The Sons of King Christian IX of Denmark

[Music] the sons of King Christian the ninth of Denmark Christian the ninth of Denmark is one of the most prolific patriarchs in royal history his six children inherited were elected to or married in to the most powerful monarchies of 19th century Europe and their descendants have occupied 9 different European Thrones Denmark of course but also Norway Belgium the United Kingdom Greece Spain Russia Romania and Luxembourg King Christian it came from a relatively humble royal background he was the fifth son of a minor and rather poor branch of the Danish royal family at birth he wasn't even in the line of succession so he took up a career in the military he fell in love with his cousin Louisa of hesse-kassel and they were married in 1842 and lived a happy and simple life together in the relatively modest yellow palace in Copenhagen she raised their six children with practical skills the boys attending military school and becoming naval cadets like their father but all that changed in 1852 the King of Denmark Frederick the seventh had never had any children and an heir needed to be selected Frederick's closest living relative was his second cousin Louisa of hesse-kassel at the time it was against Danish law for a woman to inherit the crown and as her husband also had a connection if slightly more distant to the king it was decided that he would become the heir to the throne of Denmark the fact that they had six healthy children to follow them also made the couple an excellent choice to be the next king and queen in 1863 Christian ascended to the throne as King Christian the ninth and the down-to-earth family moved from their ordinary life into the royal palace the eldest son Frederick became the Crown Prince and as Denmark was a minor power in Europe at the time but the family was now in the official royal club the two younger sons Wilhelm and Valdemar were both seen as attractive candidates for appointments to other thrones which became vacant around the continent thus this once insignificant family became a major players in 19th century European politics let's meet the three distinguished sons of King Christian of the ninth King Frederick the eighth of Denmark as Frederick like his father was not born with any expectations of one day ruling a nation he was raised rather differently than most future monarchs instead of private tutors he was sent to school and therefore had a great deal of exposure to people and life outside the palace in 1863 the year of his father's ascension to the Danish throne 20 year old Frederick moved to the United Kingdom to study politics at the University of Oxford during school breaks he visited his sister Alexandra and her new husband Edward the Prince of Wales he and Edwards sister Helena took a liking to one another but her mother Queen Victoria didn't want Helena to marry a foreign prince and move away so she put a stop to the relationship Frederick was instead encouraged towards a match with princess Louisa the only surviving child of King Karl the fifteenth of Sweden and fourth of Norway it was hoped that an alliance between the great northern powers would usher in a new era of peace and cooperation in Scandinavia and luckily when Frederick went to Stockholm to get to know Louisa the couple enjoyed each other's company and agreed to the union they married in 1869 in the royal palace in stockholm and then moved to copenhagen where they had four sons and four daughters but the marriage did not turn out to be a happy one Louisa was extremely strict and harsh with the children insisting that they walk ten miles a day before breakfast and eating identical meals of veal cutlets potatoes and spinach day in and day out 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 abuse in the household drove Frederick and Louisa apart and they began to live separate lives Frederick also had to contend with existing and his father's shadow in the wings for his chance to be king as King Christian attained the age of 87 Frederick had a very long time to wait his father shared with him virtually no political power and sometimes refused to let him speak in public Christian the ninth died in 1906 and Frederick finally became king at the age of 62 he was more liberally minded than his father had been and supported the parliamentary system but as he only lived toreno for six years and by this time was plagued with bad health he wasn't able to make much of a mark on the country while returning home from holiday in Nice the King spent the night in Hamburg he went out for an evening stroll alone and collapsed he was discovered by police and taken to the hospital where he was declared dead at the age of 68 his eldest son followed him to become a king Christian the tenth of Denmark and his great-granddaughter is the current Queen Margaret ii of denmark his second son inherited the Norwegian throne from his maternal uncle and became King Haakon the seventh thus Frederick's great-grandson is the current King Harald v of Norway Frederick's granddaughter Astrid married King Leopold the third of the Belgians and her grandsons are on