Count Christian of Rosenborg

Count Christian of Rosenborg, a former Danish and Icelandic prince (Danish: Prins Christian Frederik Franz Knud Harald Carl Oluf Gustav Georg Erik til Danmark) now Grev Christian af Rosenborg (born 22 October 1942), who was high in the line of hereditary succession to the throne of Denmark until the new right of females of the royal family to inherit the crown displaced his branch of the dynasty in favor of his cousin Princess Margrethe and her two younger sisters in 1953.He is also 1030th in the line of succession to the British throne.

He was born at Sorgenfri Palace, Sorgenfri, as His Highness Prince Christian of Denmark. He was the younger son of HRH Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark, by his wife (and first cousin) Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark.

Loss of place in succession

From the death of his grandfather in 1947, Christian stood only behind his father end elder brother Prince Ingolf in the order of hereditary succession to the throne, with only future children of Ingolf possibly taking a place ahead of him. His father Prince Knud was then the heir presumptive, due to succeed Christian's uncle King Frederick IX, who had three daughters but no sons.

In 1953, the Constitution of Denmark was amended to allow cognatic primogeniture. The new law made thirteen-year-old Princess Margrethe the new heiress presumptive, placing her and her two sisters before Prince Knud and his family in the succession. Christian was thus relegated to sixth in the line of succession to the Danish throne, but more importantly, he now ranked behind Margrethe and others who were likely to have dynastic children of their own (as has, in fact, happened). The princess became Queen Margrethe II in 1972 and is still reigning as of 2011. Christian's place in the line of succession, were he still eligible, would be no higher than tenth today.

Loss of dynastic rights

In 1971, now with little hope of ascending the throne, Christian chose to forfeit his right of succession to the throne by marrying without having received the royal assent of the monarch in the Council of State, as his brother Ingolf had done three years previously.

The king's permission to marry was not sought because it was expected to be denied, since Christian's fiancée was an untitled commoner.^[1] Though Frederick IX had liberalized traditional practice by allowing royal spouses who were not themselves royal, but who claimed noble blood and were known by courtesy titles (Anne Bowes-Lyon was the granddaughter of an earl and through her first marriage to the son of an earl bore the title of viscountess; Henri de Laborde de Monpezat used the title of count, though his family's claim to nobility was later acknowledged to be flawed), it would not be until 1995 that Margrethe II would allow her children to marry commoners with neither title nor claim to noble blood. Christian was given the title Count of Rosenborg and the style of Your Excellency, as was customary in the twentieth century for Danish princes who renounced or forfeited their dynastic rights.

Prior to his elder son's wedding in 1968, Prince Knud sought to convince his brother that Ingolf should be allowed to retain his royal title after his non-dynastic marriage, a privilege which might have been subsequently extended to Christian.^[2] But the king refused, on the grounds that other males of the dynasty, who had been demoted to Counts of Rosenborg upon marriage, might try to re-claim their royal rank if Ingolf were allowed to do so despite his marrying a commoner as they had done.^[2] So, in 1971, Christian renounced his rights to the throne and took the title Count of Rosenborg.

On 27 February 1971, at Lyngby, Denmark, Christian married Anne-Dorthe Maltoft-Nielsen (who thus became Her Excellency Countess Anne-Dorthe of Rosenborg). She was born in Copenhagen on 3 October 1947. Although lacking the prior royal assent of the monarch given in the Council of State that the law required, the king expressed no personal opposition to his nephew's choice of bride and, according to Christian, the king's private consent later had to be formally registered by the King-in-Council.^[3] In a 1985 interview with Billed-Bladet, Count Christian had explained (translated from Danish):

As protocol dictates, I had to ask my uncle, King Frederick IX, if he had any objections to my getting engaged...I knew I would have to renounce my title of prince and my right of succession if I married her. I was number four in the line of succession after Princess Margrethe, Princess Benedikte, and my father. My brother, Ingolf, had two years previously lost his princely title and succession right when he married a commoner, Countess Inge. Now I was ready to follow him. To me, it didn't matter if I were in line for the throne or not...My uncle, of course, had nothing against a union between Anne Dorte and me.^[1]

Children

Christian and Anne-Dorthe have three children:

• Countess Josephine Caroline Elisabeth of Rosenborg (b. 29 October 1972 at Frederikssund), married 3 October 1998 at Lyngby, Thomas Christian Schmidt (b. 22 April 1970 at Copenhagen); two children:
  • Julius Christian Emil Schmidt af Rosenborg (b. 1 December 2001 at Copenhagen)
  • Clara Dorte Elisabeth Schmidt af Rosenborg (b. 26 November 2004 at Copenhagen)

• Countess Camilla/Camille Alexandrine Cristine of Rosenborg (b. 29 October 1972 at Frederikssund), married 18 May 1995 at Søllerød to Mikael Rosanes (b. 8 February 1952); four children:
  • Anastasia Caroline Amalie Rosanes af Rosenborg (b. 24 November 1997 at Gentofte)
  • Ludwig Christian Mikael Rosanes af Rosenborg (b. 5 June 2000 at Sønderborg Sygehus)
  • Leopold Christian Ingolf Rosanes af Rosenborg (b. 15 April 2005 at Gentofte)
  • Theodor Christian Emanuel Rosanes af Rosenborg (b. 19 June 2008)

• Countess Feodora Mathilde Helena of Rosenborg (b. 27 February 1975 at Frederikssund), married firstly on 31 July 2004 at Holmens Kirke, Copenhagen, to Eric Hervé Patrice Patte (b. 20 August 1976 at Pont-à-Mousson), and divorced in 2005, without issue. Feodora married secondly Morten Rønnow. The wedding was held on 8 September/9 September 2008 in Copenhagen. They have a daughter:
  • Caroline-Mathilde Margrethe Rønnow (b. 1 February 2009) at Copenhagen.

Public life

Count Christian takes part in some major public events associated with the royal family: in 2004, he and Countess Anne-Dorte attended the wedding on 14 May 2004 of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark at Copenhagen Cathedral, Copenhagen^[4] and the subsequent reception at Fredensborg Palace.^[5] They also attended the Memorial Service in honour of Empress Maria Feodorovna held on 22 September 2006.^[6] They were included in the official guest-list as members of the Danish Royal Family when they attended the luncheon to celebrate the 75th birthday of Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark at Fredensborg Palace on 11 June 2009.^[7]

Ancestry

Notes and references

External links

• Royal House of Denmark and Royal House of Iceland