Count Christian of Rosenborg (Christian Frederik Franz Knud Harald Carl Oluf Gustav Georg Erik; 22 October 1942 – 21 May 2013) was a member of the

Danish royal family The Danish royal family is the dynastic family of the monarch. All members of the Danish royal family except Queen Margrethe II hold the title of ''Prince/Princess of Denmark''. Dynastic children of the monarch and of the heir apparent are accor ...

. Born Prince Christian of Denmark, he was high in the

line of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.Margrethe and her two younger sisters. He later gave up his princely rank and his rights to the throne in order to marry a commoner.

Family

He was born at Sorgenfri Palace,

Sorgenfri Sorgenfri (lit. "free of sorrow", like Sans Souci) is a neighbourhood in Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in Greater Copenhagen lying just north of Kongens Lyngby. The neighbourhood is enclosed between the landmarks of a forest with Lyngby Åmose, M ...

, as the younger son of Hereditary Prince Knud by his wife and first cousin, Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark.

Loss of place in succession

From the death of his grandfather in 1947, Christian stood only behind his father and elder brother Prince Ingolf in the order of hereditary succession to the throne, with only future children of Ingolf possibly taking a place ahead of him. His father Prince Knud was then the

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. ...

, due to succeed Christian's uncle King Frederick IX, who had three daughters but no sons. In 1953, the

Constitution of Denmark The Constitutional Act of the Realm of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Riges Grundlov), also known as the Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply the Constitution ( da, Grundloven, fo, Grundlógin, kl, Tunngaviusumik inatsit), is the c ...

was amended to allow

cognatic primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

. The new law made thirteen-year-old Princess Margrethe the new

, placing her and her two sisters before Prince Knud and his family in the succession. Christian was thus relegated to sixth in the

line of succession to the Danish throne The Danish Act of Succession, adopted on 5 June 1953, restricts the throne to those descended from Christian X and his wife, Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, through approved marriages. Succession is by a change in the law in 2009 governed by ...

, but more importantly, he then ranked behind Margrethe and others who were likely to have

dynastic A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A d ...

children of their own (as has, in fact, happened). The princess became

Queen 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 ...

in 1972 and is still

reign A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., Saudi Arabia, List of Belgian monarchs, Belgium, Co-prince of Andorra, Andorra), of a people (e.g., List of Frankish kings, the Franks, List of ...

ing. Christian's place in the line of succession, if he had been still eligible, would have been no higher than thirteenth in 2013.

Marriage, loss of dynastic rights and children

By 1971, Princess Margrethe had produced two children, pushing Christian to 8th in the line of succession. He then chose to

forfeit Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke * "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from ''Wonder What's Next'' * ''Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers L ...

his right of succession to the throne by marrying without having received the

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

of the monarch in the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

. His brother Ingolf had done the same three years previously. The king's permission to marry was not sought because it was expected to be denied, since Christian's ''fiancée'' was an untitled commoner.Billed-Bladet, (Interview with Count Christian of Rosenborg), 1985, Danish Though Frederick IX had liberalized traditional practice by allowing royal spouses who were not themselves royal, but who claimed noble blood and were known by

courtesy titles A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some co ...

( Anne Bowes-Lyon was the granddaughter of an earl, first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, and through her first marriage to the son of an earl bore the title of viscountess;

Henri de Laborde de Monpezat Prince Henrik of Denmark (; born Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat; 11 June 1934 – 13 February 2018) was the husband of Margrethe II of Denmark. He served as her royal consort from Margrethe's accession on 14 January 1972 unt ...

used the title of count, though his family's claim to nobility was later acknowledged to be flawed), it would not be until 1995 that Margrethe II would allow her children to marry commoners with neither title nor claim to noble blood. Christian was given the title

count of Rosenborg The Danish royal family is the dynastic family of the monarch. All members of the Danish royal family except Queen Margrethe II hold the title of ''Prince/Princess of Denmark''. Dynastic children of the monarch and of the heir apparent are accor ...

and the

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

Excellency Excellency is an honorific style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder usually retains the right ...

