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| Prince Valdemar of Denmark |
Prince Valdemar was born in 1858 as the youngest son of King Christian IX of Denmark. At the time of Valdemar’s birth, though, Christian was still only a younger son of the Ducal House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. His mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel, niece of King Christian VIII of Denmark through her mother Princess Charlotte of Denmark.
Prince Valdemar stood in no immediate danger of being called upon taking over the Danish crown or any other either. He had two older brothers, Frederick (later King Frederick VIII of Denmark), and William. At the age of 17, William was elected by the Greek Vouli (parliament) in Athens as King of all Hellenes. He accepted with the blessing from King Frederick VII of Denmark (Christian IX's predecessor) and ascended the Greek throne as George I.
Valdemar’s three older sisters made exceptionally good marriages; Alexandra married Prince Bertie (the later King Edward VII of the United Kingdom), Dagmar married Prince Alexander Alexandrovitch (the later Tsar Alexander III of Russia) and changed her name to Maria Feodorovna, and Thyra married Ernst August, Duke of Cumberland Teviotdale, titular King of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg. Valdemar took on the usual career of younger Danish princes and went into the navy.
In 1878, the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire ended with Russia dictating the terms. The price for peace for the Sultan was the building of a Principality of Bulgaria covering almost 172’000 square kilometres of formerly Ottoman territory. It was obvious that the principality would be nothing but a Russian satellite. But Tsar Alexander II had presumed too much.
The other major European powers were extremely unhappy about the new country. The proposed size of Bulgaria would make it virtually the doormat of Constantinople; one step more would bring Russia into possession of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. The British navy drew up in Ottoman waters, and their guns were not aimed at the Ottomans, but on the Russian army occupying Ottoman territory.
The Tsar backed down; a new agreement was reached and a pint sized principality was established which nominally still belonged to the Ottoman Empire. But any principality, no matter how small or unimportant needs a prince. There was a job opportunity for younger sons from ruling families, and the nominations from all over Europe started to pour into the Sobranje (parliament) of Bulgaria. The Sobranje had to convene a special commission to whittle down the deluge of hopefuls to manageable size.
In the end, the commission proposed three candidates to the Sobranje: Prince Valdemar of Denmark, Prince Henry of Reuss, and Prince Alexander of Battenberg. The European powers initially insisted on a choice with no Russian connection (which would have pointed to the Prince of Reuss), but the Sobranje decided to elect Prince Alexander of Battenberg.
The Battenberg choice had many advantages for Bulgaria; Alexander was a nephew of the Tsar, but related to many of the other European ruling houses, too. He had the added advantage of coming from a younger branch of the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha which was also morganatic and therefore out of the line of succession to any other principality or kingdom. This would ensure that he wouldn’t be called back in an emergency to take up a more important job when needed.
In 1885, Valdemar married Princess Marie of Orleans. The Vatican issued a special dispensation for the marriage between the Catholic Princess from France and the Lutheran Prince. French sources insist it was a political marriage, but if so, the politics were only on the French side; for Denmark, there was no gain in an alliance with the deposed Royal House of France. And Valdemar was still free for the next throne needing an occupant.
Further reading
Evacuation From Yalta 1919
The Elect Circle of Elected Monarchs on Europe's Thrones
How Many Monarchies Exist in Europe?
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