Frederick VII of Denmark - Succession Crisis

Succession Crisis

Frederick was married three times, but produced no legitimate issue. The fact that he reached middle age without producing an heir meant that Prince Christian of Glücksburg (1818–1906), the descendant of a cousin of King Frederick VI, was chosen as his heir-presumptive in 1852. When Frederick died in 1863, Christian took the throne as Christian IX.

Because of Salic law, the succession after childless Frederick was a difficult question to arrange. It did not go smoothly, but caused a war. Nationalism in the German-speaking parts of Schleswig-Holstein meant that no solution to keep the Duchies united with Denmark was satisfactory. The duchies were inherited according to the Salic law among descendants of Helwig of Schauenburg, the senior of which after Frederick himself was Frederick, Duke of Augustenburg (who proclaimed himself Duke of Schleswig-Holstein after Frederick VII's death). This Frederick of Augustenburg had become the symbol of the nationalist German independence movement in Schleswig-Holstein since the time that his father, in exchange for money, had renounced his claims as first in line to inherit the twin Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein following the London Protocol of 8 May 1852, which concluded the First War of Schleswig. Because of his father's renunciation, Frederick was regarded as ineligible to succeed.

Denmark was also under Salic Law, but only among descendants of Frederick III (who was the first hereditary monarch of Denmark, since before him the kingdom had been officially elective). Therefore, the members of the Schleswig-Holstein branches of Augustenborg and Glücksburg, agnates with the King, were not allowed to succeed under that provision. Agnatic descendance of Frederick III became extinct when Frederick VII died, and at that point, the succession law promulgated by Frederick III provided a "semi-Salic" succession. There were, however, several alternative ways to interpret the line of succession, because the provision was not entirely clear on whether it be the closest female relative or what to inherit. The question was solved by an election and a separate law to confirm the new successor.

The closest female relatives of Frederick VII were the issue of his paternal aunt, Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark, who had married a cadet Landgrave of Hesse. However, they were not agnatic descendants of the royal family and thus were not eligible to succeed in Schleswig-Holstein. The dynastic female heiresses according to the original primogeniture from Frederick III were Princess Caroline of Denmark and Frederick VII's divorced wife Vilhelmine Marie, the childless daughters of the late king Frederick VI, after whom the original primogeniture would have led to heirs of Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark, sister of Frederick VI, who had married the then-Duke of Augustenburg. The chief heir to that line was the self-same Frederick of Augustenburg, but his turn would have come only after the death of the two previous listed Princesses who were both very much alive in 1863.

Some rights also belonged to the Glücksburg line, a more junior branch of the royal clan. They were also heirs of Frederick III through an ancestress who was a daughter of King Frederick V of Denmark, and they were more junior agnatic heirs eligible to succeed in Schleswig-Holstein. They were Christian of Glücksburg (1818–1906) and his two elder brothers, eldest of whom was childless, but the second had produced children, also male children.

Prince Christian of Glücksburg (1818–1906) had been a foster "grandson" of the sonless royal couple Frederick VI and Queen Marie Sophie, thus familiar with the royal court and the traditions of the recent monarchs. Prince Christian was great-nephew of Queen Marie Sophie and a descendant of a first cousin of Frederick VI. He was brought up as Danish, having lived in Danish-speaking lands of the royal dynasty, and was not attached to German nationalism. Although these did not mean anything legally, they made him a relatively good candidate from the Danish viewpoint. As a junior agnatic descendant, he was eligible to inherit Schleswig-Holstein, but ne was not first-in-line. As a descendant of Frederick III, he was eligible to succeed in Denmark, but not first-in-line, however that line was not very clear.

Christian of Glücksburg married Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel, eldest daughter of the closest female relative of Frederick VII. Louise's mother and brothers, Princes of Hesse, renounced their rights in favor of Louise and her husband. Prince Christian's wife was now the closest female heiress of Frederick VII.

The thorny question of the application of semi-Salic provision in the succession of Denmark was at that point resolved by legislation through which Prince Christian of Glücksburg was chosen in 1852 to succeed King Frederick VII in Denmark.

Frederick VII died in Glücksburg in 1863 and was interred in Roskilde Cathedral. Christian took the throne as Christian IX.

In November 1863, Frederick of Augustenborg claimed the twin-duchies in succession after King Frederick VII of Denmark, who also was the Duke of Schleswig and Holstein and who had died without a male heir.

Prussia and Austria started the Second War of Schleswig.