'' , reign = , title = Princess Harald of Denmark , house =

Glücksburg Glücksburg (; da, Lyksborg) is a small town northeast of Flensburg in the district Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and is the northernmost town in Germany. It is situated on the south side of the Flensborg Fjord, an inlet ...

, spouse = , issue = Feodora, Princess Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe
Caroline-Mathilde, Hereditary Princess of Denmark
Alexandrine-Louise, Countess Luitpold of Castell-Castell
Prince Gorm
Prince Oluf , image = HelenetoSCHLESWIGHOLSTEIN.jpg , image_size = 225px , birth_date = , birth_place = Grünholz,

Province of Schleswig-Holstein The Province of Schleswig-Holstein (german: Provinz Schleswig-Holstein ) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia (subsequently the Free State of Prussia after 1918) from 1868 to 1946. History It was created from the Duchies of Schleswig and H ...

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

, German Empire , death_date = , death_place =

Hellerup Hellerup () is a very affluent district of Gentofte Municipality in the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. The most urban part of the district is centred on Strandvejen and is bordered by Østerbro to the south and the Øresund to the east. It compr ...

, Denmark , father =

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

, mother =

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 ...

, religion =

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Princess Helena Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (german: Helene Adelheid Viktoria Marie; 1 June 1888 - 30 June 1962) was the third eldest daughter of

and his wife

. She was a 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 = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

through her marriage within the

House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...

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 brothe ...

. Princess Helena was a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

sympathiser during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and was after the war exiled from Denmark, but eventually allowed to return, where she died.

Early life

Princess Helena was born 1 June 1888 at Grünholz Castle ( Thumby) in Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia, the third eldest daughter of Frederick Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and his wife

. Her mother was sister of Empress Augusta Victoria, making her sister in law of

Wilhelm II, German Emperor Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Emp ...

and granddaughter of

Princess Feodora of Leiningen Princess Feodora of Leiningen (Anna Feodora Auguste Charlotte Wilhelmine; 7 December 1807 – 23 September 1872) was the only daughter of Emich Carl, Prince of Leiningen (1763–1814), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1786–1861) ...

, maternal half-sister of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

. Her father was the eldest son of

Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (23 October 1814 in Schleswig, Schleswig – 27 November 1885 in Luisenlund, Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia, Germany) was the third Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Fried ...

and a nephew of

Christian IX of Denmark 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- ...

. Three years before the birth of Princess Helena, he had succeeded to the headship of the

and the title of

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

upon the death of his father in 1885.

Marriage and issue

Princess Helena was engaged in 1908, and married

, fourth child and third son of Frederick VIII of Denmark and his wife Princess Louise of Sweden and Norway on 28 April 1909 at

, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. After their marriage, Prince Harald and Princess Helena lived at the Jægersborghus country house 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 ...

which Prince Harald had purchased in 1907. Here their five children were born between 1910 and 1923. The only activity deemed acceptable for a female member of the royal house except representation was charity, and in 1913, Princess Helena started a campaign to found an orphanage in Gentofte. The orphanage, ''Spædbørnshjemmet Danmark'', was finally founded in 1923. After this, she acted as the protector of the orphanage and its funds, which was taken over by princess Caroline-Mathilde after her- the money was in 1977 to create the ''Danmarksfonden'', a fund for social and cultural matters.

Later life

Princess Helena became very unpopular during World War II because of her sympathy for the German occupation and the Nazi party after the German occupation of Denmark in 1940. The Danish resistance movement stated that Princess Helena was the only member of the Danish royal house to have betrayed Denmark: she received and entertained Germans in her home, attended parties hosted by the Germans at Gesandtskab and had been introduced to Danish collaborationists by the Danish noblewoman Ebba Lerche., p. 115 Her actions were so unpopular that, on some occasions, enraged Danes had even broken the windows of her limousine. Because of her professed support for the Germans, she was reportedly not on speaking terms with her sons, who were embarrassed by her behaviour. Even her husband had taken to avoiding the dining room when she was hosting him. One of her own servants, Paul Dall, responsible for setting her table, was a contact of the German Abwehr in Copenhagen, and was after the war judged guilty as a spy. On 18 January 1942 she participated in the memorial service for an SS officer, C.E. von Schalburg, who had died on the Russian front, a service which the monarch refused to attend. In 1942, Helena made efforts to convince Prince Knud of Denmark to persuade the monarch to allow Nazi members in to the Danish government. Princess Helena is not considered to have been a regular German agent, but rather an informer and a contact on informal basis. After the war, owing to Princess Helena being a member of the Royal house, she was not brought to trial, as any punishment was at the discretion of the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. He instead exiled her from Denmark on 30 May 1945 and placed under house arrest at the

Glücksburg Castle Glücksburg Castle ( German: Schloss Glücksburg, Danish: ''Lyksborg Slot'') is one of the most significant Renaissance castles in Northern Europe. The castle was the headquarters of the ducal lines of the house of Glücksburg and temporarily serv ...

in Germany. She was allowed to return to Denmark in 1947, when Prince Harald fell gravely ill. She stayed with her spouse until his death two years later. Prince Harald died on 30 March 1949 in Copenhagen. Princess Helena survived her husband by 13 years and died on 30 June 1962 in

. 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 ...

Issue

Helena and Harald had five children:

Ancestry

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{authority control 1888 births 1962 deaths Helena Adelaide Danish princesses Helena Adelaide People from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein Danish collaborators with Nazi Germany Burials at Roskilde Cathedral