Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark ( da, Frederik; 11 October 1753 – 7 December 1805) 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. ...

to the thrones of Denmark and Norway. He was the only surviving son of King Frederick V by his second wife, Juliana Maria of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. Hereditary Prince Frederick acted as regent on behalf of his half-brother

King Christian VII Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was a monarch of the House of Oldenburg who was King of Denmark–Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. For his motto he chose: "''Gloria ex amore patriae ...

from 1772 to 1784.

Life

Early life

Frederick was born at

Christiansborg Palace Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme ...

in Copenhagen on 11 October 1753. To provide for his future position, at the age of 3 he was elected

coadjutor The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

in the Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck. This meant that in time he would succeed the Prince-Bishop then in office, Frederick August. This plan had to be abandoned, however, and Frederick stayed in Denmark as a junior member of the royal family.

Marriage

He married

Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (24 August 1758 – 29 November 1794) was born a Princess and Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and by marriage Hereditary Princess of Denmark and Norway. Life Born in Schwerin, she was the only daughter ...

(1758–1794) 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 a ...

on 21 October 1774. She was a daughter of Duke Louis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Charlotte Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

Regent of the kingdoms

His elder half-brother,

, who had a severe mental illness (believed to have been

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social w ...

), and had been divorced from his wife, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (who was then exiled), Prince Frederick was designated as

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

of Denmark-Norway in 1772, when 18 years old. His regency was mostly nominal, the power being held by his mother, Queen Juliane Marie, and minister

Ove Høegh-Guldberg Ove Høegh-Guldberg (born ''Guldberg''; 1 September 1731 – 7 February 1808) was a Danish statesman, historian, and ''de facto'' prime minister of Denmark during the reign of the mentally unstable King Christian VII. Biography Guldber ...

. He acted as regent until the coup of 1784, when his 16-year-old half-nephew Frederick (the future King Frederick VI), took power and regency.

Later life

After the coup, Frederick was left without much influence at the court. After Christiansborg Palace was destroyed by fire in 1794, Hereditary Prince Frederick moved with his family to

Amalienborg Palace Amalienborg () is the official residence for the Danish royal family, and is located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Queen Magrethe ll lives here in winter and autumn. It consists of four identical classical palace façades with rococo interiors arou ...

. Sophia Frederica died the same year, shortly after the move. Hereditary Prince Frederick outlived his wife by 11 years and died at Amalienborg Palace on 7 December 1805. Eventually, his son

Christian Frederick Christian VIII (18 September 1786 – 20 January 1848) was King of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, King of Norway in 1814. Christian Frederick was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick, a younger son of King Frederic ...

would succeed Frederick VI as king, first in Norway then in Denmark, and his granddaughter

Louise of Hesse-Kassel da, Louise Wilhelmine Frederikke Caroline Auguste Julie , succession = Queen consort of Denmark , image = Louise of Hesse-Kassel.jpg , reign = 15 November 1863 – 29 September 1898 , spouse = , issue = , house = ...

married the future

Christian IX Christian IX (8 April 181829 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. A younger son of Frederick William, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein ...

making Frederick the ancestor of the current Danish Monarchs

In Literature

Prince Frederick is an important character in

Norah Lofts Norah Lofts, ''née'' Norah Ethel Robinson, (27 August 190410 September 1983) was a 20th-century British writer. She also wrote under the pen names Peter Curtis and Juliet Astley. She wrote more than fifty books specialising in historical fi ...

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other t ...

''The Lost Queen'' (1969), chronicling the tragic marriage of King Christian VII and Queen Caroline Matilda. The book suggests that Frederick was himself in love with the Queen and jealous of her lover

Johann Friedrich Struensee Lensgreve Johann Friedrich Struensee (5 August 1737 – 28 April 1772) was a German-Danish physician, philosopher and statesman. He became royal physician to the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark and a minister in the Danish governmen ...

– which is not firmly attested in historical sources.

Issue

*Stillborn daughter (19 September 1781). *Stillborn daughter (17 February 1783). *Princess Juliana Marie (2 May 1784 – 28 October 1784), died in infancy. * Prince Christian Frederick (18 September 1786 – 20 January 1848), future King Christian Frederick of Norway and Christian VIII of Denmark. * Princess Juliane Sophie (18 February 1788 – 9 May 1850), married in 1812 to Prince William of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld; they had no issue. * Princess Louise Charlotte (30 October 1789 – 28 March 1864), married in 1810 to

Prince William of Hesse-Kassel Prince William of Hesse-Kassel (24 December 1787 – 5 September 1867) was the first son of Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Caroline of Nassau-Usingen. Marriage and children On 10 November 1810, William was married in Amalienborg P ...

; they had issue. * Hereditary Prince Ferdinand (22 November 1792 – 29 June 1863), married in 1829 to

Princess Caroline of Denmark Princess Caroline of Denmark (28 October 1793 – 31 March 1881), was the eldest surviving daughter of King Frederick VI of Denmark. She was unofficially known as "Kronprinsesse Caroline" (English: Crown Princess Caroline) prior to her marriage, a ...

; they had no issue.

Ancestry

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Frederik the Heir Presumptive
at the website of the

Royal Danish Collection Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

Rosenborg Castle Rosenborg Castle ( da, Rosenborg Slot) is a renaissance castle located in Copenhagen, Denmark. The castle was originally built as a country summerhouse in 1606 and is an example of Christian IV's many architectural projects. It was built in the D ...

{{authority control Danish princes Norwegian princes House of Oldenburg in Denmark Regents of Denmark Regents of Norway 1753 births 1805 deaths Burials at Roskilde Cathedral Sons of kings