King Christian X of Denmark

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Today marks the 75th Anniversary of the Death of King Christian X of Denmark, who passed away on this day in 1947! The son of King Frederick VIII of Denmark and Princess Lovisa of Sweden, he was born during the reign of his grandfather, King Christian IX of Denmark, making him the nephew of  King George I of GreeceEmpress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom. King Christian’s own siblings included King Haakon VII of Norway and Princess Ingeborg of Sweden, and they grew up at the Frederick VIII’s Palace in Amalienborg and the Charlottenlund Palace under the strict upbringing of their mother, becoming the first member of the Royal Family to pass the examen artium before serving with the 5th Dragoon Regiment and studying at the Officers Academy in Randers. In 1898, Prince Christian married Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia, and sister of Crown Princess Cecilie of Prussia. The couple had two sons; King Frederik IX and Prince Knud, and resided at Christian VIII’s Palace at Amalienborg and Sorgenfri Palace as well as Marselisborg Palace. After becoming Crown Prince in 1906, he ascended the Danish Throne after the sudden death of King Frederick VIII in 1912, with an authoritarian character keen to retain royal dignity and power, resulting in the Easter Crisis of 1920, after which he served as a model constitutional monarch. The King became the popular symbol of resistance during the Nazi Occupation of Denmark, riding on a horse through the streets of Copenhagen unaccompanied by guards, making him one of the most popular Danish monarchs, who was also the only King of Iceland as Kristján X, between 1918 and 1944. After a fall from his horse in 1942, the King was weakened and remained an invalid until his death in 1947, when he was succeeded by his son; King Frederik IX.

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