Canute of Denmark

Prince Canute of Denmark, 1935

Prince Knut of Denmark (born July 27, 1900 in Lyngby , † June 14, 1976 in Gentofte) was the second and youngest son of the Danish King Christian X and his wife Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin . He was a member of the Glücksburg family and heir to the Danish throne from 1947 to 1953. He was the uncle of the incumbent Queen Margrethe II of Denmark .

Origin and family

Prince Knut was born at Sorgefri Castle near Copenhagen and baptized Knud Christian Frederik Michael . His father became King of Denmark when Canute was 12 years old. His uncle Carl was King of Norway as Haakon VII . Knut's brother Frederik (IX.) Succeeded his father on the Danish throne.

On September 8, 1933, Prince Knut married his cousin Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark , daughter of Knut's uncle, Prince Harald of Denmark and Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, at Fredensborg Palace . The marriage had three children:

• Princess Elisabeth of Denmark (* May 8, 1935, † June 19, 2018)
• Prince Ingolf of Denmark (born February 17, 1940), later Count von Rosenborg
• Prince Christian of Denmark (born October 22, 1942, † May 21, 2013), later Count von Rosenborg

activities

At the age of 19, Prince Knut joined the Danish Navy . His service on Danish patrol ships took him to Iceland , Greenland , the Faroe Islands and the Mediterranean . Together with his brother, he went through the officers' school of the Danish Navy. As a naval officer, among other things, he was in command of Dragør Fortress . He ended his career in the Navy after 46 years as an admiral .

Prince Knut was very popular with the Danish population because of his friendly demeanor, his warmth and his closeness to the people. In addition to his work as an officer, he was involved in various non-profit organizations. His greatest commitment was to the Danish minority in southern Schleswig and the entire border region. When Northern Schleswig was reunified with Denmark in 1920, he rode alongside his father and brother across the former border, which became a national event as a symbolic act.

Prince Knut was the patron of the following organizations:

• Sydslesvigsk Study- og Hjælpefond ("Südschleswigscher Training and Aid Fund")
• Foreningen af ​​Søofficerer i Reserven ("Association of Naval Officers of the Reserve")
• Foreningen for National Kunst ("Association for Danish Art")
• Dansk Ornitologisk Forening ("Danish Ornithological Association")

Succession to the throne and constitutional amendment

King Frederik IX had three daughters when he ascended the throne in 1947. Since male succession was the rule in Denmark , Prince Knut was declared heir to the throne as his younger brother . As heir to the throne couple, Prince Knut and Princess Caroline-Mathilde suddenly had a new public role that they had not expected. Prince Knut became a member of the Danish State Council and took on new representative duties.

In 1948, the Danish Minister of State Hans Hedtoft spoke to King Frederik IX for the first time in private. about the possibility of female succession to the throne. At first the king reacted negatively, presumably because he first thought of the burden that the office would mean for his (then still little) daughter. His wife Ingrid , herself a follower of feminism , unreservedly endorsed the female succession to the throne.

From 1950 the Danish Women's Association ( Dansk Kvindesamfund ) publicly asked why Prince Knut and his son Prince Ingolf should be preferred to the king's very popular daughter, Princess Margrethe , just because there was no possibility of female succession in Denmark. The women's movement and the fight for equality had long been a fixture in Denmark by then, and their arguments were heard. The debate became uncomfortable for Prince Knut and his family when the media heated up the topic for years with comments and reports, which also became irrelevant and personal. It was asked whether Princess Margrethe was not more suitable than her uncle Knut and her cousin Ingolf. Prince Knut did not complain that there was a debate about the succession to the throne. However, he found the nature of the discussion offensive.

In 1953, Minister of State Erik Eriksen took matters into his own hands: He launched a referendum on a constitutional amendment which, in addition to the introduction of the conditional female succession, also included the abolition of the Landstinget House of Lords and other reforms. This gave the Danes a practical choice of whether they wanted Princess Margrethe or, in the long run, Prince Ingolf as head of state . In the 1953 vote, the constitutional amendment was adopted. Margrethe, then 13 years old, became Crown Princess. Prince Knut and his sons were now on the list of heirs to the throne behind Margrethe and her two sisters. Knut's daughter Princess Elisabeth was newly added to the list of heir to the throne and was in 12th place when she died in 2018. As compensation for the removal of the heir apparent, Prince Knut continued to receive remuneration in the amount of the heir to the throne appanage . This was decided by the Danish Parliament in 1953. He and his wife were also given the permanent title of Hereditary Prince and Hereditary Princess.