reef Grand Duke of Luxembourg and King Philippe of the Belgians vilhelm King George the 1st of Greece Vilhelm enrolled as a naval cadet along with his elder brother Frederick he was a lively funny child and loved a good prank meanwhile revolutionaries in Greece had to pose their german-born King Otto but rather than a republic they wanted a new King Britain France and Russia who had aided Greece in their war of independence against the Ottoman Empire thirty years earlier held the power to name the new Greek monarch Queen Victoria's second son Prince Alfred was put forward but rejected Greece was wary of having a British French or Russian king who had said those three world powers out of balance so the British Foreign Secretary had an idea at the wedding of Edward Prince of Wales to Princess Alexander of Denmark special attention was paid to Alexandra's 17 year old brother mil helm as he was from a minor European power he was seen as an ideal candidate and the Secretary was impressed with the young man's level-headed intelligence as part of the agreement Britain handed the Ionian Islands back to Greece in 1863 at the Greek national assembly elected Vil helm king of the Hellenes back at home in Denmark the teenage naval cadet had no idea he was now a monarch he opened his packed lunch and read the news of his election on the newspaper that had been wrapped around his sandwich when the Greek delegation arrived in Copenhagen to offer him the crown he accepted becoming the first king and his family as his father would not ascend to his own throne for another 7 months Wilhelm was heartbroken to leave his home but he nevertheless took the regional name of King George the first and travelled to Greece to rule a country he had never seen when he arrived so many Greeks had shown up to welcome their new sovereign that it took all day for his carriage to travel the short distance from the harbor to the palace he was determined to be a good leader and studied it Zilla gently quickly learning the Greek language he dismissed his Danish advisers in favor of Greek ones and frequently walked the streets of Athens and travelled around the country to get to know his new people he pushed the Greek assembly to complete a new constitution with representatives elected by direct secret universal male suffrage a first in modern Europe he swore to defend the Constitution and defer to the legislative authority of the elected officials George knew that the future of Greece depended on maintaining good relations with the three great powers of Europe so he decided to ally himself with a Russian bride and as Russians and Greeks shared the Orthodox Christian religion he thought it would help to ease his new Brides transition to Queen he travelled to st. Petersburg to meet all of the eligible Grand Duchesses and took a liking to fifteen-year-old olga konstantinovna the nice of Tsar Alexander the second the couple were married in the Winter Palace and then returned to Athens olga was not yet ready to carry the heavy mantle of wife and queen during her first grand ball as she went missing she was eventually found under the stairs playing with her dolls and crying at just 16 she gave birth to the couple's first child constantine seven more children followed over the next 22 years George ensured that all of his children grew up culturally Greek Olga became good friends with her sisters-in-law Alexandra the queen of the UK and Dagmar czarina of Russia and the trio often dressed alike King George promoted several expansions of Greek territory and through treaties and conflicts the nation was doubled in size during his reign in 1888 Greece celebrated George's Silver Jubilee and took stock of their increased prosperity the Corinth canal was built in 1893 and increased the nation's sea trade in 1896 the Olympic Games were revived in Athens and King George presided over the opening ceremony things were going well for King George until he decided to go to war with Turkey over the long disputed island of Crete and lost badly the country turned on their king and he considered abdication while riding in an open carriage he and his daughter Maria were shot at by an assassin George shielded Maria and both escaped unharmed and gained sympathy and popularity in 1912 Greece Montenegro Serbia and Bulgaria joined forces against Turkey in the first Balkan war crown prince Constantine commanded the Greek army and the retaking of the northern city of Salonika King George traveled there to celebrate the victory with his son and people he was only months shy of his golden jubilee and was making plans to abdicate in favor of his son while in Salonika he went out for his daily stroll just to see it always done his advisors were worried for his security in the recently liberated city but the king of brushed off the suggestion of guard while out walking he was shot in the back by a madman and died instantly at the age of 67 King George laid in state in Athens for three days his coffin was draped with the flags of Greece and of his homeland Denmark he was succeeded by his son King Constantine the first his great-granddaughter Alexandra