House of Glücksburg

House of Glücksburg
House of Glücksburg
Parent house	House of Oldenburg
Country	Kingdom of Denmark; Kingdom of Norway; Kingdom of Greece ; Kingdom of Iceland; Schleswig-Holstein
Founded	6 July 1825
Founder	Friedrich Wilhelm
Current head	Christoph
Titles	Current: King of Denmark; King of Norway; Duke of Edinburgh; Prince of Wales ; ; Former: King of the Goths; King of the Wends; King of the Hellenes; King of Iceland; Duke of Schleswig-Holstein; Duke of Glücksburg;

The House of Glücksburg (also spelled Glücksborg), shortened from House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, is a Dano-German branch of the House of Oldenburg, members of which have reigned at various times in Denmark, Norway, Greece and several northern German states.

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Harald V of Norway, King Constantine II of Greece, Queen Sofía of Spain and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (and his eldest son and heir to the British throne Prince Charles) are patrilineal members of cadet branches of the Glücksburg dynasty.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Glücksburg Castle, one of the most important Renaissance castles in northern Europe

History[edit]

The family takes its ducal name from Glücksburg, a small coastal town in Schleswig, on the southern, German side of the fjord of Flensburg that divides Germany from Denmark.^[2] In 1460, Glücksburg came, as part of the conjoined Dano-German duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, to Count Christian VII of Oldenburg whom, in 1448, the Danes had elected their king as Christian I, the Norwegians likewise taking him as their hereditary king in 1450.^[2]

In 1564, Christian I's great-grandson, King Frederick II, in re-distributing Schleswig and Holstein's fiefs, retained some lands for his own senior royal line while allocating Glücksburg to his brother Duke John the Younger (1545-1622), along with Sonderburg, in appanage.^[2] John's heirs further sub-divided their share and created, among other branches, a line of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg dukes at Beck (an estate near Minden bought by the family in 1605), who remained vassals of Denmark's kings.^[2]

By 1825, the castle of Glücksburg had returned to the Danish crown (from another ducal branch called Glücksburg, extinct in 1779) and was given that year by King Frederick VI, along with a new ducal title, to his kinsman Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck.^[4] Frederick suffixed the territorial designation to the ducal title he already held, in lieu of "Beck" (an estate the family had, in fact, sold in 1745).^[2] Thus emerged the extant Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

The Danish line of Oldenburg kings died out in 1863, and the elder line of the Schleswig-Holstein family became extinct with the death of the last Augustenburg duke in 1931. Thereafter, the House of Glücksburg became the senior surviving line of the House of Oldenburg. Another cadet line of Oldenburgs, the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp, consisted of two branches which held onto sovereignty into the 20th century. But members of the Romanov line were executed in or exiled from their Russian Empire in 1917, while the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg was abolished in 1918, although its dynastic line survives.^[2]

Neither the Dukes of Beck nor of Glücksburg had been sovereign rulers; they held their lands in fief from the ruling Dukes of Schleswig and Holstein, i.e. the Kings of Denmark and (until 1773) the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp.

Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the fourth son of Duke Friedrich of Glücksburg, was recognized in the London Protocol of 1852 as successor to the childless King Frederick VII of Denmark. He became King of Denmark as Christian IX on 15 November 1863.^[2]

Prince Vilhelm, the second son of Crown Prince Christian and Crown Princess Luise, was elected King of the Hellenes on 30 March 1863, succeeding the ousted Wittelsbach Otto of Greece and reigning under the name George I.

Prince Carl, the second son of Frederick VIII of Denmark, Christian IX's eldest son, became King of Norway on 18 November 1905 as Haakon VII of Norway.

Christian IX's daughters, Alexandra of Denmark and Dagmar of Denmark (as Maria Feodorovna) became the consorts of, respectively, Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexander III of Russia. As a result, by 1914 descendants of King Christian IX held the crowns of several European realms, and he became known as the "Father-in-law of Europe".

Christian IX's older brother inherited formal headship of the family as Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. It is his descendants who now represent the senior line of the Schleswig-Holstein branch of the House of Oldenburg.

Patrilineal ancestry of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm[edit]

Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg[edit]

Coat of arms of the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein

The Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg constitute the senior male line of the branch. They hold the headship by primogeniture of the cadet house of Glücksburg. The headship by agnatic primogeniture of the entire House of Oldenburg is held by Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein.

Name	Life	Reign
Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg	1785–1831	1825–1831
Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg	1813–1878	1831–1878
Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg	1814–1885	1878–1885
Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein	1855–1934	1885–1934
Wilhelm Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein	1891–1965	1934–1965
Peter, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein	1922–1980	1965–1980
Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein	1949–	1980–

The heir apparent is Friedrich Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Schleswig-Holstein (b. 1985).

Denmark[edit]

Coat of arms of the Queen of Denmark

In 1853, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg became heir to the Kingdom of Denmark, and in 1863, he ascended the throne. He was the third son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, whose elder brother (and male-line descendants) retained the Glücksburg dukedom. The Danish royal family call itself Glücksborg, using a slightly Danicized form of Glücksburg.

