Louise of Hesse-Kassel - Opportunities Opening in The Danish Succession

Opportunities Opening in The Danish Succession

Louise was very much pre-occupied with the succession of the Crown of Denmark from early childhood. At the time of the accession of Christian VIII, 1839, the line of succession and chief cognatic heirs was as follows:

• Crown Prince Frederik, later Frederick VII of Denmark, only son of the king, born 1808, already once divorced and yet childless, who died in 1863.

• Hereditary Prince Frederik Ferdinand of Denmark, youngest brother of the king, born 1792, married over 10 years and childless. He also died in 1863, some months before his nephew the king.

The Crown Prince and the Hereditary Prince were the only surviving agnatic heirs. After them, provisions of the succession order (Lex Regia of 1655) promulgated by Frederick III allowed succession through female line, and the law presumably specified in favor of closest relative of the last monarch.

The female lines following are arranged according to the degree of proximity to the reigning monarch, King Christian VIII:

• the King's elder surviving sister, Juliane Sophie of Denmark, Dowager Landgravine of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, born 1788, widowed and childless, who died in 1850. Soon after her death, Louise's family arranged the succession line in Louise's favor by means of renunciations and cedings.

• The King's youngest sister, Charlotte of Denmark, Landgravine Wilhelm of Hesse, born 1789 (Louise's own mother). She had several children, who are listed below.

• The King's first cousin once removed, the elder daughter of the deceased king Frederick VI, Caroline of Denmark, born 1793, wife of Ferdinand of Denmark (see above), married over 10 years and childless, who died in 1881.

• The King's first cousin once removed, the youngest daughter of the late King Frederick VI, Wilhelmine Marie of Denmark, born 1808, divorced wife of Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark (above), and married to Duke Charles of Lyksborg. She was childless, but at the age of 40, was not past childbearing years, though believed to be barren. In 1850s, it became clear that she would never have children. She died in 1891.

• The King's first cousin Louise Auguste of Denmark, Duchess of Augustenborg, legally the daughter of the late King Christian VII and sister of late King Frederick VI, born in 1771, died in 1843. She had several children, who are listed below.

All other cognatic heirs were descendants of deceased Princesses of Denmark, themselves members of other dynasties, and rather alien to Denmark. Ancestresses of many of them had renounced their rights when marrying "abroad". Some of closest of those lines were the following:

• Gustav, Prince of Vasa, former Crown Prince of Sweden, grandson of Princess Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, the eldest daughter of Frederick V and wife of King Gustav III of Sweden, mother of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden. Queen Carola of Saxony was his only surviving child and wife of King Albert I of Saxony, but she died childless in 1907.

• Grand Duchess Sophie of Baden, the eldest daughter of Gustav IV Adolf, was born Princess of Sweden and married Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden. She produced children. Prince Gustav and Sophia and their issue were followed by their sister Grand Duchess Cecilia of Oldenburg.

• William II, Elector of Hesse, 1777–1847, son of Princess Caroline of Denmark, second daughter of Frederick V. He had numerous children and siblings.

• Prince Frederick of Hesse, born in 1771 in Gottorp, eldest son of Princess Louise of Denmark, third and youngest daughter of Frederick V. A widower of a morganatic wife, he died in 1845 without legitimate children of sufficiently high rank to claim the throne of Denmark.

• Marie Sophie Frederikke, Queen Dowager of Denmark, born 1767, née Princess of Hesse, eldest daughter of Princess Louise of Denmark, third and youngest daughter of Frederik V. She died in 1852. Her children are listed above, as they were both Princesses of Denmark.

• Juliane Luise Amalie, Princess of Hesse, born 1773, daughter of Princess Louise of Denmark, third and youngest daughter of Frederick V. She was unmarried and died in 1860.

• Louise Caroline of Hesse, born in 1789 in Gottorp. Dowager Duchess of Lyksborg as widow of Duke William of Lyksborg, she was the youngest daughter of Princess Louise of Denmark, herself the third and youngest daughter of Frederick V. She had several children, who are listed below.

After them, the next cognatic heirs would have been descendants of daughters and younger sons of predecessors of Frederick V.

There were three thriving young families with chief potential to inherit the throne of Denmark and had children to continue the line of succession. These three families were, in order of proximity with the reigning monarch, the Hesse, the Augustenborg, and then the Lyksborg families. Only two of the families (Augustenborg and Hesse) had mothers who were Princesses of Denmark. Two of these, however, i.e. Augustenborg and Lyksborg, were agnatic descendants of ancient kings of Denmark.