Prince Harald of Denmark
Encyclopedia
Prince Harald of Denmark (Harald Christian Frederik; 8 October 1876 - 30 March 1949) was a member of the Danish Royal Family
Danish Royal Family
The Danish Royal Family includes the Queen of Denmark and her family. All members except the Queen hold the title of Prince/Princess of Denmark with the style of His/Her Royal Highness or His/Her Highness. The Queen is styled Her Majesty. The Queen and her siblings belong to the House of...
. He was the fourth child and third son of Frederick VIII of Denmark
Frederick VIII of Denmark
Frederick VIII was King of Denmark from 1906 to 1912.-Early life:Frederick was born on 3 June 1843 in the Yellow Palace in Copenhagen as Prince Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior male line of the House of Oldenburg descended from Christian III of Denmark and who had...
and his wife, Princess Louise of Sweden and Norway
Lovisa of Sweden
|align=right|Louise of Sweden was Queen of Denmark as the spouse of King Frederick VIII of Denmark. She was the only daughter of King Charles XV of Sweden and Louise of the Netherlands .-Early life:...
, and thus brother to Christian X of Denmark
Christian X of Denmark
Christian X was King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and the only King of Iceland between 1918 and 1944....
.
The prince served in the Royal Danish Army
Royal Danish Army
The Royal Danish Army is the land warfare branch of the Danish Defence Forces, together with the Danish Home Guard.For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures, equipment and training methods, abandoning its traditional role of anti-invasion...
for most of his life, and reached the rank of Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
.
Early life
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. His father was Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark
Frederick VIII of Denmark
Frederick VIII was King of Denmark from 1906 to 1912.-Early life:Frederick was born on 3 June 1843 in the Yellow Palace in Copenhagen as Prince Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior male line of the House of Oldenburg descended from Christian III of Denmark and who had...
(later King Frederick VIII), the eldest son of Christian IX of Denmark
Christian IX of Denmark
Christian IX was King of Denmark from 16 November 1863 to 29 January 1906.Growing up as a prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior branch of the House of Oldenburg which had ruled Denmark since 1448, Christian was originally not in the immediate line of succession to the Danish...
and Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel. His mother was Crown Princess Louise
Lovisa of Sweden
|align=right|Louise of Sweden was Queen of Denmark as the spouse of King Frederick VIII of Denmark. She was the only daughter of King Charles XV of Sweden and Louise of the Netherlands .-Early life:...
, the only daughter of Charles XV of Sweden
Charles XV of Sweden
Charles XV & IV also Carl ; Swedish and Norwegian: Karl was King of Sweden and Norway from 1859 until his death....
and Princess Louise of the Netherlands.
At the age of 17, Prince Harald entered a military career as was customary for princes at the time. He later served with the Guard Hussars.
Marriage
At the age of 33, on 28 April 1909 at Glücksburg Castle in Schleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
, Prince Harald married his second cousin
Cousin
In kinship terminology, a cousin is a relative with whom one shares one or more common ancestors. The term is rarely used when referring to a relative in one's immediate family where there is a more specific term . The term "blood relative" can be used synonymously and establishes the existence of...
Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Princess Helena Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Princess Helena Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg was the third eldest daughter of Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg...
, daughter of Frederick Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
Friedrich Ferdinand of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg was the fourth Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg-Family and succession:...
and Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg was the second-eldest daughter of Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.-Family:Karoline Mathilde's elder sister, Augusta Viktoria was German...
.
After their marriage, Prince Harald and Princess Helena lived at the Jægersborghus country house north of Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
which Prince Harald had purchased in 1907. Here their five children were born between 1910 and 1923.
Later life
Like other members of the Danish royal family, his economic situation was influenced by the failureFailure
Failure refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success. Product failure ranges from failure to sell the product to fracture of the product, in the worst cases leading to personal injury, the province of forensic...
of Den Danske Landmandsbank in 1923. Until 1935, however, he and his family were able to stay at Jægersborghus but then moved to a villa in the northern part of Copenhagen.
At the age of 50, Prince Harald retired from active service with the rank of Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
. In 1933, however, his brother King Christian X
Christian X of Denmark
Christian X was King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and the only King of Iceland between 1918 and 1944....
appointed him Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Princess Helena became very unpopular because of her sympathy for the German occupation of Denmark and the Nazi party. Because of this, she was reportedly not on speaking terms with her sons
After the war, Princess Helena was not brought to trial, being a member of the royal family who did not wish any publicity on the matter, but was exiled from Denmark 30 May 1945 and placed under house arrest at the Glücksburg Castle in Germany. She was allowed to return to Denmark in 1947, when Prince Harald fell gravely ill. She stayed with her spouse until his death two years later.
Prince Harald died on 30 March 1949 in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. He was burried at Roskilde Cathedral
Roskilde Cathedral
Roskilde Cathedral , in the city of Roskilde on the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, is a cathedral of the Lutheran Church of Denmark. The first Gothic cathedral to be built of brick, it encouraged the spread of the Brick Gothic style throughout Northern Europe...
. Princess Helena survived her husband by 13 years and died on 30 June 1962.
Issue
Harald and Helena had five children:| Name | |Death | Princess Feodora Princess Feodora of Denmark Princess Feodora Louise Caroline-Mathilde Viktoria Alexandra Frederikke Johanne of Denmark was the eldest child and daughter of Prince Harald of Denmark and his wife Princess Helena Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg... | 3 July 1910 | 17 March 1975 | married her first cousin, Prince Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe and had issue. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princess Caroline-Mathilde Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark and Iceland was a crown princess of Denmark by marriage to Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark.-Birth:... |
27 April 1912 | 12 December 1995 | married her first cousin Prince Knud of Denmark Prince Knud of Denmark Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark, formerly Prince of Denmark and Iceland was the second son and youngest child of King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine... and had issue. |
||
| Princess Alexandrine-Louise Princess Alexandrine-Louise of Denmark Princess Alexandrine-Louise Caroline-Mathilde Dagmar of Denmark and Iceland was the third child and daughter of Prince Harald of Denmark and his wife Princess Helena Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Alexandrine-Louise was a granddaughter of Frederick VIII of Denmark... |
12 December 1914 | 26 April 1962 | married Count Luitpold of Castell-Castell Count Luitpold of Castell-Castell Count Luitpold Alfred Friedrich Karl of Castell-Castell was a staff officer in the German Army during World War II and a member of the extended Danish Royal Family through his marriage to Princess Alexandrine-Louise of Denmark... and had issue. |
||
| Prince Gorm Prince Gorm of Denmark Prince Gorm of Denmark and Iceland was the first son of Prince Harald of Denmark and his wife Princess Helena Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.... |
24 February 1919 | 26 December 1991 | Unmarried and without issue. | ||
| Prince Oluf Count Oluf of Rosenborg Oluf, Count of Rosenborg , a former Danish and Icelandic prince, was the younger child and son of HRH Prince Harald of Denmark, by his wife Princess Helena Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.Oluf renounced his rights to the throne in 1948 and took the title Count of Rosenborg when... |
10 March 1923 | 19 December 1990 | Lost his title and became HE Count Christian of Rosenborg after marrying without consent to Annie Helene Dorrit Puggard-Müller and to Lis Wulff-Juergensen. He has issue. |