King Of Denmark Christian X

Notable

Traits

Family

King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and the only king of Iceland (where his name was officially Kristján X), between 1918 and 1944. With a reign spanning two world wars, and his role as a rallying symbol for Danish national sentiment during the German Occupation, he has become one of the most popular Danish monarchs of modern times. He was a member of the House of Glücksburg and the first member of his family since king Frederik VII to have actually been born into the Danish royal family; both his father and his grandfather were born as princes of a German ducal family. Among his siblings was King Haakon VII of Norway. His character as a ruler has been described as authoritarian and he strongly stressed the importance of royal dignity and power. His reluctance to embrace democracy resulted in the Easter Crisis of 1920, in which he dismissed the democratically elected cabinet with which he disagreed, and instated one of his own choosing. This was nominally his right in accordance with the constitution, but facing the risk of the monarchy being overthrown he was forced to accept democratic control of the state and the role as a nominal constitutional monarch. In spite of becoming unpopular due to his resistance to democracy, during the German Occupation of Denmark he did become a popular symbol of resistance to German occupation, particularly because of the symbolic value of the fact that he rode every day through the streets of Copenhagen unaccompanied by guards. He helped finance the transport of Danish Jews to unoccupied Sweden, where they would be safe from Nazi persecution. Christian married Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in Cannes on 26 April 1898. She eventually became his queen consort. They had two sons: Prince Frederick (1899–1972), later King Frederick IX of Denmark; and Prince Knud (1900–1976), later Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark. On 29 January 1906, King Christian IX died, and Christian's father ascended the throne as King Frederik VIII. Christian himself now became crown prince. On 14 May 1912, King Frederik VIII died and he acceded to the throne as Christian X. After a fall with his horse on 19 October 1942, he was more or less an invalid for the rest of his reign. He died on 20 April 1947, aged 76, at Amalienborg Palace. Link to Wikipedia biography