House of Glücksburg
The House of Glücksburg, shortened from House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, is a Dano-German branch of the House of Oldenburg, members of which have reigned at various times in Denmark, Norway, Greece and several northern German states.
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Harald V of Norway, former king of Greece Constantine II, former Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Queen Sofía of Spain and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are patrilineal members of cadet branches of the Glücksburg dynasty.
, one of the most important Renaissance castles in northern Europe
History
The family takes its ducal name from Glücksburg, a small coastal town in Schleswig, on the southern, German side of the fjord of Flensburg that divides Germany from Denmark. In 1460, Glücksburg came, as part of the conjoined Dano-German duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, to Count Christian VII of Oldenburg whom, in 1448, the Danes had elected their king as Christian I, the Norwegians likewise taking him as their hereditary king in 1450.In 1564, Christian I's great-grandson, King Frederick II, in re-distributing Schleswig and Holstein's fiefs, retained some lands for his own senior royal line while allocating Glücksburg to his brother Duke John the Younger, along with Sonderburg, in appanage. John's heirs further sub-divided their share and created, among other branches, a line of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg dukes at Beck, who remained vassals of Denmark's kings.
By 1825, the castle of Glücksburg had returned to the Danish crown and was given that year by King Frederick VI, along with a new ducal title, to his kinsman Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck. Frederick suffixed the territorial designation to the ducal title he already held, in lieu of "Beck". Thus emerged the extant Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.
The Danish line of Oldenburg kings died out in 1863, and the elder line of the Schleswig-Holstein family became extinct with the death of the last Augustenburg duke in 1931. Thereafter, the House of Glücksburg became the senior surviving line of the House of Oldenburg. Another cadet line of Oldenburgs, the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp, consisted of two branches which held onto sovereignty into the 20th century. But members of the Romanov line were executed in or exiled from their Russian Empire in 1917, while the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg was abolished in 1918, although its dynastic line survives.
Neither the Dukes of Beck nor of Glücksburg had been sovereign rulers; they held their lands in fief from the ruling Dukes of Schleswig and Holstein, i.e. the Kings of Denmark and the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp.
Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the fourth son of Duke Friedrich of Glücksburg, was recognized in the London Protocol of 1852 as successor to the childless King Frederick VII of Denmark. He became King of Denmark as Christian IX on 15 November 1863.
Prince Vilhelm, the second son of Crown Prince Christian and Crown Princess Luise, was elected King of the Hellenes on 30 March 1863, succeeding the ousted Wittelsbach Otto of Greece and reigning under the name George I.
Prince Carl, the second son of Frederick VIII of Denmark, Christian IX's eldest son, became King of Norway on 18 November 1905 as Haakon VII of Norway.
Christian IX's daughters, Alexandra of Denmark and Dagmar of Denmark became the consorts of, respectively, Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexander III of Russia. As a result, by 1914 descendants of King Christian IX held the crowns of several European realms, and he became known as the "Father-in-law of Europe".
Christian IX's older brother inherited formal headship of the family as Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. It is his descendants who now represent the senior line of the Schleswig-Holstein branch of the House of Oldenburg.
Patrilineal ancestry of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm
- Elimar I, Count of Oldenburg
- Elimar II, Count of Oldenburg
- Christian I, Count of Oldenburg
- Maurice, Count of Oldenburg
- Christian II, Count of Oldenburg
- John I, Count of Oldenburg
- Christian III, Count of Oldenburg
- John II, Count of Oldenburg
- Conrad I, Count of Oldenburg
- Christian V, Count of Oldenburg
- Dietrich, Count of Oldenburg
- Christian I of Denmark
- Frederick I of Denmark
- Christian III of Denmark
- John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg
- Alexander, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg
- August Philipp, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck
- Frederick Louis, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck
- Peter August, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck
- Karl Anton August, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck
- Friedrich Karl Ludwig, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck
- Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
| Portrait | Name | Life | Reign |
| Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg | 1785–1831 | 1825–1831 | |
| Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg | 1813–1878 | 1831–1878 | |
| Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg | 1814–1885 | 1878–1885 | |
| Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein | 1855–1934 | 1885–1934 | |
| Wilhelm Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein | 1891–1965 | 1934–1965 | |
| Peter, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein | 1922–1980 | 1965–1980 | |
| Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein | 1949– | 1980– |
The heir apparent is Friedrich Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Schleswig-Holstein.
