Happy Birthday to Count Ingolf of Rosenborg, who turns 85 today! The former Prince who would have become King had the constitution not changed for his cousin Queen Margrethe II, but remains a working Royal despite his loss of title and succession rights!
The elder son of Hereditary Prince Knud of Denmark and Hereditary Princess Caroline-Mathilde, Prince Ingolf of Denmark was born at Sorgenfri Palace just two months before his cousin, the future Queen Margrethe II, and was the Heir Presumptive to the Danish Throne, behind his uncle and father, until 1953, when the Constitution of Denmark was amended to allow cognatic primogeniture, which allowed for the succession of Queen Margrethe.
In 1968, Prince Ingolf married Inge Terney, losing his place in the line of succession and his royal title, becoming Count Ingolf of Rosenborg. After being widowed, Count Ingolf married Sussie Hjorhøy-Pedersen in 1998. There are no children from either marriage. Count Ingolf lived on the Egeland Estate near Egtved from 1956 to 2023, more recently moving to a smaller, more modern house.
Despite the strained family relations due to the succession change, Count Ingolf has remained close to Queen Margrethe and the main Danish Royal Family, carrying out official engagements around 200 days of the year, typically relating to agriculture and defence, mostly in Jutland, for which he receives an annual allowance of around 1.3 million kroner.
