Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark (Caroline-Mathilde Louise Dagmar Christine Maud Augusta Ingeborg Thyra Adelheid; 27 April 1912 – 12 December 1995) was a daughter of

Prince Harald of Denmark Prince Harald of Denmark (''Harald Christian Frederik''; 8 October 1876 – 30 March 1949) was a member of the Danish Royal Family. He was the third son and fourth child of Frederick VIII of Denmark and his wife, Lovisa of Sweden, and thus brother ...

and granddaughter of King

Frederick VIII of Denmark Frederick VIII ( da, Christian Frederik Vilhelm Carl; 3 June 1843 – 14 May 1912) was King of Denmark from 29 January 1906 until his death in 1912. The eldest son of King Christian IX, nicknamed the ''Father-in-law of Europe'', Frederic ...

. As the wife of

Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark (Knud Christian Frederik Michael; 27 July 1900 – 14 June 1976) was a member of the Danish royal family, the younger son and child of King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine. From 1947 to 1953, he was heir pre ...

, she became Hereditary Princess of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Early life

Princess Caroline-Mathilde was born on 27 April 1912 at Jægersborghus

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

Gentofte Gentofte () is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Major landmarks include Gentofte Town Hall, Gentofte Hospital and Gentofte Church. Gentofte Lake with surrounding parkland and nature reserves form ...

north of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. She was the second child and daughter of

, son of King

and Princess

Louise of Sweden Louise Josephine Eugenie of Sweden ( sv, Lovisa Josefina Eugenia; 31 October 1851 – 20 March 1926) was Queen of Denmark from 1906 until 1912 as the spouse of King Frederick VIII. Born into the House of Bernadotte, Louise was the only surviv ...

. Her mother was

Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

, daughter of

Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg '' , title = Duke of Schleswig-Holstein , predecessor = Friedrich , successor = Wilhelm Friedrich , succession = Head of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg , house = Glücksburg , spouse = , issue ...

and

Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg , title = Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein , house = Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg , spouse = , issue = Victoria Adelaide, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Alexandra Victoria, Princess August Wilhelm of P ...

. The princess was named for her maternal grandmother, and was known as 'Calma' to her family.

Marriage and children

Caroline-Mathilde married her

first cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...

Prince Knud of Denmark Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark (Knud Christian Frederik Michael; 27 July 1900 – 14 June 1976) was a member of the Danish royal family, the younger son and child of King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine. From 1947 to 1953, he was heir pre ...

, second son and youngest child of

Christian X of Denmark Christian X ( da, Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was King of Denmark from 1912 to his death in 1947, and the only King of Iceland as Kristján X, in the form of a personal union rather ...

and

Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (24 December 1879 – 28 December 1952) was Queen of Denmark from 1912 to 1947, as well Queen of Iceland from 1918 to 1944 as the spouse of King Christian X. She was the paternal grandmother of the current reig ...

on 8 September 1933 at

Fredensborg Palace Fredensborg Palace ( da, Fredensborg Slot; ) is a palace located on the eastern shore of Lake Esrum (Danish, ''Esrum Sø'') in Fredensborg on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in Denmark. It is the Danish Royal Family’s spring and autumn ...

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

, Denmark. The couple were given

Sorgenfri Palace Sorgenfri Palace ( da, Sorgenfri Slot; lit. "Sorrow free", a direct calque of Sans Souci) is a royal residence of the Danish monarch, located in Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, on the east side of Lyngby Kongevej, in the northern suburbs of Copenhag ...

Kongens Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping street and the site of ...

north of

as their

residence A residence is a place (normally a building) used as a home or dwelling, where people reside. Residence may more specifically refer to: * Domicile (law), a legal term for residence * Habitual residence, a civil law term dealing with the status ...

. The couple had three children: * Princess ''Elisabeth'' Caroline-Mathilde Alexandrine Helena Olga Thyra Feodora Estrid Margrethe Désirée of Denmark (8 May 1935 – 19 June 2018). * Prince ''Ingolf'' Christian Frederik Knud Harald Gorm Gustav Viggo Valdemar Aage of Denmark (born 17 February 1940). Married Inge Terney without consent and lost his royal title, thereby becoming ''His Excellency Count Ingolf of Rosenborg''. * Prince ''Christian'' Frederik Franz Knud Harald Carl Oluf Gustav Georg Erik of Denmark (22 October 1942 – 21 May 2013). Married Anne Dorte Maltoft-Nielsen without consent and lost his royal title, thereby becoming ''His Excellency Count Christian of Rosenborg''.

Later life

From 1947 to 1953, Prince Knud was

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

of his older brother

King Frederick IX Frederick IX ( da, Christian Frederik Franz Michael Carl Valdemar Georg; 11 March 1899 – 14 January 1972) was King of Denmark from 1947 to 1972. Born into the House of Glücksburg, Frederick was the elder son of King Christian X and Queen ...

. Knud would have become king and Caroline Mathilde queen in their turn, but a change in the constitution in 1953 caused Knud to lose his place in the succession to his niece,

Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

. After the change, Prince Knud was given the title of Hereditary Prince and Caroline Mathilde became Hereditary Princess. Hereditary Prince Knud died on 14 June 1976. Hereditary Princess Caroline Mathilde survived her husband by 19 years and died on 12 December 1995 at

. She was buried at

Roskilde Cathedral Roskilde Cathedral ( da, Roskilde Domkirke), in the city of Roskilde on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark, is a cathedral of the Lutheranism, Lutheran Church of Denmark. The cathedral is the most importan ...

next to her husband.

Honours

The Princess Caroline-Mathilde Alps in

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

were named in her honour by the 1938–39

Mørkefjord Expedition Mørkefjord, meaning in Danish "The dark fjord," is a fjord in King Frederick VIII Land, northeastern Greenland. History Mørkefjord was named by the 1906-1908 Denmark expedition, which established a second weather station at Mørkefjord, in orde ...

, as her husband, Prince Knud, had been the patron of the expedition. * : ** Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the

Order of the Elephant The Order of the Elephant ( da, Elefantordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional ...

** Dame of the Royal Family Decoration of King Christian X, 2nd Classhttp://www.royaltyguide.nl/images-families/oldenburg/slhkings2/1912%20Caroline%20Mathilde.jpg ** Dame of the Royal Family Decoration of King Frederick IX, 2nd ClassPinterest.com
Caroline-Mathilde wearing honours
/ref> ** Dame of the Royal Family Decoration of Queen Margrethe II, 2nd Class ** Recipient of the Red Cross Medal of Honour ** Recipient of the Red Cross Medal of Merit ** Recipient of the 100th Anniversary Medal of the Birth of King Frederick VIII ** Recipient of the 100th Anniversary Medal of the Birth of King Christian X ** Recipient of the 50th Birthday Medal of Queen Margrethe II ** Recipient of the Silver Anniversary Medal of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caroline-Mathilde Of Denmark, Princess 1912 births 1995 deaths House of Glücksburg (Denmark) Danish princesses 20th-century Lutherans Danish Lutherans People from Gentofte Municipality Burials at Roskilde Cathedral