Count Ingolf of Rosenborg - Loss of Dynastic Rights

Loss of Dynastic Rights

In 1968, now with little hope of ascending the throne, Ingolf chose to forfeit his right of succession to the throne by marrying without having received the royal assent of the monarch in the Council of State. The king's permission to marry was not sought because it was expected to be denied, since Ingolf's fiancée was an untitled commoner. Though Frederick IX had liberalized traditional practice by allowing royal spouses who were not themselves royal, but who claimed noble blood and were known by courtesy titles (Anne Bowes-Lyon was the granddaughter of an earl and through her first marriage to the son of an earl bore the title of viscountess; Henri de Laborde de Monpezat used the title of count, though his family's claim to nobility was later acknowledged to be flawed), it would not be until 1995 that Margrethe II would allow her children to marry commoners with neither title nor claim to noble blood. Ingolf was given the title Count of Rosenborg and the style of Your Excellency, as was customary in the twentieth century for Danish princes who forfeited their dynastic rights.

Prior to his son's wedding, Prince Knud sought to convince his brother that Ingolf should be allowed to retain his royal title after marriage. But the king refused, on the grounds that other males of the dynasty who had been demoted to Counts of Rosenborg upon marriage might try to reclaim their royal rank if Ingolf were allowed to do so, despite marrying a commoner as they had done. So, in 1968, Ingolf forfeited his rights to the throne and took the title Count of Rosenborg. His younger brother Christian did the same three years later.

Ingolf married firstly Inge Terney (Copenhagen, 21 January 1938 – 21 July 1996), daughter of Georg Terney (1906–1977) and wife Jenny Hansen (1908–1990), on 13 January 1968, at Lyngby, Denmark. After being widowed, he married secondly Sussie Hjorhøy (born Copenhagen, 20 February 1950), who thus became "Her Excellency Countess Sussie of Rosenborg" on 7 March 1998, at Engtved, Denmark. He has no children. Ingolf is godfather to his great-nephew, Leopold Rosanes af Rosenborg, who is the grandson of his brother Christian.