Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark

Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark (Caroline-Mathilde Louise Dagmar Christine Maud Augusta Ingeborg Thyra Adelheid; 27 April 1912 – 12 December 1995) was a daughter of Prince Harald of Denmark and granddaughter of King Frederik VIII of Denmark.

As the wife of Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark, she became Hereditary Princess of Denmark.

Princess Caroline-Mathilde was born on 27 April 1912 at the Jægersborghus country house, her parent's residence in Jægersborg north of Copenhagen, Denmark.

She was the second child and daughter of Prince Harald of Denmark, son of King Frederik VIII of Denmark and Princess Louise of Sweden.

Her mother was Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, daughter of Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

The princess was named for her maternal grandmother.

She was baptised with the names Caroline Mathilde Louise Dagmar Christine Maud Augusta Ingeborg Thyra Adelheid and was known as 'Calma' to her family.

Princess Caroline-Mathilde grew up with her two sisters, Princess Feodora and Princess Alexandrine-Louise, and two brothers, Prince Gorm and Prince Oluf.

For the first eight years of her life, the family lived at Jægersborghus.

From 1918 the family lived in a villa at Svanemøllevej in the neighbourhood of Ryvangen in the district of Østerbro in Copenhagen.

At the age of 18, the photography-interested Princess Caroline-Mathilde was apprenticed to photographer Anne Marie Lindequist.

On 27 January 1933, at the age of 20, Princess Caroline-Mathilde was engaged to her first cousin, the 32-year-old Prince Knud of Denmark.

Prince Knud was the second son and youngest child of King Christian X of Denmark and Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and their fathers were brothers.

The wedding was celebrated on 8 September 1933 at the chapel of Fredensborg Palace in North Zealand, Denmark.

After the wedding, they were given a side wing of Sorgenfri Palace, located on the shores of the small river Mølleåen in Kongens Lyngby north of Copenhagen, as their residence.

Here they created a home for their three children: Princess Elisabeth (born in 1935), Prince Ingolf (born in 1940) and Prince Christian (born in 1944).

The couple lived the rest of their lives at Sorgenfri Palace.

The Princess Caroline-Mathilde Alps in Greenland were named in her honour by the 1938–39 Mørkefjord Expedition, as her husband, Prince Knud, had been the patron of the expedition.

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.

From 1947 to 1953, Prince Knud was heir presumptive of his older brother King Frederik IX.

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 remained in the family's possession until 1997.

Not wanting to play a prominent public role, the princess led a relatively quiet life.

She was involved in various charitable work, most prominently in support of the Danish minority in Germany.

Knud would have become king and Caroline Mathilde queen in their turn, but a change in the constitution in 1953 caused Knud to lose his place in the succession to his niece, Margrethe II.

After the change, Prince Knud was given the title of Hereditary Prince and Caroline Mathilde became Hereditary Princess.

Hereditary Prince Knud died on 14 June 1976.

Hereditary Princess Caroline Mathilde survived her husband by 19 years and died on 12 December 1995 at Sorgenfri Palace.

She was interred next to her husband in Roskilde Cathedral on the island of Zealand, the traditional burial site for Danish monarchs since the 15th century.