Residences

The focus of his life was Schloss Sorgenfri : Prince Knut spent part of his childhood here, and he and his wife moved into the castle as a permanent residence to which they remained loyal for a lifetime. Prince Knut also grew up at Amalienborg Palace and Marselisborg Palace. In 1944, Knut and Caroline-Mathilde inherited Egelund Castle on the island of Zealand from Prince Gustav , which they used as a summer residence. Later on, the small Klitgården Castle near Skagen was the focus of the summer holidays. The couple inherited it from Queen Alexandrine in 1952 . Prince Knut and Princess Caroline-Mathilde were considered very hospitable.

Phrase

In 1958, Prince Knut unintentionally contributed to the development of the Danish idiom En gang til, for prins Knud - "Once again, for Prince Knut", which is used when something is repeated surprisingly: Prince Knut and Princess Caroline-Mathilde had attended a ballet performance and cannot see a familiar scene from their box. When they told the theater director this after the performance, he had the scene repeated for the couple. This was picked up the next day by a newspaper under the heading "Once again, for Prince Knut". In turn, this heading was used for a revue hit by Brigitte Reimer in 1959 and was thus widely used. The proverb is also used when you have to repeat something because someone does not understand something. This led to the opinion that Prince Knut must also have been dumbfounded. This is not true.

Worth mentioning

Prince Knut was a bearer of the Elephant Order .

One of the railway ferries across the Great Belt ( Arveprins Knud ) was named after Prince Knut and ceased to operate in 1997 after the bridge over the Great Belt ( Storebæltsbroen ) was completed. In addition, a student dormitory in Copenhagen was named after him, which accepts students from southern Schleswig ( Arveprins Knuds Kollegium ).

Prince Knut was buried in the traditional burial place of the royal family in Roskilde Cathedral in 1976 . His wife lived as a widow at Schloss Sorgenfri for 19 more years.

ancestors

Pedigree of Canute of Denmark
Great-great-grandparents	Duke Friedrich Wilhelm (Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg) (1785–1831) ⚭ 1810 Princess Luise Karoline of Hessen-Kassel (1789–1867)	Landgrave Wilhelm von Hessen -Kassel-Rumpenheim (1787–1867) ⚭ 1810 Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark (1789–1864)	King Oskar I (Sweden) (1799–1859) ⚭ 1823 Princess Josephine Beauharnais von Leuchtenberg (1807–1876)	Prince Friedrich of Orange-Nassau (1797–1881) ⚭ 1825 Princess Luise of Prussia (1808–1870)	Grand Duke Paul Friedrich (Mecklenburg) (1800–1842) ⚭ 1822 Princess Alexandrine of Prussia (1803–1892)	Prince Heinrich LXIII. Reuss zu Köstritz (1786–1841) ⚭ 1819 Countess Eleonore zu Stolberg-Wernigerode (1801–1827)	Tsar Nicholas I (Russia) (1796–1855) ⚭ 1817 Princess Charlotte of Prussia (1798–1860)	Grand Duke Leopold (Baden) (1790–1852) ⚭ 1819 Princess Sophie Wilhelmine of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf (1801–1865)
Great grandparents	King Christian IX (1818–1906) ⚭ 1842 Princess Luise of Hesse (1817–1898)		King Charles XV (Sweden) (1826–1872) ⚭ 1850 Princess Luise of Oranien-Nassau (1828–1871)		Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II. (Mecklenburg) (1823–1883) ⚭ 1849 Princess Auguste Reuss zu Schleiz-Köstritz (1822–1862)		Grand Prince Michael Nikolajewitsch Romanow (1832–1909) ⚭ 1875 Princess Cäcilie von Baden (1839–1891)
Grandparents	King Friedrich VIII. (1843–1912) ⚭ 1869 Princess Luise of Sweden (1851–1926)				Grand Duke Friedrich Franz III. (Mecklenburg) (1851–1897) ⚭ 1879 Grand Duchess Anastasia Michailowna Romanowa (1860–1922)
parents	King Christian X. (1870–1947) ⚭ 1898 Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1879–1952)
Canute of Denmark

literature

• Bo Bramsen: Huset Glücksborg. Europe's svigerfader and hans efterslægt. Copenhagen 2002. Volume 2. ISBN 87-553-3230-7 (Danish)
• Benito Scocozza: Politics bog om danske konger og dronninger , Copenhagen 2004. ISBN 87-567-6589-4 (Danish)

