King Christian IX's Family – Descendants of the Sons

King Christian the Knights descendants the children of the sons King Christian the ninth of Denmark is known as the father-in-law of Europe his six children inherited married into or were appointed to monarchies all over the continent between them they gave Christian and his Queen Luise 39 grandchildren and many more descendants who occupied nine different European Thrones Denmark of course but also at Norway Belgium the United Kingdom Greece Spain Russia Romania and Luxembourg they spanned a hundred and twenty eight years of history Prince Albert Victor being born in 1864 and Princess Margaret of Borbon Parma living to C 1992 among them they defied the Nazis served in the French Foreign Legion won and lost various thrones and foiled assassination attempts here are the stories of the children of King Christian the Knights three sons the children of King Frederick the eighth of Denmark the Crown Prince of Denmark Frederick married Princess Louise of Sweden and Norway Louise was extremely strict and harsh with the children she often chased an offending child with a stick and they would hide under their father's desk so that he could defend them this led to eight children who were very well behaved but not particularly happy Christian embarked on a naval education as was family tradition he married Alexandrine daughter of the Grand Duke of mecklenburg-schwerin the couple were given three palaces in which to raise their two sons when his father died in 1912 he became a king Christian the tenth of Denmark at the age of 42 it has been royal tradition since the 16th century that the regional names of Danish kings alternate between Christian and Frederick in 1918 Iceland a long time Danish realm moved to become a sovereign state but with a personal union with the king of denmark thus christian also became the king of iceland in 1920 he instigated the easter crisis which nearly toppled the Danish monarchy following World War one Germany's weakened position made it possible for Denmark to retake the long disputed territory of Schleswig the people of northern Sri swig were mostly Danish and voted to rejoin Denmark while those in the South voted to remain with Germany Parliament agreed that only the northern half of Schleswig would be reintegrated however King Christian insisted that they take the whole region the Prime Minister resigned in protest and the people rioted against the king who had overstepped his position as a constitutional monarch facing revolution Kristian wisely back down and for the rest of his reign he mostly stayed out of politics in 1940 Germany clapped back and invaded Denmark had a little choice but to surrender to Nazi occupation Christian refused to leave his Kingdom and became a symbol of resistance now in his seventies the king could be seen riding his horse through the streets of copenhagen every day he personally funded the evacuation of Danish Jews to neutral Sweden King Christian had lived to see the defeat of the Nazis and died in 1947 at the age of 76 a cloth armband worn by members of the resistance movement was placed on his coffin his eldest son followed him as King Frederick the ninth and his granddaughter is the current Queen of Denmark margarita the second Karl was educated in the Navy like his older brother and then moved forward with a career as an officer at 24 he married his first cousin Maud of Wales granddaughter of Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace the pair had a love match and got along well they had one child Alexander Karl's maternal grandfather had been King Charles the fifteenth of sweden and fourth of norway but in 1905 norway dissolved their union was sweden carl was offered at the new norwegian crown but he was democratically minded and said he would only accept if a vote was held to determine if a constitutional monarchy was really what the norwegian people wanted they did and carl was enthusiastically elected king with a 79 percent majority he further endeared himself to his new people by taking the ancient Norse name of hook on the seventh which hadn't been used in 500 years his son's name was also changed to Olaf he and Maud were crowned king and queen in Medeiros Cathedral they travelled extensively through their new kingdom and although Hakan had a considerable power on paper he respected the Parliament and stayed out of politics in 1938 Queen Maud died suddenly at the age of 68 in 1940 Nazi forces attempted to invade Oslo they were temporarily held off giving the King the prince and other government officials time to escape the capital but the German occupation was inevitable Hakan refused to abdicate or legitimize the new Nazi puppet regime so the Germans bombed and destroyed the town the Royal had fled to Hakan Olaf and his family and several others escaped and hid in the snowy woods eventually reaching the border of neutral Sweden where they were evacuated to the UK in London they set up a Norwegian government in exile and Hakone frequently broadcast messages of hope and defiance back to Norway via the BBC Norwegians took to wearing coins emblazoned with hakan's monogram h7 as symbols of resistance following the German defeat in 1945 the King returned home to much acclaim he lived an active life well into his 80s and died in 1957 at the age of 85 he was followed by his son king olaf v and his grandson is the current King Harald v of Norway Louise married Prince Frederick of Schaumburg leap and moved with him to Germany they had three children the marriage was very unhappy and Louise returned home to Denmark often staying months at a time her father also visited her every year she died in 1906 at the age of 31 officially of meningitis though it was rumoured that she had attempted to drown herself in a lake and caught a chill which killed her Harold joined the Danish army at 17 and eventually attained the rank of lieutenant-general