#Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, Princess Thyra, and their father King Christian IX of Denmark playing cards.

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Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of King-Emperor Edward VII.

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Maria Feodorovna (26 November 1847 – 13 October 1928), known before her marriage as Princess Dagmar of Denmark, was Empress of Russia from 1881 to 1894 as the wife of Emperor Alexander III.

She was the second daughter of Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel.

Maria's eldest son became the last Russian monarch, Emperor Nicholas II.

Maria lived for 10 years after Bolshevik functionaries murdered Nicholas and his immediate family in 1918.

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Princess Thyra of Denmark (Thyra Amalie Caroline Charlotte Anna; 29 September 1853 – 26 February 1933) was the youngest daughter and fifth child of Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel.

In 1878, she married Ernest Augustus, the exiled heir to the Kingdom of Hanover.

As the Kingdom of Hanover had been annexed by Prussia in 1866, she spent most of her life in exile with her husband in Austria.

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Christian IX (8 April 1818 – 29 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 15 November 1863 until his death in 1906.

From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg.

[annalaurendet70]

Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, later King Christian IX of Denmark with three of his children : Princess Dagmar of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg; Prince Vilhelm of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg; Princess Alexandra of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

*Princess Dagmar would become Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia

*Prince Vilhelm would become King George l of the Hellenes

*Princess Alexandra would would become Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom.

[historywithlaura]

FRIEDRICH WILHELM

1st Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

(born 1785 - died 1831)

pictured above is a portrait of the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, from c. 1830

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FRIEDRICH WILHELM PAUL LEOPOLD was born in 1785 at the Lindenau estate in East Prussia, today the village of Lipowina in Poland. At the time of his birth, Prussia was ruled by Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia.

He was the eldest son of Friedrich Karl Ludwig, (titular) Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, and Countess Friederike of Schlieben. The titular title meant that his father did not rule over any of these places.

Thereby, he was born a member of the HOUSE OF SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN-SONDERBURG-BECK, a cadet line of the House of Oldenburg. And was from birth a PRINCE OF SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN-SONDERBURG-BECK.

Although he was born in the Kingdom of Prussia because the Beck line originated in Brandenburg-Prussia, his origins go back to the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein through the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg line, and to the Kingdom of Denmark as a descendant of King Christian III.

His father, having been a retired officer, was forced to return to the Prussian Army in 1786, after the accession of Friedrich Wilhelm II as King of Prussia. Leaving the Army again, probably after King Friedrich Wilhelm III succeded to the Prussian throne in 1797.

Even though his father had a conflitous relationship with Prussia, around 1798, he was sent to study in a military academy in Brandenburg because of the family tradition of serving in the Prussian Army.

But, around 1803-04, his father chose to send him to serve in the Danish Army instead, under Christian VII, King of Denmark.

While he was living in Denmark, by 1808, his godfather acceded as Frederik VI, King of Denmark, and as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. This new King was also a distant relative from the House of Oldenburg.

And, in 1809, he went to serve in Gottorf Castle, the residence of the Governor of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein.

There, in 1810, he married PRINCESS LUISE KAROLINE OF HESSE-KASSEL, the youngest daughter of Karl of Hesse-Kassel, Governor of Schleswig-Holstein, and Princess Louise of Denmark. He had recently celebrated his 25th birthday, and she was 20 years old. With her, he had ten children.

Check a list of his children at the end of this post!

When his father died in 1816, he, at the age of 31, succeeded as FRIEDRICH WILHELM IV, (TITULAR) DUKE OF SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN-SONDERBURG-BECK.

Years later, in 1824, Glücksburg Castle became vacant following the death of Anna Karoline of Nassau-Saarbrücken, the widow of Friedrich Heinrich Wilhelm, the last Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

The owner of the castle was King Frederik IV, the current Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, who, besides being his godfather, was the husband of his sister-in-law Princess Marie Sophie of Hesse-Kassel.

Then, due to his good relations with the King/Duke, in 1825, at 40 years old, he was created as DUKE OF GLÜCKSBURG and given the rights over Glücksburg Castle.

A brief History... on GLÜCKSBURG CASTLE... it was built in the 16th century by the elder line of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, another branch of the House of Oldenburg. This family owned the castle until their line became extinct in 1779, with the death of the last Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Then, the castle was inherited by the Kings of Denmark, the official Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein.

pictured above is Glücksburg Castle, an illustration published by the Danish magazine Illustreret Tidende in 1859

Per tradition, his new title was added to his other ones, and he became known as FRIEDRICH WILHELM, the first (TITULAR) DUKE OF SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN-SONDERBURG-GLÜCKSBURG.

On receiving his new title, he founded another line of the House of Oldenburg, the HOUSE OF SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN-SONDERBURG-GLÜCKSBURG, known as the younger line of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg or simply as the HOUSE OF GLÜCKSBURG.

Check my post on the origins of the ROYAL HOUSE he founded!

Though, the first Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg continued to live in Gottorf Castle, where he died in 1831, at the age of 46.

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Upon his death, his eldest son Prince Karl succeeded him as (titular) Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. And, in 1863, another of his sons inherited the Danish throne as King Christian IX.

However, in 1878, when his eldest son died without children, his second son Prince Friedrich inherited the titles as the new (titular) Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

Since 1931, his descendants through Prince Friedrich have been the Heads of the House of Oldenburg. Even though they were/are members of a cadet line, the House of Glücksburg.

Through his son, King Christian IX, he is an ancestor of seven of the current European Monarchs:

Carl XVI Gustav, King of Sweden - reigning since 1973;

Harald V, King of Norway - reigning since 1991;

Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg - reigning since 2000;

Philippe, King of the Belgians - reigning since 2013;

Felipe VI, King of Spain - reigning since 2014;

Charles III, King of the United Kingdom - reigning since 2022; and

Frederik X, King of Denmark - reigning since 2024.

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FRIEDRICH WILHELM and his wife LUISE KAROLINE had ten children.

Princess Luise Marie Friederike of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg - wife first of Count Friedrich of Lasperg, and second of Peter Alfred, Count of Hohenthal;

Princess Friederike of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg - wife of Alexander Carl, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg;

Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg - husband of Princess Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark;

Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg - husband of Princess Adelheid of Schaumburg-Lippe;

Prince Wilhelm of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg - unmarried;

Christian IX, King of Denmark - husband of Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel;

Princess Luise of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg - Abbess of Itzehoe;

Prince Julius of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg - morganatic husband of Elisabeth of Ziegesar Countess of Roest;

Prince Johann von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg - unmarried; and

Prince Nikolaus of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg - unmarried.

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SERIES - Descendants of the Monarchs of Ireland (DotMoI)

In a span of four generations, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1st Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sondenburg-Glücksburg, was related to the Monarchs of Ireland through the paternal family of his wife.

Her great-grandfather was George II, King of Great Britain - the King of Ireland between 1727-60.

Her grandmother was Princesss Mary of Great Britain.

Her father was Karl of Hesse-Kassel, Governor of Schleswig-Holstein.

His wife was Princess Luise Karoline of Hesse-Kassel.