Editing Christian VIII (section)

==Early years==
===Birth and family===
[[File:Juel, Jens - Prince Frederick of Denmark with his family.png|thumb|left|[[Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin|Hereditary Princess Sophia Frederica]] and [[Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark|Hereditary Prince Frederick]] with their three eldest children. Prince Christian stands next to his father. Portrait by [[Jens Juel (painter)|Jens Juel]], 1790.]]
Prince Christian Frederick of Denmark and Norway was born late in the morning on 18 September 1786 at [[Christiansborg Palace]], the principal residence of the [[Danish Monarchy]] on the island of [[Slotsholmen]] in central [[Copenhagen]].<ref name="kirkeboeger">{{ cite web | url=http://www.historie-online.dk/special/daab/kirkeboeger.htm | access-date=18 February 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924030558/http://www.historie-online.dk/special/daab/kirkeboeger.htm | archive-date=24 September 2015 | title=Kongelige i kirkebøgerne | trans-title=Royals in the church records | publisher=Dansk Historisk Fællesråd | website=historie-online.dk | language=da }}</ref> He was officially the eldest son of [[Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway]] and Duchess [[Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]].{{sfn|Thorsøe|1889|p=515}} His father was a younger son of the deceased King [[Frederick V of Denmark]]-Norway and his second wife, Duchess [[Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel]], and his mother was a daughter of [[Duke Louis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]].

On 28 September 1786, the young prince was baptized with the names ''Christian Frederick'' in his mother's chamber at Christiansborg Palace by the royal confessor Christian Bastholm.<ref name="kongeligedaab">{{cite book|first1=Lone|last1=Hindø|first2=Else|last2=Boelskifte|chapter=Kammerfrøkenen bar den unge prins rundt|trans-chapter=The lady-in-waiting carried the young prince around|title=Kongelig Dåb. Fjorten generationer ved Rosenborg-døbefonten|trans-title=Royal Baptisms. Fourteen generations at the Rosenborg baptismal font|publisher=Forlaget Hovedland|year=2007|isbn=978-87-7070-014-6|language=da|pages=57–65}}</ref> His godparents were [[Christian VII of Denmark|King Christian VII]] (his uncle), the dowager queen [[Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel|Juliana Maria]] (his grandmother), [[Frederick VI of Denmark|Crown Prince Frederick]] (his cousin), [[Princess Louise Augusta of Denmark|Princess Louise Augusta]] (his cousin), and [[Frederick Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg|Hereditary Prince Frederick Christian of Augustenburg]].<ref name="kongeligedaab"/>

In the family, however, it was widely acknowledged that the biological father most likely was the Hereditary Prince's [[aide-de-camp]] and [[hofmarschall]] [[Frederick von Blücher]], who probably also fathered Christian Frederick's three younger siblings: [[Princess Juliane Sophie of Denmark|Princess Juliane Sophie]], [[Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark|Princess Louise Charlotte]] and [[Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Denmark|Prince Frederick Ferdinand]].<ref name="StoreDanske"/>{{sfn|Bramsen|1985|pp=29–31 & 36–37}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Huset Glücksborg. Europas Svigerfader og hans efterslægt |volume=1 |author=Bo Bramsen |year=2002 |page=200 |location=Copenhagen |language=da |isbn=87-553-3230-7 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Kvindelist og kongelast. Blide duer og stride fruer i danmarkshistorien|author=Rie Krarup|year=1985|location=Copenhagen|language=da|isbn=978-87-15-05057-2}}</ref> In a letter written by [[Frederick VI of Denmark|Crown Prince Frederick]] to his brother-in-law [[Frederick Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg|Duke Frederick Christian II of Augustenburg]] in 1805, he thus mentions the Hereditary Prince's goodwill towards his hofmarschall and continues: {{blockquote|... my uncle appreciates the creator of the four, very adorable princes and princesses too much to want to send him away.{{sfn|Dehn-Nielsen|1999|p=12}}}}

When Prince Christian Frederick was born, his father's half-brother, [[Christian VII of Denmark|Christian VII]], was the King of [[Denmark-Norway]], but due to the king's mental illness, he was not able to rule himself. From 1772, Hereditary Prince Frederick had ruled together with his mother, the Dowager Queen [[Juliane Marie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel|Juliane Marie]], and their adviser [[Ove Høegh-Guldberg]]. In 1784, however, the king's only son, the young Crown Prince Frederick (later King [[Frederick VI of Denmark|Frederick VI]]), had seized power in a [[palace revolution]] and was now the real ruler. In Prince Christian Frederick's childhood, his family had a strained relationship with the Crown Prince and his family as a result of these power struggles, but gradually the relationship between the two branches of the royal family was normalized.

