As the senior line of the Royal House of Denmark was in danger of       
          extinction, Prince Christian of the junior branch of the Dukes of          
          Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg was selected as heir. In          
          November 1863, he succeeded as King Christian IX.                          
            He became one of the most popular kings of Denmark. This was             
          probably because his family life differed so much from that of his         
          predecessors, to the point that he had kept his children from the          
          Danish Court during the reign of the previous king.                        
             Christian IX and his wife, Queen Louise, became known as "the           
          Father-in-law and Mother-in-law of Europe". One daughter became            
          Empress of Russia, another Queen of England, one son (Wilhelm) King        
          Georgios I of Greece, while the eldest son, his successor, became King     
          Frederick VIII of Denmark. At the same time, Louise's deafness was         
          passed on to her daughter, Queen Alexandra of England, and to              
          Alexandra's son, the Duke of Clarence.                                     
             Annually, Christian and Louise held family gatherings at                
          Fredensborg attended by children, grandchildren and, much later,           
          great-grandchildren. On the other hand, Queen Louise's use of make-up      
          was frowned upon by Queen Victoria. Queen Louise was the first woman       
          to receive Denmark's Order of the Elephant, as homage to her at their      
          golden wedding anniversary.  
 

Source: Leo van de Pas