Princess Benedikte of Denmark

Birth and family

Benedikte was born on 29 April 1944 at Frederik VIII's Palace, her parents' residence at the Amalienborg palace complex, the principal residence of the Danish royal family in the district of Frederiksstaden in central Copenhagen. She was the second child and daughter of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid of Denmark. Her father was the eldest son of King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, and her mother was the only daughter of Crown Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden and his first wife, Princess Margaret of Connaught.

Her birth took place during Nazi Germany's Occupation of Denmark. The day after the birth of the princess, members of the Danish resistance group Holger Danske performed a salute of 21 bombs in the Ørstedsparken public park in central Copenhagen as a reference to the traditional 21-gun salute performed by the Danish Army and Navy at the occasion of royal births.^[3]

She was baptised on 24 May, her parents' 9th wedding anniversary, at the Holmen Church in Copenhagen. Her godparents were King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine of Denmark (her paternal grandparents); Prince Gustav of Denmark (paternal grand-uncle); King Gustaf V of Sweden (maternal great-grandfather), Sigvard Bernadotte (maternal uncle); Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark (paternal aunt by marriage); Princess Ingeborg of Denmark (paternal grand-aunt); Princess Margaretha of Sweden (her father's first cousin); Sir Alexander Ramsay (maternal grand-uncle by marriage) and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom.^[4]

Benedikte has one elder sister, Margrethe, former Queen of Denmark, and a younger sister, Anne Marie, who was born in 1946 and married Constantine II of Greece.

Childhood and education

Benedikte and her sisters grew up in apartments at Frederik VIII's Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen and in Fredensborg Palace in North Zealand. She spent the summer holidays with the royal family at her parents' summer residence at Gråsten Palace in Southern Jutland. On 20 April 1947, King Christian X died and Benedikte's father ascended the throne as King Frederik IX.

At the time of her father's accession to the throne, only males could ascend the throne of Denmark. As her parents had no sons, it was assumed that her uncle Prince Knud would one day assume the throne. The popularity of Frederik IX and his daughters and the more prominent role of women in Danish life paved the way for a new Act of Succession in 1953 which permitted female succession to the throne following the principle of male-preference primogeniture, where a female can ascend to the throne if she has no brothers. Benedikte's elder sister Margrethe therefore became heir presumptive, and Benedikte and Anne-Marie became second and third in the line of succession.

Benedikte was educated at N. Zahle's School, a private school in Copenhagen, followed by stays at an English boarding school, Benenden School in Kent (1957), and a Swiss finishing school, Brillantmont International School in Lausanne (1960-1961).^[5] In 1965, she took a class at Margrethe-Skolen, a private fashion and design school in Copenhagen.^[6]

Equestrianism

Benedikte is very involved in equestrian sport and is patron of the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses, the Danish Warmblood Association and Hestens Værn.^[9] In 1992, she became patron of the Danish Equestrian Federation (DRF). Following revelations about the handling of cases of animal cruelty within the federation as well as allegations of leadership misconduct from members of the board (on which her daughter, Nathalie, was a member) of the federation in 2024, Benedikte withdrew her patronage.^[10] The then chairman of the DRF, Dan Boyter, was revealed to have contacted the private secretaries of both Benedikte and her nephew, King Frederik X, in an effort to have Princess Nathalie (who was among 4 members of the board to raise a motion of no confidence and subsequently file a complain with the National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark's Ethics Committee against Boyter) removed from the board.^[11]

In 2006, she ran in an election for president of the International Equestrian Federation, but she was heavily defeated, earning only 16 votes and placing last out of the three candidates.^[12]

Scouting

Benedikte was introduced to the scouting movement when she was a teenager by her mother who had been an active patron of the Danish Girl Guides since 1936.^[13] When she was a child, a special Scout unit was created so that she could join the Guides. In 1963, at the age of 19, Benedikte stepped in for her mother, who had fallen ill, and opened the Guiding World Conference in Nyborg with a speech held in both English and French.^[7]

Benedikte has retained a close commitment to Girl Guide and Girl Scout organisations in Denmark as well as internationally. She succeeded her mother as chairman of Pigespejdernes Fællesråd Danmark (Joint Committee of Girl Guides in Denmark). She is patron of De grønne pigespejdere (The Green Girl Guides, Denmark), Det Danske Spejderkorps (The Danish Guide and Scout Association) and the Danish YWCA in London. In addition, she is patron of the Olave Baden Powell Society (OB-PS), a support organisation for the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. She is an honorary member of the St George's Guilds in Denmark. In 2007, she was awarded with a prize of honour by this Scout association for adults.^[14]

Honours