===Childhood and education===
{{stack|[[File:Principe Cristian Federico de Oldenburgo, futuro rey Cristian VIII de Dinamarca.png|thumb|Prince Christian Frederick. Portrait by [[Jens Juel (painter)|Jens Juel]], 1802.]]}}
Prince Christian Frederick spent the first years of his life with his siblings in the vast and magnificent [[Baroque]] [[Christiansborg Palace]]. As the family's summer residence, Hereditary Prince Friedrich in 1789 bought the smaller and elegant [[country house]], [[Sorgenfri Palace]], on the banks of the small river [[Mølleåen]] in [[Kongens Lyngby]], north of Copenhagen. On 26 February 1794, the family lost their Copenhagen home, as Christiansborg Palace was devastated by a fire. Instead the Hereditary Prince bought the ''[[Levetzau's Palace]]'',{{efn|Today also known as ''[[Christian VIII's Palace]]''}} an 18th-century [[town house]] which forms part of the [[Amalienborg Palace]] complex in the district [[Frederiksstaden]] in central [[Copenhagen]]. In november of the same year, when he was eight years old, his mother, who had long suffered from a fragile health, died at Sorgenfri the age of just 36 years.

Christian Frederick was raised conservatively according to the guidelines of minister [[Ove Høegh-Guldberg]], who had been ousted from government in 1784 along with the hereditary prince. His upbringing was marked by a thorough and broad-spectrum education with exposure to artists and scientists who were linked to his father's court.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}} He inherited the talents of his highly gifted mother, and his love of science and art was instilled at an early age and would follow him throughout his life. His amiability and handsome features are said to have made him very popular in [[Copenhagen]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

He was [[Confirmation (Lutheran Church)|confirmed]] on 22 May 1803 in the chapel of [[Frederiksberg Palace]] together with his sisters Princess Juliane Sophie and Princess Louise Charlotte.{{sfn|Thorsøe|1889|p=516}} A year and a half later, on 7 December 1805, the children's father, Hereditary Prince Frederick, died at the age of 52, and the nineteen-year-old Prince Christian Frederik inherited his place as second-in-line in the succession as well as the two residences, Levetzau's Palace and Sorgenfri Palace. As King Christian VII died on 13 March 1808, Crown Prince Frederick became king of Denmark and Norway as Frederick VI. Since the new king still had no male descendants, Christian Frederick thus became [[heir presumptive]] to the throne.

===First marriage===
[[File:Charlotte of Mecklenburg by Breda.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of [[Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin|Charlotte Frederica]] by [[Carl Frederik von Breda]] {{circa}} 1806.]]
On a visit to his mother's relatives in [[Mecklenburg]], Prince Christian Frederick stayed at his uncle's court in Schwerin, where he fell in love with his cousin, Duchess [[Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]]. Charlotte Frederica was a daughter of the reigning Duke [[Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin|Friedrich Franz I of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]], and [[Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1756–1808)|Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg]]. They married two years later, on 21 June 1806, at [[Ludwigslust]].

The young couple first settled at [[Plön Castle]] in the [[Duchy of Holstein]]. It was here, that Charlotte Frederica gave birth to their first-born son, Prince Christian Frederick, who was born and died on 8 April 1807. From 1808 the couple lived in Copenhagen, where they took residence partly at Levetzau's Palace at Amalienborg, and partly at Sorgenfri Palace. On 6 October 1808, their second son and only surviving child was born, Prince Frederick Carl Christian, the future King [[Frederick VII of Denmark]].

Nonetheless, their married life was unhappy. Charlotte Frederica was described as very beautiful in her youth, but her character was thought to be moody, capricious, frivolous and mythomaniac, qualities that were later said to recur in her son, Frederick VII. Her alleged affair with her singing teacher, Swiss-born singer and composer [[Édouard Du Puy]], led to her removal from the court. For this reason, her husband divorced her in 1810, sent her into internal exile in the town of [[Horsens]], and prohibited her from ever seeing her son again.<ref>{{cite web|url=   http://denstoredanske.dk/Danmarks_geografi_og_historie/Danmarks_historie/Danmark_1536-1849/Charlotte_Frederikke
|title=  Charlotte Frederikke|publisher =     Den Store Danske|access-date= 15 August 2016}}</ref>