Frederick IX (Christian Frederik Franz Michael Carl Valdemar Georg) (11 March 1899 – 14 January 1972) was King of the Kingdom of Denmark from 20 April 1947 until his death on 14 January 1972.
He was the son of King Christian X of Denmark and Queen Alexandrine, born Duchess of Mecklenburg, and the fourth Danish monarch of the House of Glücksburg.<br
Frederick's father ascended the throne on 14t May 1912 as King Christian X and Frederick himself became crown prince. Frederick was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy (breaking Danish royal tradition by choosing a naval instead of an army career) and the University of Copenhagen. Before he became king, he had acquired the rank of Rear Admiral and he had had several senior commands on active service. He acquired several tattoos during his naval service.
In addition, with his great love of music, the king was an able piano player and conductor.
n 1922, Frederick was engaged to Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark, his second cousin and the daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark; however they never wed.
The newly engaged Princess Ingrid of Sweden and Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark in 1935.
Instead, he married Princess Ingrid of Sweden (1910–2000) at Storkyrkan in Stockholm on 24 May 1935. She was a daughter of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf (later King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden) and his first wife, Princess Margaret of Connaught. They were related in several ways. In descent from Oscar I of Sweden and Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden, they were double third cousins. In descent from Paul I of Russia, Frederick was a fourth cousin of Ingrid's mother.
From 1942 until 1943, during the Secod World War, Frederick acted as regent on behalf of his father who was temporarily incapacitated after a fall from his horse in October 1942. On 20 April 1947, Christian X died, and Frederick succeeded to the throne. He was proclaimed king from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace by Prime Minister Knud Kristensen.
Frederick had only daughters and as he had no sons, it was expected that his younger brother Knud would inherit the throne, in accordance with Denmark's succession law (Royal Ordinance of 1853).
However, in 1953, an Act of Succession was passed, changing the method of succession to cognatic primogeniture. This meant that his daughters could succeed if he had no sons. His eldest daughter, Margrethe, did so, as Queen Margrethe II. By order of 27 March 1953 the succession to the throne was limited to the issue of King Christian X.
Shortly after the King had delivered his New Year's Address to the Nation at the 1971/72 turn of the year, he became ill with flu-like symptoms. After a few days rest, he suffered cardiac arrest and was rushed to the municipal hospital on 3 January. After a brief period of apparent improvement, the King's condition took a negative turn on 11 January, and he died 3 days later, on 14 January, at 7:50 pm surrounded by his immediate family and closest friends, having been unconscious since the previous day.[3]
Following his death, the King's coffin was transported to his home at Amalienborg Palace, where it stood until 18 January, when it was moved to the chapel at Christiansborg Palace. There the King was placed on castrum doloris, a ceremony largely unchanged since introduced at the burial of Frederick III in 1670, and the last remaining Royal ceremony where the Danish Crown Regalia is used. The King then lay in state for six days until his funeral, during which period the public could pay their last respects.[4]
The funeral took place on 24 January 1972, and was split in two parts. First a brief ceremony was held in the chapel where the king had lain in state, where the Bishop of Copenhagen, Willy Westergaard Madsen said a brief prayer, followed by a hymn, before the coffin was carried out of the chapel by members of the Royal Life Guards and placed on a gun carriage for the journey through Copenhagen to Copenhagen Central Station. The gun carriage was pulled by 48 seamen and was escorted by honor guards from the Danish Army, Air Force, and Navy, as well as honor guards from France, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States.
At the Copenhagen Central Station, the coffin was placed in a special railway carriage for the rail journey to Roskilde. The funeral train was pulled by two DSB class E) steam engines. Once in Roskilde, the coffin was pulled through the city by a group of seamen to Roskilde Cathedral where the final ceremony took place.
Previous rulers had been interred in the cathedral, but it was the King's wish to be buried outside.[5]
He was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Queen Margrethe II. Queen Ingrid survived her husband by 28 years. She died on 7 November 2000. Her remains were interred alongside him at the burial site outside Roskilde Cathedral.
The statue of Frederick was unveiled by the Copenhagen harbour on the 35th anniversary of his accession to the throne in 1947 and in the tenth year after his death.[6]"
The statue was sculpted by Knud Nellemose (1908 - 1997) and there is a plaque with the following text.
FREDERIK IX
KONGE AF DANMARK 1947 - 1972
AF KNUD NELLEMOSE
FODT 1908
OPSTILLET 1982
KOBENHAVNS COMMUNE
The English Translation is
FREDERICK IX
KING OF DENMARK 1947 - 1972
BY KNUD NELLEMOSE
BORN 1908
ERECTED 1982
COMMUNITY OF COPENHAGEN