Louise of Hesse-Kassel (, ; 7 September 1817 – 29 September 1898) was Queen of Denmark as the wife of King Christian IX from 15 November 1863 until her death in 1898.
Life
Early life and relation to the royal family
Louise was born as the daughter of Prince William of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Charlotte of Denmark. Her siblings included Princess Marie Luise Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel, Prince Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Auguste Sophie Friederike of Hesse-Kassel. Louise of Hesse lived in Denmark from the age of three.
As a niece of King Christian VIII, who ruled Denmark between 1839 and 1848, Louise was very close to the succession after several individuals of the royal house of Denmark who were elderly and childless. As children, her brother Frederick Wilhelm, her sisters and she were the closest relatives of King Christian VIII who were likely to produce heirs. It was increasingly obvious that the traditional male line succession might come to an end within a generation as the crown prince was childless despite two marriages. Louise was one of the females descending from Frederick III of Denmark, and she enjoyed the remainder provisions of the Danish agnatic-cognetic succession according to the King's Law in the event that Frederick III's male line became extinct.
Louise and her siblings were not agnatic descendants of the House of Oldenburg. Louise was thus ineligible to inherit the Holstein throne - which was under agnatic succession. This threatened the continued existence of the joint monarchy between Denmark and the two duchies. Denmark and its fief Schleswig both followed the succession rules in the King's Law giving Louise a strong claim to the Danish throne.
Marriage and succession dispute
Louise was married at the Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen on 26 May 1842 to her second cousin Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg who in 1863 became King Christian IX of Denmark.
The marriage combined Christian's weak claim to the throne with Louise's senior claim. The couple lived a quiet family life but their claims to the throne were disputed for more than a decade.
Louise's claim to the throne was challenged by the House of Augustenborg which held the stronger claim to the Holstein throne and a subsidiary claim to the Danish and Schleswig thrones. The House of Augustenborg argued that the King's Law was purely agnatic and presented itself as the opportunity to preserve the undivided monarchy.
In 1847, King Christian VIII decided that the throne should pass to Prince Christian of Glücksburg in the event that crown prince Frederick (the later Frederick VII) fathered no dynastic sons. This choice was communicated to the Great Powers of Europe.
The situation remained disputed and succession was a main reason for the House of Augustenburg rebelling against Denmark in the 1848-51 First Schleswig War. That house was consequently struck from the line of succession. This cemented that Prince Christian of Glücksburg would become the next monarch.
Louise's mother and siblings renounced their rights to the Danish throne to her and Louise herself in turn renounced her rights in favour of her husband. In 1852, this succession order was confirmed by the Nordic countries and foreign powers in London.
Christian and Louise's children would now be heirs to the Danish throne both due to compliance with the King's Law and due to international treaty. This resolved the succession to the Danish crown, but not Denmark's future relation to the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. German Holstein's historic law of succession was Salic, thus exclusively male, and could not easily be reconciled with Christian's claim as long as the Augustenborgs survived and Prussia offered itself as the international champion of German nationalism. In 1864, this conflict resulted in the Second Schleswig War.
By 1853, Denmark had become a constitutional monarchy and Parliament amended the Danish law of succession proclaiming Christian Hereditary Prince of Denmark, thus cementing that he would succeed when King Frederick VII died (unless the uncle of King Frederick, Prince Ferdinand, would outlive his nephew). Although Frederick disapproved of this choice he signed it into law on 3 July 1853.
Louise disapproved of Frederick VII's non-dynastic marriage to Louise Rasmussen and in turn the King disapproved of Christian succeeding him. The two couples thus had a tense relationship and spent little time together.