he married his second cousin Princess Helena of schleswig-holstein-sonderburg-glücksburg and the couple had five children Harald retired from active duty in 1938 when Germany occupied Denmark German born Princess Helena became deeply unpopular for her support of the Nazi occupation she was not on speaking terms with her sons who both served in the Danish military after the Nazi defeat Helena escaped criminal prosecution for collaboration only because she was a member of the royal family but was exiled from Denmark she was allowed to return in 1947 to be with her husband on his deathbed ingerborg entered into an arranged marriage with her maternal first cousin Prince Carl of Sweden the couple were complete strangers on their wedding day but got on well and had a happy and simple domestic life with their four children margarita Marta Astrid and Carl Inga Borges stuffie mother-in-law Queen Sofia seldom attended public events and her sister-in-law Princess Victoria was too ill to go out in public but Inka Park was easygoing and friendly she enjoyed participating in public functions and picked up the slack for her relatives quickly becoming the most popular member of the Swedish royal family carl and ingerborg lost a great deal of money and had to sell their home when a bank they invested in crash in 1922 but the couple took the loss in stride they hadn't indulged in wealth and glamour before the crash and were just as and raising their children in more modest surroundings ingerborg was portrayed as an ideal wife and mother in Swedish magazines in 1905 when Norway split from Sweden the Norwegian government discussed naming karl and ingerborg king and queen but they declined and her brother was offered the crown instead ingerborg died in 1958 at the age of 79 her daughter marta married her first cousin olaf Crown Prince of Norway but she died before becoming Queen she was the mother of the current King Harald v of Norway ingerborg daughter Astrid married Leo the third of Belgium and became Queen of the Belgians she died at the age of 29 in a car crash her daughter Josephine Charlotte married Grand Duke Shaun of Luxembourg and was the mother of the current Grand Duke onry of Luxembourg both of Astrid sons served as kings of the Belgians first King butuan who died childless at 62 then albear the second whose son is the current King Philippe of the Belgians Judah had an affair with a young court doctor names Ashley but marriage to a commoner was at the time unthinkable and niels was dismissed from rural service both torah and niels remained unmarried for the rest of their lives and niels had a portrait of torah on his bedside when he died taurat was friendly and understanding and her home was a popular retreat from court life for her relatives Gustav also remained unmarried he died in 1944 age 57 Dalmar had better luck than her older sister torta when she fell in love with the Danish aristocrat twenty years after her sister's soiled romance the royal family had progressed and she was allowed to marry the pair had five children together she died in 1961 at the age of 71 the children of King George the first of Greece King George the first and his wife Grand Duchess olga konstantinovna of russia were not wealthy by royal standards they lived simply and were devoted and loving parents with a happy domestic life their children all grew up culturally Greek and learned to speak Greek English Danish Russian French and Italian the siblings spoke Greek to one another and English with their parents the parents spoke German to each other here are the stories of the eight Greek and Danish royal children Konstantin was named for constantine xi Palio lucas the last byzantine emperor he received a military and political education in germany and rose to the rank of major-general in the greek army constantine married princess sophia of prussia a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and sister of kaiser wilhelm ii of germany the couple had six children he commanded at the greek army during the greco-turkish war and lost badly severely damaging the monarchies reputation despite protests the prince was once again appointed commander during the Balkan wars against the Ottoman Empire he fared much better this time won the war and doubled Greece's territory his father was assassinated in 1913 and he ascended the throne as King Constantine the first at the outbreak of World War one he was sympathetic to the Germans and his brother-in-law Kaiser Wilhelm and wanted Greece to remain neutral he was strongly opposed by Prime Minister Venizelos who sided with the Allies the disagreement nearly led to civil war the king was forced to abdicate in 1917 and he and his eldest son George were driven into exile his second son Alexander became a puppet King and was held prisoner in the palace by the Greek government while they joined the war on the side of the Allies while strolling in the Royal menagerie King Alexander was bitten by a monkey the minor wound soon turned septic and Alexander died at the age of 27 by this time Greece has been at war for eight years once World War one was over Greece had rolled right into yet another war with the Turks morale was minuscule as young men died and fields lay fallow Venizelos was defeated in an election and Royalists promised a return to peace Greece voted ninety-nine percent in favor of constantine returning as king however once voted in the new government decided to continue the war constantine personally commanded and lost another battle and the army rose up against him forcing him to abdicate for a second time in 1922 constantine died in exile in Italy four months later at the age of 54 his eldest son George followed him as king two years into his reign Greece declared itself a republic and the royal family was forced into exile again in the next eleven years the nation had 23 changes of government a dictatorship and 13 coos