became a queen consort of Yugoslavia his great grandson Michael was the last king of Romania his great great grandson is Phillipe the 6th the current king of Spain and his grandson Prince Philip married Queen Elizabeth the second of the United Kingdom Prince Valdemar the baby of the family was doted on by his older siblings they often took walks together along the harbour in Copenhagen and Valdemar became captivated by ships and sailing he was thrilled to become a naval cadet like his older brothers he insisted upon not receiving any special treatment because of his status as a prince and worked hard alongside his fellow sailors in 1874 at the age of 16 he accompanied his father on an official visit to Iceland to celebrate the nation's millennium once Valdemar entered his 20s his mother Queen Luise began to search for a wife to equal the extraordinary matches she had arranged for her other five children with in-laws from the most powerful monarchies in Europe the United Kingdom Russia Sweden and Germany the only major European power missing was France Emperor Napoleon the third had recently died in exile but it was rumoured that the French were considering restoring at the pre-revolutionary monarchy and bringing the Borbon dynasty back into power the great-granddaughter of the last King of France Louis Philippe the first was 20 year-old Princess Maria of our Lyon Maria was a highly intelligent and outspoken young woman who was unimpressed with the Royal Way of life she preferred to pursue her interests in education and art when invited to the UK to be inspected by Queen Victoria as a potential bride for one of her sons Marie told the Queen that she wouldn't like living in English as it was far too grand but she did find Valdemar attractive and accepted his proposal of marriage as she was Catholic and he Lutheran a special dispensation had to be obtained from the Pope and the couple agreed that their daughters would be raised Catholic and their sons Lutheran they had a grand wedding in Paris and then traveled to Denmark together to take up residence in the comparatively modest yellow palace of all Jamar had been raised Anna before his father was named heir to the throne upon their arrival they were greeted by a crowd and a public dignitary who gave a formal speech of welcome someone in the crowd threw a bouquet of flowers to the princess which missed her grasp but hid the dignitary in the face Maria burst into laughter and her relaxed and unpretentious style endeared her to the Danes the newlyweds got on well and Marie enjoyed meeting valdemar's friends from the Navy and their wives she quickly learned Danish and often shocked other Royals by repeating the rough speech of the sailors she also taught the Danish royal family how to play cards Valdemar was offered a throne of his own as most of his family members had his brother-in-law at Tsar Alexander of Russia wanted him to come to Bulgaria to rule there but he declined the appointment as it would put him in direct conflict with his brother George now king of Greece and because he and Maria were content in Denmark Valdemar continued his naval career and travelled to the West Indies Constantinople India China and Japan at home the couple shared a lively social life and befriended many actors artists and other interesting characters not normally deemed suitable company for members of the royal family Murray herself was a talented painter and sculptor 'us she astonished and intrigued her royal relations with her eccentric behavior including having a special saddle made so that she could ride a bowl becoming a volunteer firefighter and getting an anchor tattooed on her arm in honor of her husband Murray had a difficult time delivering the couple's fourth son Vigo and her doctor gave her morphine for her pain she became a dick to the drug but with the support of her family she was able to recover she later gave birth to their fifth and final child a daughter margretta Volta baa and Maria were lenient with their lively four sons and daughter and they were seen as the wild and naughty children compared to their more disciplined cousins in 1905 Valdemar was once again offered a throne this time norway's but he again refused as he was perfectly content with his life as a sailor Prince he instead suggested his nephew Karl who became King Haakon at the 7th Murray fell ill with pneumonia and died at the age of 44 baldemar and three of their sons were in India at the time and were heartbroken at the news Valdemar lived as a widower for the next thirty years he died in 1939 at the age of 80 and was the last surviving child of King Christian the Knights in an upcoming video will meet King Christian's 39 grandchildren many of whom were major players in European politics in the 20th century and his other descendants who went on to occupy Thrones throughout Europe 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 [Music]

Channel: Lindsay Holiday

Views: 158,112

Rating: 4.9651184 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: tqwtm8-F7Bc

Length: 17min 1sec (1021 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 20 2020