Kristian IX 1818-1906
King of Denmark

A prince of Gl�cksburg, he was born in Gottorp, Schleswig, and confirmed as Crown Prince of Denmark by the Protocol of London, signed by all the great powers (1852) when it became clear that the old Oldenburg line would become extinct. He became king in 1863 in succession to the childless Frederik VII, and was immediately obliged to sign the November Constitution incorporating Schleswig into the Danish kingdom, an act which led to war with Prussia and Austria and the loss of both Schleswig and Holstein (1864). In 1874, on the 1,000th anniversary of the settlement of Iceland, he paid the first royal visit by a reigning monarch, and granted Iceland's first constitution, of limited autonomy under a governor. In Denmark, he presided over the move to full parliamentary government. He was succeeded in 1906 by his elder son as Frederik VIII, while his younger son became King George I of Greece. His elder daughter, Alexandra, married the future King Edward VII of Great Britain, and his younger daughter, Mari Dagmar, married the future Tsar Alexander III of Russia.