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Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
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Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (in Danish: Slesvig-Holsten-Sønderborg-Lyksborg), from Glücksburg in northernmost Germany, is a line of the House of Oldenburg that is descended from King Christian III of Denmark. Its members include the royal houses of Denmark and Norway, the deposed royal house of Greece, and the heirs to the throne of the United Kingdom and the fifteen other Commonwealth realms.
This particular line comes from the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck. The last of them became Duke of Glücksburg and changed his title accordingly to Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. He was married to Luise Caroline, Princess of Hesse-Kassel, a granddaughter of King Frederick V of Denmark.
Neither the Dukes of Beck nor of Glücksburg were sovereign rulers - they held their lands in fief to the sovereign Dukes of Schleswig and Holstein - the Kings of Denmark and (before 1773) the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp.
Christian IX, the fourth son of Friedrich Wilhelm. was chosen by the childless King Frederick VII of Denmark to be his heir, as Christian was married to Frederick's first cousin, Luise of Hesse. Wilhelm, the second son of Crown Prince Christian and Crown Princess Luise, was elected King of the Hellenes on March 30, 1863 to succeed the deposed Wittelsbach Otto of Greece and took the name George I of Greece. His father became King of Denmark as Christian IX on November 15, 1863. Prince Carl, the second son of Frederick VIII of Denmark, Christian IX's eldest son, became King of Norway on November 18, 1905 as Haakon VII of Norway. Christian IX's daughters, Alexandra of Denmark and Dagmar of Denmark (who became Maria Feodorovna), married Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexander III of Russia, respectively, meaning that by 1914, descendants of King Christian IX were nearly as prevalent on European thrones as those of Queen Victoria.
Monarchs of Denmark, 1863-present
Kings of the Greece, 1863-1973
Kings of Norway, 1905-present
Other notable members
- Princess Ingeborg of Denmark (1878 - 1958). Daughter of Frederick VIII of Denmark, wife of Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland, mother of Princess Margaretha of Sweden, Märtha of Sweden and Astrid of Sweden and Prince Carl, Duke of Östergötland (who themselves are not members of this house, but of that of Bernadotte).
- Princess Elena of Greece and Denmark (1896 - 1982). Wife of Carol II of Romania and mother of Michael I of Romania.
- Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark (1903 - 1997). Wife of the Regent Prince Paul of Yugoslavia.
- Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, Duchess of Aosta (1904 - 1974). Wife of Tomislav II of Croatia.
- The Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (1906 - 1968). Wife of Prince George, 1st Duke of Kent.
- Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark (1911 - 1937). Wife of Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and sister of Philip, later the Duke of Edinburgh. She died with her husband and two sons in the crash of Sabena Airlines Junkers JU52 (OO-AUB) at Ostend.
- Alexandra of Greece and Denmark (1921 - 1993). Wife of Peter II of Yugoslavia.
- Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921 - ), grandson to George I of Greece, son to Prince Andrew of Greece, consort to Elizabeth II of the Commonwealth realms. All agnatic descendants of Prince Philip, including Charles, Prince of Wales, also belong to this house. Some of them hold the surname of Mountbatten-Windsor and some use Windsor in lieu of any surname.
- Queen Sofia of Spain (1938 - ). Wife of King Juan Carlos I of Spain, sister of King Constantine II.
- Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark (1939- ). Son of Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark and Princess Françoise of Orléans; grandson of King George I of the Hellenes.
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