Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein

Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein (born 22 August 1949) has been the head of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (commonly known as the House of Glücksburg) and, by agnatic primogeniture, of the entire House of Oldenburg since 1980. He is the current titular Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Duke of Glücksburg, traditionally styled as His Highness. He is a male-line descendant of Christian III of Denmark, and is also descended cognatically from numerous more recent monarchs, including Queen Victoria, Emperor Alexander II of Russia and several more recent Danish kings.

The members of the house he heads include the reigning monarchs of Denmark and Norway, the deposed royal family of Greece, and the heir to the British throne.

The House of Oldenburg — in one of its cadet branches — is patrilineally the royal house of Denmark (since 1448) and Norway (1450–1818 and since 1905), has been the reigning dynasty of several other countries including Greece, Sweden and Russia, and also includes the heir to the throne of the United Kingdom. As such, Christoph is the agnatic head of the family that today includes Margrethe II of Denmark, Harald V of Norway, Constantine II of Greece and, patrilineally, Charles, Prince of Wales. His great-great-grandfather, Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was the older brother of Christian IX of Denmark, and through him Christoph is heir by masculine primogeniture to the Danish title Duke of Glücksburg conferred by the Danish crown in 1825. Christoph is also, cognatically, a descendant of Queen Victoria and Alexander II of Russia, and is in the line of succession to the British throne.

Christoph was born in Louisenlund Castle in Güby, Germany, the eldest son of Peter, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein (1922–1980) and his wife Princess Marie Alix of Schaumburg-Lippe (b. 1923). He has a diploma in Agricultural Engineering. Christoph served as a Reservist in the German Army for two years holding the rank of lieutenant.

He succeeded to the headship of the ducal house on 30 September 1980 following the death of his father. While possession of the united duchies of Schleswig and Holstein had been allocated by a series of wars and treaties since the First Schleswig War of 1848 and the London Protocol of 1852, the ducal title was borne by Christoph's father and paternal grandfather (as inherited from his great-grandfather, Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg in 1934). However Christoph is known also by the title which is shared by male cadets of the dynasty, "Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg".

Since 1980, Christophe chairs the board of the family foundation that owns the ancestral castle, Glücksburg Castle. He is a founding member of the GLC Glücksburg Consulting Group and serves as chairman of its advisory board. He resides in Grünholz near Schwansen where he has business interests in agriculture, forestry and real estate. He is the owner of the Grünholz and Bienebek estates and is one of the largest landowners of Schleswig-Holstein. His sister, Princess Ingeborg, chairs the board of a further family foundation, the Stiftung Louisenlund.

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  Glücksburg Castle

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  Grünholz Estate

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  Louisenlund Manor

Christoph married Princess Elisabeth of Lippe-Weissenfeld (b. 1957), daughter of Prince Alfred of Lippe-Weissenfeld and Baroness Irmgard Julinka Wagner von Wehrborn, at Glücksburg civilly on 23 September 1981 and religiously on 3 October. Christoph and Elisabeth have four children:

• Princess Sophie of Schleswig-Holstein (born 9 October 1983 in Eckernförde), married 2015 Anders Wahlquist (born 1968)
• Friedrich Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Schleswig-Holstein (born 19 July 1985 in Eckernförde)
• Prince Constantin of Schleswig-Holstein (born 14 July 1986 in Eckernförde)
• Prince Leopold of Schleswig-Holstein (born 5 September 1991 in Eckernförde)

Titles and styles

• 22 August 1949 – 10 February 1965: His Highness Prince Christoph of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
• 10 February 1965 – 30 September 1980: His Highness The Hereditary Prince of Schleswig-Holstein
• 30 September 1980 – present: His Highness The Prince of Schleswig-Holstein

Honours

• House of Oldenburg: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the House and Merit Order of Peter Frederick Louis