to put an end to the chaos George was asked to return as king and ruled another 12 years he died childless in 1947 and was succeeded by his brother Paul who ruled until his death in 1964 Paul's son king constantine ii sought the final dissolution of the greek monarchy in 1973 in favor of a republic he and his children currently live abroad Paul's daughter Sophia married King Juan Carlos the first of Spain and is the mother of the current king of Spain Philippe the six constantine the first was also the grandfather through his son Alexander of Alexandra who became queen of Yugoslavia when she married King Peter the second that monarchy it was abolished in 1945 Constantine's daughter Helen married King Carole ii of romania their son King Michael was overthrown by a communist dictatorship in 1947 George was sent to Denmark at 14 to join the Danish Navy he felt abandoned by his father and grew up very attached his uncle Valdemar with whom he lived at 22 George went on a tour of Asia with his cousin Tsarevich Nikolai of Russia while the young men were returning from a day trip to Kaito a Japanese police officer attempted to assassinate Nikolai with a saber George fought the man off with his cane saving his cousin's life the prince was later involved in planning the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens and headed up the Committee on nautical sports at 38 George agreed to an arranged marriage with princess marie bonaparte the great-grandniece of emperor napoleon the first of France they had two children Petros and Eugenia Marie found George's unusually close relationship with his uncle Valdemar to be very odd and she and her husband grew apart she had strong flirtations with Valdemar and his son Prince a gay and a full-on affair with French Prime Minister I received Breann none of which George objected to Marie studied psychoanalysis under Sigmund Freud and aided Freud's escape from Nazi Germany George lived the age of 88 and was the last surviving of George the first children alexandra was a joyful child and a favorite among her siblings at 18 she married her maternal first cousin Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia the pair had two children Maria and Dmitry while seven months pregnant with Dmitri 21 year old Alexandra jumped into a boat and fell the following day while attending a ball she collapsed with violent labor pains after giving birth she fell into a coma and died six days later her grieving husband had to be restrained from throwing himself into her grave her son Dmitry was one of the conspirators who murdered grigory rasputin in 1916 Nicholas was called Greek Nicky to distinguish him from his cousin the future tsar nicolai of russia he helped to organize the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens Nikolas married at Grand Duchess Alina Val de Marana of Russia and they have three daughters Olga Elizabeth and marina he was a talented painter and signed his work Nicholas lepprince his father bequeathed him at the Royal Theater of Greece which he in turn gifted to the Greek state he died in 1938 aged 66 Maria was a vivacious child and had a deep love of her family's adopted nation she cried when she discovered that she didn't actually have any Greek blood she wanted to stay in Greece all of her life rather than marry a foreign prince and fell in love with a Greek commoner but her parents refused to allow the match during the Olympic Games King Alexander the first of Serbia proposed her but she found him ugly and refused when she was 19 her mother's cousin 32 year old grand duke George Mikhailovich of Russia became enamored of her and proposed she found him old and dull and turned him down he continued to pursue her visiting Greece twice a year to propose after five years her family pressured her to accept though she made it clear that she did not love him the couple moved to Russia and had two daughters Nina and Xenia Maria and George were devoted to their daughters but they never grew to love each other she was also not fond of Russia and spent a great deal of time traveling during World War one Maria remained in Britain with her daughters and was close to her aunt Queen Alexandra and her cousin Princess Victoria Maria founded and ran to hospitals to support the war effort back in Russia Grand Duke George was arrested during the revolution Maria tried desperately to secure his release but he was shot and killed by the revolutionaries after the war Maria returned to her beloved Greece where she fell in love and married a greek admiral Pericles Ione DS when Greece became a republic the couple were forced to flee to Italy where Marija was content to garden write and play backgammon she died in 1940 at the age of 64 while visiting her beloved Athens Olga her mother's namesake died at just seven months of age Andrew joined the Greek cavalry while attending the coronation of King Edward the seventh he fell in love with Prince Alice of Battenberg a great granddaughter of Queen Victoria the couple Wed settled in Greece and had four daughters Margherita Theodora Cecilia and Sophie and one son Philip during World War one the couple continued to visit the UK though the British were suspicious that they might be German spies Andrew served in the greco-turkish war but he disobeyed orders that would have meant certain death for him and his men in what he considered a desperate attack when Greece lost the war and revolution broke out Andrew was arrested court-martialed and faced execution instead he was banished from Greece the family fled to France where they began to fall apart Alice suffered a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized the four daughters married German men several of whom later joined the Nazi Party and Philip the youngest moved to the UK to live with his maternal grandmother Andrew spent his final years living in the French Riviera with his mistress French actress countess