Princess Charlotte of Denmark

File:Juel,_Jens_-_Prince_Frederick_of_Denmark_with_his_family.png and Hereditary Princess Sophia Frederica with their three eldest children. Princess Charlotte sits on her mother's lap. Portrait by Jens Juel, 1790.]]

Princess Charlotte was born on 30 October 1789 at Christiansborg Palace, the principal residence of the Danish Monarchy in central Copenhagen.{{sfn|Thorsøe|1889|p=439}} She was a daughter to Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark and Norway, and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.{{sfn|Thorsøe|1889|p=439}} Her father was a younger son of King Frederick V of Denmark and Norway, while her mother was a daughter of Duke Louis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. At birth she had two older siblings, Prince Christian Frederick (who later became King of Norway in 1814 and was King of Denmark as Christian VIII from 1839) and Princess Juliane Sophie. She later had a younger brother, Prince Frederick Ferdinand.

When Princess Charlotte was born, her uncle Christian VII was the monarch of Denmark-Norway. Due to the king's mental illness, however, the real ruler was her cousin, Crown Prince Frederick (later King Frederick VI). Charlotte's family had a strained relationship with Crown Prince Frederick and his family due to the power struggles that the king's mental condition had created, but gradually the relationship between the two branches of the royal family was normalized.

File:Princesa Luisa Carlota de Dinamarca, duquesa de Hesse-Kassel.png, 1802.]]

Princess Charlotte spent the first years of her life at the large and magnificent baroque palace of Christiansborg. As a summer residence, the family owned Sorgenfri Palace, located on the shores of the small river Mølleåen in Kongens Lyngby north of Copenhagen.

The year 1794 was an eventful year for the young princess and her family. In February 1794, a fire destroyed Christiansborg Palace, and the family was forced to move to Levetzau's Palace, a rococo palace which forms part of the Amalienborg Palace complex in the district of Frederiksstaden in central Copenhagen. And in November 1794, when Princess Charlotte was five years old, her mother, who was in poor health, died at the age of just 36.

Princess Charlotte was confirmed on 22 May 1803 in the chapel of Frederiksberg Palace along with her brother Prince Christian Frederik and sister Princess Juliane Sophie.{{sfn|Thorsøe|1889|p=439-40}}

File:Charlottenlund_Slot_(c._1830).jpg, {{circa}} 1830.]]

On 10 November 1810 in Amalienborg Palace, she married Prince William of Hesse-Kassel. Her spouse was in Danish service from his youth, and the family lived in Denmark. The couple initially settled on Sankt Annæ Plads in central Copenhagen in what was called the Prince William Mansion. Later, the couple moved into the Brockdorff's Palace at Amalienborg. As their country residence they received Charlottenlund Palace, located on the shores of the Øresund Strait 10 kilometers north of Copenhagen.

File:1789 Louise Charlotte.jpg

Princess Charlotte was described as wise, practical and thrifty, keeping the finances of her household under strict control.[https://runeberg.org/dbl/3/0441.html Dansk biografisk Lexikon / III. Bind. Brandt – Clavus] (in Danish) She had some interest in art and poetry, and reportedly felt herself to be a Danish patriot.Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, 1933–44 Charlotte played some part in the succession crisis which occurred because her half first cousin, King Frederick VI of Denmark, lacked a male heir. She supported the solution that her branch of the family should succeed to the throne, and because of this, she opposed the Schleswig–Holstein indepdence movement.Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, 1933–44

In 1839, her brother Christian VIII of Denmark succeeded their cousin on the throne, and during his reign, Charlotte had an important position at the Danish royal court in Copenhagen because her brother favored that her line of the family should succeed to the throne after his male line had died out.Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, 1933–44