Denmark
In 1853, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg became heir to the Kingdom of Denmark, and in 1863, he ascended the throne. He was the third son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, whose elder brother retained the Glücksburg dukedom. The Danish royal family call itself Glücksborg, using a slightly Danicized form of Glücksburg.| Portrait | Name | Life | Reign | Additional titles |
| Christian IX | 1818–1906 | 1863–1906 | King of the Wends King of the Goths Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg and Oldenburg Prior to ascending the throne: Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg | |
| Frederick VIII | 1843–1912 | 1906–1912 | King of the Wends King of the Goths Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg and Oldenburg | |
| Christian X | 1870–1947 | 1912–1947 | King of Iceland King of the Wends King of the Goths Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg and Oldenburg | |
| Frederick IX | 1899–1972 | 1947–1972 | King of the Wends King of the Goths Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg and Oldenburg | |
| Margrethe II | 1940– | 1972– |
The heir apparent is Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, who belongs agnatically to the Monpezat family. See the present line of succession. Although there are no more male members of the dynastic line of Glũcksburgs domiciled in Denmark, there are descendants of Christian IX who married without the monarch's permission, thus forfeiting their royal status. They bear the Danish noble title "Count of Rosenborg", heritable by their descendants in the legitimate male line.
Greece
In 1863 and with the name George I, Prince Wilhelm of Denmark was elected King of the Hellenes on the recommendation of Europe's Great Powers. He was a younger son of King Christian IX of Denmark.| Portrait | Name | Life | Reign | Additional titles |
| George I | 1845–1913 | 1863–1913 | Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg | |
| Constantine I | 1868–1923 | 1913–1917 1920–1922 | Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg | |
| Alexander | 1893–1920 | 1917–1920 | Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg | |
| George II | 1890–1947 | 1922–1924 1935–1947 | Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg | |
| Paul | 1901–1964 | 1947–1964 | Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg | |
| Constantine II | 1940– | 1964–1973 | Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg |
The Hellenic constitutional monarchy was usurped in a coup d'état by a military junta in 1968 and the royal family fled into exile. After the collapse of the military dictatorship in 1974, 69.18% of votes recorded in a republic referendum were against the return of the monarchy.
Norway
In 1905, Prince Carl of Denmark became Norway's first independent monarch in 518 years, taking the regnal name Haakon VII. His father was King Frederick VIII of Denmark, and one of his uncles was King George I of Greece.| Portrait | Name | Life | Reign | Additional titles |
| Haakon VII | 1872–1957 | 1905–1957 | Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg | |
| Olav V | 1903–1991 | 1957–1991 | Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg | |
| Harald V | 1937– | 1991– | Prince of Denmark Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg |
The heir apparent is Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. See the present line of succession.
Iceland
In 1918, Iceland was elevated from an autonomous Danish province to a separate Kingdom of Iceland. Christian X of Denmark was henceforth King of Denmark and Iceland until 1944, when Iceland dissolved the union between the two countries.| Portrait | Name | Life | Reign | Additional titles |
| Christian X | 1870–1947 | 1918–1944 | King of Denmark King of the Wends King of the Goths Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg and Oldenburg |
The heir apparent was his son Frederick IX of Denmark.
United Kingdom
In 1947, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was created Duke of Edinburgh by his father-in-law, George VI. Descendants in the male line of his marriage to Queen Elizabeth II belong, by decree, to the House of Windsor and use "Mountbatten-Windsor" as a surname, when one is needed. The first twenty places in the line of succession to the British throne are held by the Duke's descendants.| Portrait | Name | Life | Reign | Additional titles |
| Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh | 1921– | 1947– | Earl of Merioneth Baron Greenwich |
The heir-apparent is Charles, Prince of Wales.