Burial Roskilde Cathedral Name Knud, Prince Religion Church of Denmark | Father Christian X of Denmark House Glucksburg Siblings Frederick IX of Denmark | |
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Born 27 July 1900
Sorgenfri Palace, Lyngby-Taarbaek, Copenhagen, Denmark ( 1900-07-27 ) Issue Princess Elisabeth
Count Ingolf of Rosenborg
Count Christian of Rosenborg Mother Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Died June 14, 1976, Gentofte Municipality, Denmark Spouse Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark (m. 1933) Children Count Ingolf of Rosenborg, Princess Elisabeth of Denmark, Count Christian of Rosenborg Parents Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Christian X of Denmark Similar People Princess Caroline‑Mathilde of Denmark, Frederick IX of Denmark, Alexandrine of Mecklenburg‑Schwerin, Count Ingolf of Rosenborg, Christian X of Denmark | ||
Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark (Knud Christian Frederik Michael; 27 July 1900 – 14 June 1976), was the younger son and child of Christian X and Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
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From 1947 to 1953, he was heir presumptive to his older brother, Frederick IX, and would have succeeded him as king had it not been for a change in the Danish Act of Succession that replaced him with his niece, Margrethe II.
Early life and marriage
Prince Knud was born on 27 July 1900 at Sorgenfri Palace in Kongens Lyngby north of Copenhagen during the reign of his great-grandfather, King Christian IX. His parents were Christian of Denmark, son of the heir apparent Frederick, and Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Knud's only sibling, Frederick, had been born one year before him.
Christian IX died on 29 January 1906, and Knud's grandfather succeeded him as Frederick VIII. Six years later, on 14 May 1912, Frederick VIII died, and Knud's father ascended the throne as Christian X.
As was customary for princes at that time, Knud started a military education and entered the naval college. He married his first cousin, Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark, on 8 September 1933 at Fredensborg Palace. She was a daughter of Frederick VIII's son Harald. 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 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. In 1953, the Danish Act of Succession was amended to follow the principle of male-preference primogeniture. The new law made Frederick IX's thirteen-year-old daughter Margrethe the new heir presumptive, placing her and her two sisters before Knud and his family in the line of succession.
Later life and legacy
King Frederick IX died in 1972 and was succeeded by his daughter Queen Margrethe II. Prince Knud died in Gentofte on 14 June 1976. He was buried at Roskilde Cathedral. His widow died on 12 December 1995.
In 1953 a students home in Copenhagen 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.
The Princess Caroline-Mathilde Alps in Greenland were named by the 1938–39 Mørkefjord Expedition in his wife's honour for Prince Knud had been the patron of the expedition.