In 1848, her brother died and was succeeded by his childless son, her nephew, king Frederick VII of Denmark. In 1850, the Danish government was pressured by Russia to choose Prince Christian of Glücksburg, a junior member of the Danish royal family and Charlotte's own son-in-law, as heir to the throne. Prince Christian's older brother the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg had displayed anti-Danish sentiment during the recent First Schleswig War, and when gehejmeråd F.C. Dankwart, on behalf of the government, issued the demand that she should renounce her, her son's, and eldest daughter's right to the throne in favor of her second daughter and her husband, she replied: "It is impossible: the Danish people would under no circumstance accept as King a Prince from a house that has made war against Denmark, and that is so hostile toward us".Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, 1933–44 In exchange, she demanded that the House of Oldenburg purchase the Electorate of Hesse and declare it a kingdom, so that her son Frederick could "Switch one Kingdom for another".Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, 1933–44 On 18 July 1851, after having been persuaded that her terms were impossible and that Christian of Glücksburg in fact had good support for his claim, Charlotte agreed to renounce her, her son Frederick's, and her eldest daughter Marie Louise Charlotte's claims to the throne in favour of her second daughter Louise, who in turn renounced her own claim in favor of her spouse, Christian.Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, 1933–44

Charlotte died in Christiansborg Palace in 1864.

• Princess Caroline Frederica of Hesse-Kassel (15 August 1811 – 10 May 1829)
• Princess Marie Luise Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel (9 May 1814 – 28 July 1895) married Prince Frederick Augustus of Anhalt-Dessau.
• Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel (7 September 1817 – 29 September 1898) married Christian IX of Denmark.
• Frederick William, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (26 November 1820 – 14 October 1884) married first Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia and she died soon after their marriage, and second Princess Anna of Prussia.
• Princess Auguste Sophie of Hesse-Kassel (30 October 1823 – 17 July 1889) married Baron Carl Frederik Blixen-Finecke.
• Princess Sophie Wilhelmine of Hesse-Kassel (18 January – 20 December 1827)

{{Ahnentafel|collapsed=yes|align=center

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|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;

|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;

|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;

|1= 1. Princess Charlotte of Denmark

|2= 2. Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark

|3= 3. Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

|4= 4. Frederick V of Denmark

|5= 5. Duchess Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

|6= 6. Duke Louis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

|7= 7. Princess Charlotte Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

|8= 8. Christian VI of Denmark

|9= 9. Princess Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach

|10= 10. Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

|11= 11. Princess Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

|12= 12. Christian Ludwig II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

|13= 13. Duchess Gustave Caroline of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

|14= 14. Francis Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

|15= 15. Princess Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

}}

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{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last=Bramsen|first=Bo|title=Ferdinand og Caroline : en beretning om prinsen, der nødig ville være konge af Danmark|trans-title=Ferdinand and Caroline: an account of the prince who was reluctant to be king of Denmark|year=1985|edition=4th|publisher=Nordiske Landes Bogforlag|location=Copenhagen|isbn=8787439220|lang=da}}
• {{Cite encyclopedia |first=Alexander |last=Thorsøe |title=Louise (L. Charlotte) |url=https://runeberg.org/dbl/3/0441.html |year=1889 |encyclopedia=Dansk biografisk Lexikon, tillige omfattende Norge for tidsrummet 1537–1814 |editor-first=Carl Frederik |editor-last=Bricka |editor-link=Carl Frederik Bricka |volume=III |edition=1st |location=Copenhagen |publisher=Gyldendals forlag |pages=439–440 |language=da }}

{{Refend}}

{{commons category-inline|Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark}}

{{Danish princesses}}

{{Princesses and Landgravines of Hesse by marriage}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlotte of Denmark, Princess}}

Category:1789 births

Category:1864 deaths

Category:19th-century Danish people

Category:19th-century Norwegian people

Category:Princesses of Denmark

Category:House of Hesse-Kassel

Category:House of Oldenburg in Denmark

Category:Landgravines of Hesse-Kassel

Category:Norwegian princesses

Category:Burials at Roskilde Cathedral