Andre de la bean who spent the little money he had laughed he died in 1944 aged 62 Andrews son Philip went on to marry the future Queen Elizabeth the second of the UK he is the father of Prince Charles of Wales Christopher was 20 years younger than his oldest brother Constantine he joined the Greek Navy at his parents insistence but would have rather been a pianist the prince was offered three different Thrones those of Portugal Lithuania and Albania but he turned them down he didn't want the stress of being a king he had an affair with his cousin Princess Alexandra Duchess a Fife a granddaughter of Queen Alexandra of the UK but their parents disapproved and broke up the romance in 1920 while the Greek Royals were living in exile Christopher married a millionaire American Widow Nancy Leeds who was 10 years his senior Nancy's fortune has significantly supported the Royals who had lost most of their wealth along with the crown Nancy developed cancer and died three years into the marriage at the age of 45 six years later Christopher married again - princess Francoise - or Leon daughter of Prince jean pretender to the French throne the couple were childless for a decade and then had one son Michael a year before Christopher himself died at the age of 51 the children of Prince Valdemar Valdemar married Princess Maria Varley on an eccentric French aristocrat the family had a happy and relatively modest life in Copenhagen Valdemar and Marie were lenient with their four sons and daughter and they were seen as the wild and naughty children compared to their more disciplined cousins all gay joined the Danish army and became a captain he served in Italy during World War one and fell in love with an Italian aristocrat Matilda Calvi he married her without securing permission from his cousin King Christian the 10th and therefore had to renounce his title as Prince of Denmark and his place in the line of succession but was instead given the title of count of rosenborg the couple had one son Valdemar in 1918 when Finland won its independence from Russia agait was a candidate for the king of Finland but the short-lived crown went instead to German Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse in 1922 algate joined the French Foreign Legion an elite division of the French military which was made up mostly of foreign soldiers he was stationed in Morocco during the Rif war and attained the rank of lieutenant colonel and earned Frances highest honor the legend Donna all-gay published a book a royal adventure in the Foreign Legion he died in Morocco of a lung infection in 1940 at the age of 52 Axl served in the Danish Navy and rose to the rank of Admiral he married his first cousin Princess Margaret of Sweden daughter of Princess ingerborg the couple were very much in love and her mother commented that the pair could not be left alone in a furnished room the couple were gifted Benj Dolph's hoy Villa outside of Copenhagen and raised their two sons George and Flemming their large parts of the villa were damaged in a fire and Axl had them rebuilt to resemble a ship when Axel's father Prince Valdemar died in 1939 he inherited the family's estate but he preferred to remain in his beloved home and allowed the Danish government to utilize the estate on the condition that he and his family would be allowed to be buried on the grounds during the Nazi occupation of Denmark axel joined the resistance and his home became an important meeting place and Arsenal he was discovered and placed under house arrest for the remainder of the war axel served on the International Olympic Committee for 31 years and recommended the official Olympic anthem he also served as chairman of the board of SAS the Scandinavian Airlines system for 16 years he died in 1964 at 75 Eric had to renounce his place in the line of succession when he married a Canadian Louise Francis Booth like his older brother he was granted the title of count of rosenborg instead Eric and Louise had two children and divorced after 13 years of marriage Vigo married an American Elinor Margaret Greene whom he met in New York City he also renounced his title of Prince and became yet another count Rosenberg this is now the honorary title given to all members of the Danish royal family and their children who must renounce their titles of prince or princess [Music] Margaret was the only daughter and baby of the family when her Lutheran father married her Catholic mother they had to secure a dispensation from the Pope part of the agreement was that their sons would be raised Lutheran and their daughters Catholic so Margaret was the only child who attended Mass with her mother she married Prince Rene of bourbon-parma who was the grandson of King Miguel the first of Portugal the couple had four children Jacques and Michel and Andre and married her cousin King Michael the first of romania after he abdicated his throne Margaret died in 1992 at the age of 97 and was the last living grandchild of King Christian the ninth if you enjoyed this video please like subscribe comment your thoughts and check out my other royal history videos if you really want to help please consider supporting me on patreon a link is in the description thank you for watching

Channel: Lindsay Holiday

Views: 151,097

Rating: 4.9485025 out of 5

Keywords: history, game of thrones, documentary, royal family, royalty, sex, bbc, the crown, british history, england, scandal, royal wedding, women, incest, europe, historic costumes, feminist, victorian era, Queen victoria, inbreeding, wwi, world war 1, 1800s, princess, duchess, bride, denmark, danish, russia, Scandinavia, nordic, scandinavian, queen elizabeth ii, love story, tiara, christian ix, Frederick VIII, George I of Greece, ottoman empire, Prince Valdemar, tattoo, sailor, navy, king, greek, france, sweden

Id: z08dTnpr3cA

Length: 27min 25sec (1645 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 27 2020