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TheDanish royal family is thedynastic family of themonarch of Denmark.[1] While some members of the Danish royal family hold the title ofPrince(ss) of Denmark, descendants of Margrethe II additionally bear the titleCount(ess) of Monpezat. Children of the monarch are accorded the style ofHis/Her Royal Highness. The King and Queen are styledMajesty.
Through his mother, Margrethe II,King Frederik X and his descendants belong to theHouse of Glücksburg, which is a branch of the royalHouse of Oldenburg. Margrethe II's children and male-line descendants also belongagnatically to theLaborde de Monpezat family, and were given the concurrent titleCount/Countess of Monpezat by royal decree on 30 April 2008.[2]
The Danish royal family receives remarkably high approval ratings in Denmark, ranging between 82% and 92%.[3][4]
The Danish royal family includes:
*Extended members include theGreek royal family
Most of the members of the deposed royal family of Greece hold the title ofPrince orPrincess of Greece and Denmark with the qualification ofHis orHer Highness, pursuant to the Royal Cabinet Order of 1774 and asagnatic descendants ofGeorge I of Greece, who, as the son of the futureKing 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 ofPrince/ss of Denmark with the qualification ofHis/Her Highness.[5][6][7]
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:
TheNorwegian royal family descends in the legitimate male line fromFrederick VIII of Denmark, Queen Margrethe II's great-grandfather.Haakon VII of Norway, who was born Prince Carl of Denmark as Frederik VIII's younger son, was, like his uncle, George I of Greece, invited toreign 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 dynasties, they discontinued use of Danish royal titles upon ascending to the Norwegian throne in 1905.
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, the titles of Prince and Princess of Denmark, and style ofHighness of the 4 children ofQueen Margrethe II's younger son,Prince Joachim, would be discontinued. They will instead be titled "His/Her Excellency Count/CountessNikolai/Felix/Henrik/Athena of Monpezat".[8] All four grandchildren maintain their places in the order of succession to the throne.
Danish princes who marry without the consent of the Danish monarch lose their succession rights, as do their descendants.[9] They are then usually accorded thehereditary title "Count of Rosenborg". They are entitled to thestyle "His/Her Excellency". They and their legitimate male-line descendants are:[10]
Christian IX of Denmark (1818–1906)Frederick VIII of Denmark (1843–1912)Christian X of Denmark (1870–1947)TheDanneskiold-Samsøe family are the descendants of the eldest son ofChristian V and his mistressSofie Amalie Moth, 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 kinsmanChristian 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,[11] second only to theCounts of Rosenborg, whom also descend from theDanish Kings. With a place in the 1st Class No. 13, they are entitled to thestyle "His/Her Excellency".[12]
The first law governing the succession to the Danish throne as a hereditary monarchy wasKongeloven (Lex Regia), enacted on 14 November 1665, and published in 1709.[13][14] It declared that the crown of Denmark descends by heredity to the legitimate descendants ofKing Frederick III, and that theorder of succession followssemi-Salic primogeniture,[13] according to which the crown is inherited by an heir, with preference among the monarch's children to men over women; 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 themale line.
As for theduchies,Holstein andLauenburg where the King ruled as duke, these lands adhered toSalic law (meaning that only men could inherit the ducal throne), and by mutual agreement, were permanently conjoined. The duchies ofSchleswig (a Danishfief), Holstein and Lauenburg (German fiefs) were joined inpersonal union with the Kingdom of Denmark.
This difference caused problems whenFrederick VII of Denmark didn't produce any children, 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. To ensure that future Kings of Denmark would continue also being Dukes of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg, the line of succession to the duchies was modified in theLondon Protocol of 1852, which designatedPrince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, as the newheir apparent, although he was, strictly, the heir neither to the Kingdom of Denmark nor to the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein, or Lauenburg by primogeniture. Originally, the Danish prime ministerChristian Albrecht Bluhme wanted to keep the separate hereditary principles, but in the end, the government decided on a uniformagnatic primogeniture, which was accepted by the Parliament. Even after the loss of the duchies in theSecond Schleswig War of 1864, thestyle of the Danish monarchs included references to the duchies until the style was shortened in 1972 on the accession ofMargrethe II.
Problems emerged again whenFrederik IX became king in 1947. He had only daughters, and it seemed unlikely that he would have a son, leaving his brotherKnud asheir presumptive. As part of the1953 constitutional referendum, a newAct of Succession introducedmale-preference primogeniture, allowing women with no brothers to inherit. In 2009, the succession law was amended after theAct of Succession referendum, this time to introduceabsolute primogeniture. This had no immediate effect on the line of succession, and the first person affected by the 2009 amendment wasPrince Vincent, who on his birth in 2011 would have otherwise been ahead of his older sisterPrincess Isabella in the succession. As of 2024[update] the line of succession is:
King Frederik IX (1899–1972)Queen Margrethe II (born 1940)
King Frederik X (born 1968)Following the transformation of Denmark's monarchy fromelective (at least theoretically, although it had generally descended to the eldest son of theHouse of Oldenburg since 1448) to hereditary in 1660, the so-calledKongelov (Latin:Lex Regia) of 1665 established the reign "by the grace of God" ofKing Frederick III and his posterity.[13] 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 "NoPrince 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".[13] 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 1953 those not descended in male-line fromKing Christian X are no longer in the line of succession to the Danish throne.[13] However, those who do reside in Denmark or its territories require the monarch's prior permission to travel abroad and to marry.[13]
Article 25 stipulates, with respect to blood members of the Royal dynasty: "They should answer to noMagistrate Judges, but their first and last Judge shall be the King, or to whomsoever He decrees."[13] The wording excludes those whose blood cannot be traced to a Danish monarch (e.g., the present Queen).
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 have succession rights only 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.[15]
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 becomingqueen consort of the Hellenes.
The daughters of Prince and Princess Michael [of Greece and Denmark] are titled Princess of Greece without the style of Royal Highness
