Editing Frederick VII of Denmark (section)

==Marriages==
The king's first two marriages both ended in scandal and divorce. He was first married in [[Copenhagen]] on 1 November 1828 to his second cousin [[Princess Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark]], a daughter of King [[Frederick VI of Denmark]].  They separated in 1834 and divorced in 1837. On 10 June 1841 he married for a second time to Duchess [[Caroline Charlotte Mariane of Mecklenburg-Strelitz]], whom he divorced in 1846.
On 7 August 1850 in [[Frederiksborg Palace]], he [[morganatic marriage|morganatically]] married [[Louise Rasmussen|Louise Christina Rasmussen]], whom he created [[Lensgreve (Danish title)|Lensgrevinde]] Danner in 1850, a [[Hatmaking|milliner]] and former [[ballet dancer]] who had for many years been his [[acquaintance]] or [[mistress (lover)|mistress]], the natural daughter of Gotthilf L. Køppen and of Juliane Caroline Rasmussen. This marriage seems to have been happy, although it aroused great moral indignation among the nobility and the [[bourgeoisie]]. Rasmussen was denounced as a vulgar [[:wikt:gold digger|gold digger]] by her enemies, but viewed as an unaffected daughter of the people by her admirers and seems to have had a stabilizing effect on him. She also worked at maintaining his popularity by letting him meet the people of the provinces.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

===Extramarital relations and possible offspring===
The expectation that Frederick would not likely produce offspring, despite numerous affairs, was widespread, but sources rarely state the reasons. Some speculate that Frederick was infertile. During the reign of Frederick's father, [[Christian VIII of Denmark|Christian VIII]], the succession question was already being brought forward. ''(See below: [[Frederick VII of Denmark#Succession crisis|Succession crisis]])''

[[File:Frederick VII and Countess Danner.jpg|thumb|left|Photograph of Frederick VII and his [[Morganatic marriage|morganatic spouse]] [[Louise Rasmussen]], {{circa|1860–61}}]]

It has been claimed that Frederick did indeed father a son, Frederik Carl Christian Poulsen, born on 21 November 1843, as a result of his relationship with Else Maria Guldborg Pedersen (also referred to as Marie Poulsen), which took place after his first two unhappy marriages. This was first asserted in 1994. In 2009, a Danish woman, Else Margrethe ('Gete') Bondo Oldenborg Maaløe claimed to be the great-granddaughter of Frederik VII through Frederik Carl. Maaloe possesses four letters from Frederick to Marie Poulsen acknowledging paternity; these are quoted in her book, published in 2009.<ref name="Gete">[http://politiken.dk/kultur/article802125.ece "''Margrethe kunne være din dronning''" ("Margrethe could be your Queen")], ''[[Politiken]]'', 2 October 2009 (in Danish)</ref><ref>Gete Bondo Oldenborg Maaløe: ''Getes Erindringer'', Ådalen, 2009, {{ISBN|978-87-91365-44-7}}</ref> In all cases, however, extramarital offspring were and still are barred from the [[succession to the Danish throne|line of succession]].

It has been claimed Frederick had a same-sex relationship with his friend, [[Carl Berling]] (1812–1871), [[printer (publisher)|publisher]] and owner of the newspaper [[Berlingske|''Berlingske Tidende'']]. The [[Bisexuality |bisexual]] Berling had an illegitimate child with Louise Rasmussen, [[Carl Christian Berling|Carl Christian]] (1841–1908). Carl Christian was much liked by the King, to the extent that he insisted on signing the new constitution on Carl Christian's 8th birthday on 5 June 1849. To retain a tinge of decency, the King married Louise Rasmussen and the trio then moved into the royal castle, where Berling was appointed [[Chamberlain (office)|Chamberlain]] and remained until 1861. The public indignation within higher circles over Frederick's morganatic marriage is well-known, but reasons have rarely been explained in detail.<ref>[http://www.dis-danmark.dk/forum/read.php?1,85053,85101#msg-85101 DIS-Forum :: AneEfterlysning :: Louise Rasmussen (Danner)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>P. Fr. Suhm: ''Hemmelige Efterretninger om de danske Konger efter souveraineteten'', Copenhagen 1918</ref>