King Frederik VIII of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Photo Credit – Wikipedia

His Serene Highness Prince Frederik of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the future King Frederik VIII of Denmark, was born at the Yellow Palace in Copenhagen Denmark on June 3, 1843. Frederik’s given names were Christian Frederik Vilhelm Carl and he was the eldest of the six children of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (the future King Christian IX of Denmark) and Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel. When Frederik was ten years old, his father was chosen as the heir presumptive to the Danish throne due to a succession crisis and Frederik became a Prince of Denmark. Frederik had three sisters and two brothers:

Frederik with his parents and siblings; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Frederik grew up in his birthplace, the Yellow Palace, which was adjacent to the Amalienborg Palace where the Danish Royal Family lived. After Frederik’s father became the Danish heir presumptive, the family gained an additional home, Bernstorff Palace in Gentofte, Copenhagen, Denmark. After his confirmation in 1860, Frederik started his military training. He then began studying political science at Oxford University in England but returned to Denmark in November of 1863, when his father succeeded to the Danish throne as King Christian IX. As Crown Prince of Denmark, Frederik served as a lieutenant in North Jutland during the Second Schleswig War against Austria and Prussia. Frederik later became Inspector General of the Danish Army and was a leading member of the Danish Masonic Order. He was given a seat on the State Council and assisted his father in the duties of government.

Frederik as Crown Prince; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Queen Louise had a goal for her children: to marry well. She wanted Frederik to marry either Princess Helena or Princess Louise, two daughters of Queen Victoria. However, Queen Victoria did not want her younger daughters to marry foreign heirs as this would necessitate them leaving England. In July of 1868, Frederick became engaged to Princess Louise of Sweden, the 17-year-old, the only surviving child of King Charles XV of Sweden and his wife Louise of the Netherlands. The relations between Denmark and Sweden were tense because Sweden had not helped Denmark during the Second Schleswig War. The marriage was suggested as a means of improving the relations between the two countries.

Frederik and Louise; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Frederik and Louise were married at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden on July 28, 1869. The couple resided at Amalienborg Palace during the winter and Charlottenlund Palace during the summer. While Louise was popular with the Danish people, she experienced ostracism within the royal family, which was dominated by her mother-in-law. Frederik and Louise had eight children:

by Elfelt, vintage postcard print, (circa 1877)

Frederick VIII, King of Denmark with his family by Elfelt, bromide postcard print, (circa 1877), NPG x74398 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Four generations of Danish kings: Frederik IX in front; in back left to right: Christian IX, Christian X, Frederik VIII; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

After being Crown Prince for 43 years, Frederik became King of Denmark upon his father’s death in 1906. Unlike his father, Frederik was a liberal ruler who supported the parliamentary system that had been introduced in 1901.

Returning to Copenhagen after a trip to Nice, France, Frederik made a stopover in Hamburg, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Germany on May 13, 1912. He registered at the Hamburger Hof Hotel using the pseudonym Count Kronborg. On the following evening, May 14, 1912, Frederik left the hotel alone for an evening stroll. When he was not found in his hotel room the next morning, a discreet search revealed that the body of a well-dressed unknown gentleman had been found on a park bench. The body, which had been moved to the city morgue a little before midnight, was that of the 68-year-old King Frederik who had died of a heart attack.

On May 16, 1912, Frederik’s body was placed on a special train to Travemünde, Kingdom of Prussia on the Baltic Sea. There the coffin was loaded on the royal yacht and brought back to Denmark. He was buried in the Glücksburger Chapel at Roskilde Cathedral.  Queen Louise died at age 74 on March 20, 1926, at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was buried with her husband.

Tomb of King Frederik VIII and Queen Louise; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer, August 2011

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty