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The House of Glücksburg

The House of Glücksburg (Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg) is a branch of the House of Oldenburg, one of Europe's oldest royal houses [1]. Its members reign today in Denmark and Norway, and once reigned in Greece [1]. "Glücksburg" means "luck castle" [1].

Origins

The house takes its name from Glücksburg Castle, in Schleswig. By 1825 the castle had returned to the Danish crown from an earlier ducal branch, also called Glücksburg, which had died out in 1779. It was then given to the branch that founded the present house [1].

1863: Denmark

The death of Frederik VII and the accession of Christian IX in 1863 transferred the Danish throne to the Glücksburg branch of the House of Oldenburg [1]. Christian IX (1818–1906) reigned until 1906 [1].

Greece: 1863–1973

The second son of Christian IX (then Crown Prince) was elected King of the Hellenes on 30 March 1863. He replaced the ousted Wittelsbach Otto and reigned as George I [1]. His descendants reigned in Greece until the last king, Constantine II (1940–2023), whose reign ran from 1964 to 1973. A military junta seized power in 1967 and the royal family went into exile [1].

Norway: Since 1905

Prince Carl, the second son of Frederik VIII of Denmark, Christian IX's eldest son, became King of Norway on 18 November 1905 as Haakon VII [1]. Harald V died on 28 August 2026, and his son became King the same day as Haakon VIII [3][5]. Under Article 6 of the Norwegian Constitution, the eldest child succeeds regardless of sex, for people born from 1971 onwards [4]. The heir is Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra.

Denmark Today: The 2024 Abdication

Queen Margrethe II announced in her New Year's Address on 31 December 2023 that she would step down on 14 January 2024 and hand over the throne to the Crown Prince [2]. It was the first abdication in Denmark in nearly 900 years [2]. The Crown Prince became King Frederik X.

Denmark's succession rules have changed twice:

• The 1953 Act of Succession limits the throne to the descendants of Christian X and Queen Alexandrine. It allowed women to inherit for the first time, but gave men precedence [2]. This allowed Margrethe II to succeed her father, Frederik IX, on 14 January 1972 [2].
• In 2009, equal succession was introduced, so the eldest child now inherits regardless of sex [2].

A British Link

In the male line, King Charles III of the United Kingdom descends from the House of Glücksburg through his father, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. He and his family nevertheless belong to the House of Windsor [1].

Key Dates

In the historical Almanach de Gotha

• The House of Glücksburg (Denmark) in the historical Almanach de Gotha, 1871–1923
• The House of Glücksburg (Norway) in the historical Almanach de Gotha, 1907–1923

Licence: contains material adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). This article is released under the same licence. Primary and institutional sources are summarised or briefly quoted.