Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

by Jens Juel, 1785; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on October 11, 1753, at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark, Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark and Norway was the only child of King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway and his second wife Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

Frederik had five half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Princess Louisa of Great Britain, daughter of King George II of Great Britain:

Frederik received an excellent education as he was the second in the line of succession after his elder half-brother Christian. Among Frederik’s teachers were Jens Schielderup Sneedorff, author and professor of political science, and Ove Høegh-Guldberg, statesman and historian. In 1766, when Frederik was 13-years-old, his father died at the age of 42 and he was succeeded by his 17-year-old son from his first marriage as King Christian VII. From 1766 – 1768, Frederik was the heir to the Danish throne until the birth of Christian VII’s son, the future King Frederik VI.

Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin by Georg David Matthieu; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 21, 1774, 21-year-old Hereditary Prince Frederik married 16-year-old Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Charlotte Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.  Although the couple was fond of each other, they both had lovers and the father of Sophia Frederica’s children was rumored to be her husband’s adjutant, Frederik von Blücher (in Danish).

The couple had two stillborn daughters before the birth of their five children:

Frederik’s half-brother, King Christian VII of Denmark by Louis-Michel van Loo; Credit – Wikipedia

Soon after the succession of Frederik’s half-brother King Christian VII, it became clear that he was not quite normal. Christian had been personable and intelligent as a child but he had been poorly educated and terrorized by a brutal governor, Christian Ditlev Reventlow, Count of Reventlow. It is unknown if Christian’s mental illness was caused by the brutal treatment of Reventlow, possible porphyria inherited from his Hanover mother, or schizophrenia. Christian’s behavior wandered into excesses, especially sexual promiscuity. His symptoms included paranoia, self-mutilation, and hallucinations. It was becoming clearer and clearer that Christian could not fulfill his role as king.

On a trip that had been arranged because it was believed that new environments could change Christian’s behavior, Christian became acquainted with the physician Johann Friedrich Struensee. Struensee was the first person who understood that Christian was seriously ill. When Christian came home from the trip, Struensee accompanied him and was employed as Christian’s personal physician. Because of Christian’s confidence in him, Struensee gained political power. He also became the lover of the ill-treated Caroline Matilda, whose marriage was less than satisfactory. When Caroline Matilda gave birth to her daughter Louise, no one doubted that Struensee was the father of the princess. Eventually, Frederik’s mother, Queen Dowager Juliana Maria, maneuvered a coup that would bring about the fall of Struensee and discredit Caroline Matilda. Juliana Maria arranged for King Christian VII to sign the arrest warrant of Struensee after she had already made the arrest in the name of the king. In 1772, Struensee was executed and Caroline Matilda was exiled.

Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel with a portrait of her son Hereditary Prince Frederick; Credit – Wikipedia

After the fall of Struensee, Frederik and his mother Juliana Maria took charge of the Council of State. Christian VII was only nominally king from 1772 onward. Between 1772 and 1784, Denmark was ruled by Hereditary Prince Frederik as Regent and his mother. Crown Prince Frederik, King Christian VII’s son, had no intention of allowing Frederik and his mother Juliana to continue their rule. In 1784, the Crown Prince reached the age of legal majority and then ruled permanently as Prince Regent. He somehow managed to get his insane father to sign an order dismissing Frederik and Juliana Maria’s supporters from the council and declaring that no royal order was legal unless co-signed by the Crown Prince, thereby deposing his stepgrandmother and uncle.

After losing power, Hereditary Prince Frederik was left without much influence at the court. In 1794, Christiansborg Palace was destroyed by fire, and Frederik and his family moved to Amalienborg Palace. That same year, on November 29, Frederik’s wife Sophia Frederica died at the age of 36, at Sorgenfri Palace in Kongens Lyngby north of Copenhagen, Denmark. She was buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark, the traditional burial site of the Danish royal family. Hereditary Prince Frederik survived his wife by eleven years, dying at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen on December 7, 1805, at the age of 52. He also was buried at Roskilde Cathedral.

Roskilde Cathedral; Photo © Susan Flantzer

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Works Cited

  • Da.wikipedia.org. (2018). Arveprins Frederik. [online] Available at: https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arveprins_Frederik [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
  • Da.wikipedia.org. (2018). Sophie Frederikke af Mecklenburg-Schwerin. [online] Available at: https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Frederikke_af_Mecklenburg-Schwerin [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess_Sophia_Frederica_of_Mecklenburg-Schwerin [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick,_Hereditary_Prince_of_Denmark [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
  • Flantzer, S. (2017). Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Queen of Denmark. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/juliana-maria-of-brunswick-wolfenbuttel-bevern-queen-of-denmark/ [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].