Christian IX died on 29 January 1906, and Knud's grandfather succeeded him as Frederik VIII. Six years later, on 14 May 1912, Frederik VIII died, and Knud's father ascended the throne as Christian X.
As was customary for princes at that time, Knud started a military education and entered the naval college.[2]
The couple lived the rest of their lives at Sorgenfri Palace. In 1944, Prince Knud inherited Egelund House near Fredensborg in North Zealand from his uncle, Prince Gustav of Denmark, which the couple then used as their summer residence until the hereditary prince sold it to the Danish Employers' Association in 1954.[5] In 1952, Prince Knud also inherited his parents' holiday residence Klitgaarden in Skagen in North Jutland from his mother, Queen Alexandrine, which the couple then used as their holiday home, and which remained in the family's possession until 1997.[6]
Heir presumptive
On 20 April 1947, Christian X died, and Knud's brother Frederick succeeded to the throne as Frederik IX. Since Frederik IX had fathered no sons and the Danish Act of Succession at the time followed the principle of agnatic primogeniture, Prince Knud became heir presumptive and first in line to succeed his brother as king.
Frederik IX had, however, fathered three daughters. In 1953, the Act of Succession was amended to follow the principle of male-preference primogeniture. The new law made Frederik IX's thirteen-year-old daughter Margrethe the new heir presumptive, placing her and her two sisters before Knud and his family in the line of succession.
Later life and legacy
King Frederik IX died in 1972 and was succeeded by his daughter Queen Margrethe II. Prince Knud died in Gentofte on 14 June 1976. He was buried at Roskilde Cathedral. His widow died on 12 December 1995.
In 1953 a students' home in Frederiksberg was named "Arveprins Knuds Kollegium" in honor of Prince Knud. At the time, Prince Knud was protector of Sydslesvigsk Studie- og Hjælpefond (Study and relief fund of Southern Schleswig),(see Danish minority of Southern Schleswig), an area that could be considered the birthplace of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the royal family of which Knud was a part.
The popular saying “En gang til for Prins Knud” (“One more time for Prince Knud”) is sometimes used when repeating or clarifying because the interlocutor is a bit slow-witted or didn't immediately grasp something.[8] The expression was first used in an article by Bent Thorndahl in the Copenhagen newspaper Politiken to describe the November 24, 1958 premiere, at the Falkoner Center in Frederiksberg, of the ballet “Det Forsinkede Stævnemøde” (“The postponed rendezvous”). Prince Knud and Princess Caroline Mathilde had sat in the former royal loge at the far left of the hall (i.e., stage right), but one especially memorable scene had not been fully visible from where they had sat. The ballet director, Ingvar Balduin Blicher-Hansen (1911–1995) persuaded the ballet ensemble to re-enact the scene for the royal couple. The following year, Birgitte Reimer, at the theatrical revue known as Cirkusrevyen, performed a song,[9] written by Erik Leth to a tune by Sven Gyldmark, which immortalized Prince Knud, somewhat unfairly mocking him as supposedly being a dullard: “Så ta'r vi den en gang til for Prins Knud.” (“Now we'll do it one more time for Prince Knud.”)[10]
^Mouran, H. (5 March 1936). "ORDONNANCES SOUVERAINES"(PDF). JOURNAL DE MONACO. p. 7. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
^"Den kongelige norske Sanct Olavs Orden", Norges Statskalender for Aaret 1930 (in Norwegian), Oslo: Forlagt av H. Aschehoug & Co. (w. Nygaard), 1930, pp. 993–994 – via runeberg.org
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. ISBN87-553-1843-6.
Lerche, Anna; Mandal, Marcus (2003). A royal family : the story of Christian IX and his European descendants. Copenhagen: Aschehoug. ISBN9788715109577.
1 Also prince of Norway 2 Also prince of Greece 3 Also prince of Iceland 4 Also prince of the United Kingdom 5 Not Danish prince by birth, but created prince of Denmark Princes that lost their title are shown in italics