, as was customary in the twentieth century for Danish princes who renounced or forfeited their

rights. Prior to his elder son's wedding in 1968, Prince Knud sought to convince his brother that Ingolf should be allowed to retain his royal title after his non-dynastic marriage, a privilege which might have been subsequently extended to Christian.Familie-Journalen, (Interview with Count Ingolf of Rosenborg), 14 May 1990, Danish But the king refused, on the grounds that other males of the dynasty, who had been demoted to counts of Rosenborg upon marriage, might try to re-claim their royal

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...

if Ingolf were allowed to do so despite his marrying a commoner as they had done. So, in 1971, Christian renounced his rights to the throne and took the title count of Rosenborg. On 27 February 1971, at

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 ...

, Denmark, Christian married Anne Dorte Maltoft-Nielsen (3 October 1947 in

Frederikssund Frederikssund () is a Danish town, seat of the Frederikssund Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden with a population of 16,850 (1 January 2022).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 ...

) who thus became ''Her Excellency Countess Anne Dorte of Rosenborg''. Although lacking the prior

of the monarch given in the

that the law required, the king expressed no personal opposition to his nephew's choice of bride and, according to Christian, the king's private consent later had to be formally registered by the King-in-Council. In a 1985 interview with ''Billed-Bladet'', Count Christian had explained (translated from Danish):

As protocol dictates, I had to ask my uncle, King Frederick IX, if he had any objections to my getting engaged...I knew I would have to renounce my title of prince and my right of succession if I married her. I was number four in the line of succession after Princess Margrethe, Princess Benedikte, and my father. My brother, Ingolf, had two years previously lost ''his'' princely title and succession right when he married a commoner, Countess Inge. Now I was ready to follow him. To me, it didn't matter if I were in line for the throne or not...My uncle, of course, had nothing against a union between Anne Dorte and me.

Count Christian and Countess Anne Dorte had three daughters: twins Josephine and Camilla (born in 1972) and Feodora (born in 1975). All three were Countesses from birth but lost their titles with their non-dynastic marriages.

Public life

Count Christian took part in some major public events associated with the royal family, in 2004, he and Countess Anne Dorte attended the wedding on 14 May 2004 of

Crown Prince Frederik Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, (Frederik André Henrik Christian; born 26 May 1968) is the heir apparent to the Danish throne. He is the elder son of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik. Early life Crown Prince Frede ...

Copenhagen Cathedral The Church of Our Lady ( da, Vor Frue Kirke) is the cathedral of Copenhagen. It is situated on the Frue Plads public square in central Copenhagen, next to the historic main building of the University of Copenhagen. The present-day version of the ...

, Copenhagen and the subsequent reception 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 ...

. They also attended the Memorial Service in honour of Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia held on 22 September 2006. They were included in the official guest-list as members of the Danish Royal Family when they attended the luncheon to celebrate the 75th birthday of

Prince Henrik Prince Henrik of Denmark (; born Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat; 11 June 1934 – 13 February 2018) was the husband of Margrethe II of Denmark. He served as her royal consort from Margrethe's accession on 14 January 1972 unt ...

on 11 June 2009; and the ruby jubilee celebrations for Queen Margrethe.

Death

Count Christian died on 21 May 2013 (aged 70) at Gentofte Hospital, Copenhagen in Denmark. A number of members of the Danish royal family, led by Queen Margrethe, attended Count Christian's funeral, held at Lyngby Church on 29 May 2013. His wife

Countess Anne Dorte of Rosenborg Countess Anne Dorte of Rosenborg (née Anne Dorte Maltoft-Nielsen; 3 October 1947 – 2 January 2014) was a Denmark, Danish countess. She was the wife of Count Christian of Rosenborg, the grandson of King Christian X of Denmark. Prince Christian h ...

died just 7 months later on 2 January 2014 in

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 ...

Ancestry

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Christian Of Rosenborg, Count Danish princes 1942 births 2013 deaths House of Glücksburg (Denmark) Counts of Rosenborg Disinherited European royalty