Princess Benedikte of Denmark

Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Dowager Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg RE, SKmd, D.Ht. (Benedikte Astrid Ingeborg Ingrid, born 29 April 1944) is a member of the Danish royal family. She is the second daughter and child of King Frederick IX and Queen Ingrid of Denmark. She is the younger sister of the reigning Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, and the older sister of Queen Anne-Marie of Greece.

Princess Benedikte
Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Benedikte at the wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden, 8 June 2013
Born (1944-04-29) 29 April 1944
Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1968; died 2017)​
IssueGustav, 7th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Princess Alexandra, Countess Michael Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille
Princess Nathalie
Names
Benedikte Astrid Ingeborg Ingrid
HouseGlücksburg[1] (by birth)
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (by marriage)
FatherFrederick IX of Denmark
MotherIngrid of Sweden

Princess Benedikte often represents her elder sister at official or semi-official events. She and her late husband, Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, had three children. Princess Benedikte is currently 11th and last in the line of succession to the Danish throne.[2]

Early life

Birth and family
Princess Benedikte's birthplace: Frederik VIII's Palace at Amalienborg.

Princess Benedikte was born on 29 April 1944 at Frederik VIII's Palace, her parents' residence at the Amalienborg palace complex, the principal residence of the Danish royal family in the district of Frederiksstaden in central Copenhagen. She was the second child and daughter of Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark and Crown Princess Ingrid née Princess Ingrid of Sweden. Her father was the eldest son of King Christian X of Denmark and Queen Alexandrine née Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; and her mother was the only daughter of Crown Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden (later King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden) and his first wife Crown Princess Margaret née Princess Margaret of Connaught.

Her birth took place during Nazi Germany's Occupation of Denmark. The day after the birth of the princess, members of the Danish resistance group Holger Danske performed a salute of 21 bombs in the Ørstedsparken public park in central Copenhagen as a reference to the traditional 21-gun salute performed by the Danish Army and Navy at the occasion of royal births.[3]

She was baptised on 24 May 1944 in the Holmen Church in Copenhagen. Her godparents were King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine (her paternal grandparents), Prince Gustav of Denmark (paternal grand-uncle), King Gustav V of Sweden (maternal great-grandfather), Sigvard Bernadotte (maternal uncle), Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark (paternal aunt-by-marriage), Princess Ingeborg of Denmark (paternal grand-aunt), Princess Margaretha of Sweden (her father's first cousin), Sir Alexander Ramsay (maternal grand-uncle by marriage) and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom.[4]

Princess Benedikte has one elder sister, Margrethe, present Queen of Denmark, and a younger sister, Anne Marie, who was born in 1946 and married Constantine II of Greece.

Childhood and education
Princess Benedikte as a bridesmaid at the 1962 wedding of Princess Birgitta of Sweden and Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern.

Princess Benedikte and her sisters grew up in apartments at Frederick VIII's Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen and in Fredensborg Palace in North Zealand. She spent summer holidays with the royal family at her parents' summer residence at Gråsten Palace in Southern Jutland. On 20 April 1947, King Christian X died and Benedikte's father ascended the throne as King Frederick IX.

At the time of her father's accession to the throne, only males could ascend the throne of Denmark. As her parents had no sons, it was assumed that her uncle Prince Knud would one day assume the throne. The popularity of Frederick IX and his daughters and the more prominent role of women in Danish life paved the way for a new Act of Succession in 1953 which permitted female succession to the throne following the principle of male-preference primogeniture, where a female can ascend to the throne if she has no brothers. Benedikte's elder sister Margrethe therefore became heir presumptive, and Princess Benedikte and Princess Anne-Marie became second and third in the line of succession.

Princess Benedikte was educated at N. Zahle's School, a private school in Copenhagen, followed by stays at a boarding school (Benenden School)[5] in England and a Swiss finishing school. In 1965 she took a class at the Margrethe-Skolen, a private fashion and design school in Copenhagen.[6]

Marriage
Princess Benedikte with Prince Richard before their marriage

Benedikte was married on 3 February 1968 at Fredensborg Palace Church to Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1934–2017). They had three children:

The King had decreed that Princess Benedikte's children would need to be raised in Denmark in order to have succession rights. Since the condition was not met, Princess Benedikte's three children are not in line to succeed to the throne. The children of Princess Benedikte are styled as Highnesses by a Danish Order in Council.

