince Knud of Denmark
Reference style	His Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Royal Highness
Alternative style	Sir

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 27 July 1900 – 20 April 1947: His Royal Highness Prince Knud of Denmark
• 20 April 1947 – 27 March 1953: His Royal Highness The Heir to the Throne, Prince Knud of Denmark
• 27 March 1953 – 14 June 1976: His Royal Highness Hereditary Prince Knud of Denmark