Web links

Commons : Prince Knud of Denmark  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Danske Store , Gyldendal's online encyclopedia. Article: Prins Knud (Danish) (Retrieved December 27, 2013).
2. ^ Dansk Biografisk Leksikon , Verlag Gyldendal. Article: Caroline-Mathilde (Danish) (Retrieved December 29, 2013).
3. ↑ Den Den Store Danske , Gyldendal's online encyclopedia. Article: Caroline-Mathilde (Danish) (Retrieved December 29, 2013).
4. ↑ Bo Bramsen: Huset Glücksborg. Europe's svigerfader and hans efterslægt. Copenhagen 2002. Volume 2. p. 403.
5. ^ Dansk Biografisk Leksikon , Verlag Gyldendal. Article: Knud (Danish]) (Retrieved December 27, 2013).
6. ↑ Bo Bramsen: Huset Glücksborg. Europe's svigerfader and hans efterslægt. Copenhagen 2002. Volume 2. p. 409.
7. ↑ Bo Bramsen: Huset Glücksborg. Europe's svigerfader and hans efterslægt. Copenhagen 2002. Volume 2. S. 408.
8. ^ Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, Verlag Gyldendal. Article: Knud (Danish) (Retrieved December 27, 2013).
9. ↑ Arveprins Knud: Erindringer. Thorkild Becks Verlag, Copenhagen 1954. (Without ISBN). Pp. 82-88. (Memories of Prince Knut).
10. ^ Dansk Biografisk Leksikon , Verlag Gyldendal. Article: Knud (Danish, accessed December 27, 2013).
11. ↑ Bo Bramsen: Huset Glücksborg. Europe's svigerfader and hans efterslægt. Copenhagen 2002. Volume 2. P. 404.
12. ↑ Bo Bramsen: Huset Glücksborg. Europe's svigerfader and hans efterslægt. Copenhagen 2002. Volume 2. pp. 404-406.
13. ↑ Grethe Jensen: Danmarks dronninger. In: Danske dronninger i tusind år. Edited by Steffen Heiberg. Gyldendal Verlag, Copenhagen 2000. ISBN 87-00-45504-0 . P. 100.
14. ↑ KVINFO, Danish biographical lexicon
15. ↑ Bo Bramsen: Huset Glücksborg. Europe's svigerfader and hans efterslægt. Copenhagen 2002. Volume 2. P. 404.
16. ↑ Bo Bramsen: Huset Glücksborg. Europe's svigerfader and hans efterslægt. Copenhagen 2002. Volume 2. p. 406.
17. ↑ Bo Bramsen: Huset Glücksborg. Europe's svigerfader and hans efterslægt. Copenhagen 2002. Volume 2. pp. 406-407.
18. ↑ Website of the Danish royal family, list of heirs to the throne (English) ( Memento of the original dated February 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed December 27, 2013). 
19. ↑ Der Spiegel , issue 45/1953. P. 30. Article: Prince Knud.
20. ↑ Bo Bramsen: Huset Glücksborg. Europe's svigerfader and hans efterslægt. Copenhagen 2002. Volume 2. p. 407.
21. ↑ Bo Bramsen: Huset Glücksborg. Europe's svigerfader and hans efterslægt. Copenhagen 2002. Volume 2. pp. 403-404.
22. ↑ Bo Bramsen: Huset Glücksborg. Europe's svigerfader and hans efterslægt. Copenhagen 2002. Volume 2. pp. 408-409.
23. ↑ Prins Knuds Kollegium on the website of Grænseforeningen (Danish cultural association for the border region) (Danish). (Accessed December 29, 2013).
24. ↑ Prince Knut on gravsted.dk (directory of graves of well-known personalities) (Danish). (Accessed December 29, 2013).
25. ↑ Website of the Danish royal family, Sorgefri Castle (Engl.) ( Memento of the original from August 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . (Accessed December 29, 2013).