Interests
Princess Benedikte at the summer camp of The Danish Guide and Scout Association in 1999.

Princess Benedikte is very much involved in the Scout/Guide organization in Denmark as well as internationally. When she was a child, a special Scout unit was created, so that she could join the Guides. Now her involvement is more at the organisational level as she is chairman for Pigespejdernes Fællesråd Danmark (Joint Committee of Girl Guides in Denmark). She is patron of De grønne pigespejdere (The Green Girl Guides, Denmark) and Det Danske Spejderkorps (The Danish Guide and Scout Association). In addition she is patron of the Olave Baden Powell Society (OB-PS), a support organisation for the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

She is an honorary member of the St George's Guilds in Denmark. In 2007 she was awarded with a prize of honour by this Scout association for adults.[7]

She is also involved in equestrian sport, and has acted as an honorary patron of the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses.[8] In 2006, she ran in an election for president of the International Equestrian Federation, but she was heavily defeated, earning only 16 votes and placing last out of the three candidates.[9]

Titles, styles, honours and awards
Benedikte's monogram

As Princess of Denmark, Benedikte is entitled to the style "Her Royal Highness".[10]

Honours
See also: List of honours of the Danish Royal Family by country
Orders and appointments
Medals and decorations

Foreign

National

Foreign

Ancestry

References

Citations
  1. "150 years of the House of Glücksborg". 15 November 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  2. Succession to the throne Archived 8 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine – Official website of the Danish Monarchy
  3. Peter Øvig Knudsen: Efter drabet (s. 191), forlaget Press, Oslo 2003, ISBN 82-7547-119-2
  4. Prinsesse Benediktes fødsel og dåb Archived 3 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine – Website of the Danish National Archives.
  5. Courtney, Nicholas (1986). Princess Anne: A Biography. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 9780297789581. Retrieved 22 April 2020. The school helped too, although Miss Gee admitted to having a Royal charge 'a bit of a shock, but we had had a princess at Benenden before - a Danish one [Benedikte] - and after she [Anne] had arrived, it was all perfectly normal.
  6. "Stilfuld stilfærdighed" (in Danish). Kristeligt Dagblad. 28 April 2004. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  7. Rosenbom, Niels (December 2007). "Prize of honour to HRH Princess Benedikte". World Gazette Mondiale-News from the International Scout and Guide Fellowship (an organisation for adults)-ISGF. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
  8. "Three candidates for the FEI Presidency". FEI. International Equestrian Federation. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  9. "Haya of Jordan Elected FEI President". Phelps Sports. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  10. "Her Royal Highness Princess Benedikte". Danish Royal Court. Archived from the original on 12 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  11. "Honors list". translate.google.com.
  12. "Onorificenze – Dettaglio del conferimento". quirinale.it. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  13. "Photo" (PDF). www.boe.es.
  14. https://www.constantinian.org.uk/the-duchess-of-calabria-and-hrh-princess-benedikte-of-denmark-jointly-hold-charity-event-for-the-olave-baden-powell-association/
  15. "Denmark" (PDF). 21 February 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  16. "Welcome: Pigespejder.dk". pigespejder.dk. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  17. "World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts – Princess Benedikte Award". ob-ps.org. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  18. "Princess Benedikte's 70th Birthday | Official Denmark 2014 Stamps and Stamp Issues at face value | WOPA Stamps". wopa-stamps.com. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  19. "World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts – Our World: Denmark". wagggs.org. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  20. "Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Patron of the 2005 FEI/PSI Freestyle Forum | eurodressage". eurodressage.com. Retrieved 15 September 2015.

Bibliography
  • Bloch Skipper, Jon (2008). Tre søstre : samtaler mellem dronning Margrethe, prinsesse Benedikte og dronning Anne-Marie [Three sisters: conversations between Queen Margrethe, Princess Benedikte and Queen Anne-Marie] (in Danish). Copenhagen: Lindhardt og Ringhof. ISBN 978-87-11-30060-2.
  • Bramsen, Bo (1992). Huset Glücksborg. Europas svigerfader og hans efterslægt [The House of Glücksburg. The Father-in-law of Europe and his descendants] (in Danish) (2nd ed.). Copenhagen: Forlaget Forum. ISBN 87-553-1843-6.
  • Lerche, Anna; Mandal, Marcus (2003). A royal family : the story of Christian IX and his European descendants. Copenhagen: Aschehoug. ISBN 9788715109577.
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