Name	Life	Reign	Additional titles
Christian IX	1818–1906	1863–1906	King of the Wends King of the Goths Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg and Oldenburg Prior to ascending the throne: Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (Danish: Prins af Slesvig-Holsten-Sønderborg-Glückborg)
Frederick VIII	1843–1912	1906–1912	King of the Wends King of the Goths Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg and Oldenburg
Christian X	1870–1947	1912–1947	King of Iceland (used 1918–1944) King of the Wends King of the Goths Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg and Oldenburg
Frederick IX	1899–1972	1947–1972	King of the Wends King of the Goths Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg and Oldenburg
Margrethe II	1940–	1972–

The heir apparent is Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark (b. 1968), who belongs agnatically to the Monpezat family. See the present line of succession. Although there are no more male members of the dynastic line of Glũcksburgs domiciled in Denmark, there are descendants of Christian IX who married without the monarch's permission, thus forfeiting their royal status.^[5] They bear the Danish noble title "Count of Rosenborg" (and the style of Excellency), heritable by their descendants in the legitimate male line.

Greece[edit]

Coat of arms of the King of the Hellenes

Thirty-drachma coin of 1963, commemorating the centennial of the reign of the House of Glücksburg. Clockwise from the top: Paul, George II, Alexander, Constantine I and George I.

In 1863 and with the name George I, Prince Wilhelm of Denmark was elected King of the Hellenes on the recommendation of Europe's Great Powers. He was a younger son of King Christian IX of Denmark.

Name	Life	Reign	Additional titles
George I	1845–1913	1863–1913	Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Constantine I	1868–1923	1913–1917 1920–1922	Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Alexander	1893–1920	1917–1920	Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
George II	1890–1947	1922–1924 1935–1947	Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Paul	1901–1964	1947–1964	Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Constantine II	1940–	1964–1973	Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

The Hellenic constitutional monarchy was usurped in a coup d'état by a military junta in 1968 and the royal family fled into exile. In a 1974 referendum, 69.18% of the voters decided against the return of the monarchy.

Norway[edit]

Coat of arms of the King of Norway

In 1905 and with the name Haakon VII, Prince Carl of Denmark became King of Norway. His father was King Frederick VIII of Denmark, and one of his uncles was King George I of Greece.

Name	Life	Reign	Additional titles
Haakon VII	1872–1957	1905–1957	Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Olav V	1903–1991	1957–1991	Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Harald V	1937–	1991–	Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

The heir apparent is Crown Prince Haakon of Norway (b. 1973). See the present line of succession.

Iceland[edit]

Kingdom of Iceland

In 1918, Iceland was elevated from an autonomous Danish province to a separate Kingdom of Iceland. Christian X of Denmark was henceforth King of Denmark and Iceland until 1944, when Iceland dissolved the union between the two countries.

Portrait	Name	Life	Reign	Additional titles
	Christian X	1870–1947	1918–1944	King of Denmark King of the Wends King of the Goths Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg and Oldenburg

The heir apparent was his son Frederick IX of Denmark (1899–1972).

Duke of Edinburgh[edit]

Coat of arms of the Duke of Edinburgh

In 1947, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark (who relinquished his princely titles and adopted the surname of Mountbatten upon becoming a British subject prior to his wedding) was created Duke of Edinburgh by his father-in-law, George VI. Descendants in the male line of his marriage to Queen Elizabeth II belong, by decree, to the House of Windsor and use "Mountbatten-Windsor" as a surname, when one is needed. The first nineteen places in the line of succession to the British throne are held by the Duke's descendants.

Portrait	Name	Life	Reign	Additional titles
	Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh^[2]	1921–	1947–	Earl of Merioneth Baron Greenwich

The heir-apparent is Charles, Prince of Wales (born 1948).^[a]

Family tree[edit]

Family Tree of house of Oldenborg and its cadet branch the house of Glucksborg and its branches

Notes[edit]

^ Whilst the letters patent state that the dukedom and two attached peerages are to be inherited by the heirs male of the original duke, i.e. by the current Prince of Wales as Philip's eldest son, it was announced in 1999 that Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, i.e. a younger brother of the Prince of Wales, would follow their father as Duke of Edinburgh. Pending changes to that effect, the Prince of Wales legally remains the ducal heir.

References[edit]

^ "Prince Philip beats the record for longest-serving consort". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 18 April 2009. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Michel Huberty, Alain Giraud, F. and B. Magdelaine. L'Allemagne Dynastique, Volume VII. Laballery, 1994. pp. 7-8, 27-28, 30-31, 58, 144, 168, 181, 204, 213-214, 328, 344, 353-354, 356, 362, 367. ISBN 2-901138-07-1, ISBN 978-2-901138-07-5
^ Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh. "Burke’s Royal Families of the World: Volume I Europe & Latin America, 1977, pp. 325-326. ISBN 0-85011-023-8
^ Gothaisches Genealogisches Handbuch der Fürstlchen Häuser, Band I. Verlag des Deutschen Adelsarchivs. Marburg. 2015. p. 140 (German). ISBN 978-3-9817243-0-1.
^ Retsinformation.dk. Kongeloven, LOV nr 20001 af 14/11/1665 Gældende (Kongeloven) Offentliggørelsesdato: 28-01-2000 Statsministeriet. 1665. (English translation of the Kongelov). retrieved 25 April 2016.