Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark (; 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 a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

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. After the fall of

Johann Friedrich Struensee Count, 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 gov ...

in 1772, Hereditary Prince Frederick was installed as regent, acting on behalf of his half-brother, King Christian VII, who was mentally unstable. After the coup of 1784, when the king's son Crown Prince Frederick took power and regency, he was left without influence at the court.

Life

Early life

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

coadjutor The term "coadjutor" (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: * Coadjutor bishop ...

in the Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck. This meant that in time he would succeed the

Prince-Bishop A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the ...

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 (1758–1794) in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

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

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

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

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

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. 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. 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 would succeed Frederick VI as king, first in Norway then in Denmark, and his granddaughter Louise of Hesse-Kassel married the future Christian IX, making Frederick an ancestor of the current

Frederik X of Denmark Frederik X (Frederik André Henrik Christian, ; born 26 May 1968) is King of Denmark. He acceded to the throne following Abdication of Margrethe II, his mother's abdication in 2024. Frederik is the eldest son of Margrethe II and Prince Henri ...

In Literature

Prince Frederick is an important character in

Norah Lofts Norah Ethel Lofts (née 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 fiction, but she ...

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

''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

– 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. He was titular Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel-(Rumpenheim) and for many years heir ...

; they had issue. * Hereditary Prince Ferdinand (22 November 1792 – 29 June 1863), married in 1829 to Princess Caroline of Denmark; they had no issue.

Ancestry

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

Frederik the Heir Presumptive
at the website of the Royal Danish Collection at

Rosenborg Castle Rosenborg Castle () is a renaissance castle 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 Dutch Renaissance style, t ...

{{authority control Princes from Denmark–Norway House of Oldenburg in Denmark Regents of Denmark–Norway 1753 births 1805 deaths Burials at Roskilde Cathedral Sons of kings 18th-century regents Children of Frederick V of Denmark Heirs presumptive