House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

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House of Glücksburg
Blason Christian X de Danemark.svg
Country Germany, Denmark, Norway, Greece, Greenland and Iceland
Parent house House of Oldenburg
Titles Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, King of Denmark, King of Norway, King of the Hellenes, Prince of Wales and King of Iceland
Founder Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Glücksburg
Current head Christopher, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
Founding year 1825

Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (Danish: Slesvig-Holsten-Sønderborg-Lyksborg), from Glücksburg in northernmost Germany, is a branch of the House of Oldenburg that is descended from King Christian III of Denmark. Its members include the royal houses of Denmark and Norway, the deposed royal house of Greece, and the heir to the throne of the United Kingdom.

This particular line comes from the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck. The last of them became Duke of Glücksburg and changed his title accordingly to Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. He was married to Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel, a granddaughter of King Frederick V of Denmark.

Neither the Dukes of Beck nor of Glücksburg were sovereign rulers — they held their lands in fief to the sovereign dukes of Schleswig and Holstein (the Kings of Denmark) and, before 1773, the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp.

Christian IX of Denmark, the fourth son of Friedrich Wilhelm, was chosen by the childless King Frederick VII of Denmark to be his heir, as Christian was married to Frederick's first cousin, Luise of Hesse-Kassel. Wilhelm, the second son of Crown Prince Christian and Crown Princess Luise, was elected King of the Hellenes on March 30, 1863 to succeed the deposed Wittelsbach Otto of Greece and took the name George I of Greece. His father became King of Denmark as Christian IX on November 15, 1863. Prince Carl, the second son of Frederick VIII of Denmark, Christian IX's eldest son, became King of Norway on November 18, 1905 as Haakon VII of Norway. Christian IX's daughters, Alexandra of Denmark and Dagmar of Denmark (who became Maria Feodorovna), married Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexander III of Russia, respectively. Meaning that by 1914, descendants of King Christian IX were nearly as prevalent on European thrones as those of Queen Victoria.

Contents

[edit] Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1825–present)

Ducal Family of Schleswig-Holstein
Coat of arms of Schleswig-Holstein.svg


[edit] Monarchs of Denmark, 1863–present

[edit] Kings of the Hellenes (Greece), 1863–1974

[edit] Kings of Norway, 1905–present

[edit] King of Iceland, 1918–1944

The kingdom of Iceland was in personal union with the kingdom of Denmark:

[edit] Other notable members

[edit] Coat of Arms