Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom is a very remarkable queen, and her reign was the most powerful "empire where the sun never sets" in Britain, so her popularity in later generations is very high. In addition, Queen Victoria's multiple children intermarried into the European royal family, and many members of the European royal family were her descendants, so she had the title of "European grandmother", which was one of the reasons for her high popularity in later generations.
Since there is a European grandmother, there may be a European grandfather, strictly speaking it should be called "European father-in-law", but not the husband of the European grandmother Queen Victoria, but the king of another country, and much less well-known than the European grandmother, he is the King Christian IX of Denmark.
Portrait of King Christian IX of Denmark
Christian IX became King of Denmark by chance, and before him was Frederick VII. In 1863, Frederick VII died and died childless, the Danish Oldenburg dynasty was extinct, and Christian IX succeeded to the Danish throne as a royal branch, starting the Danish House of Glücksburg, which still rules Denmark.
In the second year of Christian IX's reign, Denmark fought the Prussian War with the Kingdom of Prussia. Since Denmark was not a European power at the time, and the Kingdom of Prussia was a military power, the Prussian War ended in the victory of the Kingdom of Prussia over Denmark, which was also the first step in the later unification of Germany by the Kingdom of Prussia and the establishment of the German Empire.
Christian IX lost part of Danish territory due to his defeat in the Prussian War, which led to his loss of prestige in the hearts of the Danes and the decline of Denmark's status in European countries. In order to restore Denmark's position, among other political factors, Christian IX and his queen Louise decided to marry their three daughters and three sons with European powers.
Three daughters of Christian IX and Queen Louise
Through the efforts of Christian IX and Queen Louise, the Danish royal family successfully married several European powers.
The eldest daughter, Princess Alexandra, married Prince Edward, crown prince of the United Kingdom, later King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. Since Edward VII was the son of Queen Victoria, Christian IX and Queen Victoria were sons and daughters.
The second daughter, Princess Dagmar, married the Russian crown prince Alexander, later the Russian emperor Alexander III.
The third daughter, Princess Tira, married Prince Ernst, Crown Prince of Hanover.
That is to say, the eldest daughter Princess Alexandra became the queen of England, the second daughter Princess Dagmar became the queen of Russia, and Denmark's status instantly improved a lot because of this political marriage with the two major European powers, Britain and Russia.
It is worth mentioning the third daughter, Princess Tira, whose suffering is much more sad than her two sisters. At that time, Hanover was an independent kingdom, and Princess Tira did not become Queen of Hanover, because the Kingdom of Hanover was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War of 1866, and Princess Tilla married Prince Ernst after the annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover. Had the Kingdom of Hanover not been annexed, Prince Ernst would have been King of Hanover and Princess Teela would have been Queen of Hanover.
Family portrait of Christian IX with his children and grandchildren
Let's talk about the three sons of Christian IX and Queen Louise.
The eldest son, Prince Frederick, later King Frederick VIII of Denmark, originally wanted to marry the daughter of Queen Victoria of England, but Queen Victoria did not agree and ended up marrying Princess Louise of Sweden.
The second son, Prince George, married the Princess Olga of Russia, and more importantly, with the support of Britain and Russia, became King George I of Greece, starting the Greek House of Glüksburg.
The third son, Prince Valdema, married Princess Marie of France, could have joined another European country, Bulgaria, like his second brother Prince George, and became the king of Bulgaria, but was later unable to do so due to multiple state and family pressures.
Six children of Christian IX and Queen Louise
Since the six children of Christian IX and Queen Louise intermarried in Europe, Christian IX was called the "father-in-law of Europe". The more famous grandsons and grandsons of Christian IX and Queen Louise are:
King George V of the United Kingdom is the second son of King Edward VII of England and his eldest daughter, Princess Alexandra.
Emperor Nicholas II of Russia was the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III of Russia and his second daughter, Princess Dagmar.
King Christian X of Denmark was the eldest son of King Frederick VIII of Denmark and Princess Louise of Sweden.
King Haakon VII of Norway , the second son of his eldest son, King Frederick VIII of Denmark and Princess Louise of Sweden, became the first king as Norway became an independent kingdom from Denmark.
King Constantine I of Greece was the eldest son of the second son, King George I of Greece and Princess Olga of Russia.
Later, Christian IX and Queen Louise's grandchildren and granddaughters continued to intermarry in Europe, and the European countries that still retain the monarchy are Britain, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Spain, etc., and their royal family members are basically the descendants of the two. So it is no exaggeration to say that most of the European royal family is the descendant of Christian IX and Queen Louise.
Statue of Christian IX in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark