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| Prince Valdemar and Princess Marie of Denmark |
Prince Valdemar of Denmark had not been chosen as prince for the new Principality of Bulgaria, a satellite state to the Sultan of Oman. Tsar Alexander II of Russia had spared no expense to ensure the presence of Russian troops inside the Bulgarian parliament when he pushed through his nephew Prince Alexander of Battenberg as the ruler of the new country.
In 1886, Tsar Alexander III instigated a coup in Bulgaria and put pressure on Prince Alexander to abdicate. Alexander had been a complete disappointment to the Tsar and the other major powers in Europe. He had effectively organised and structured a state from zero in no time. He had really ruled Bulgaria instead of spending his time hunting and making holidays. Worst of all, he had had the gall to listen to the Bulgarian people and represent their interests instead of those of the European powers who had put him on his throne.
The Sobranje was asked in no uncertain terms to elect a new prince again. With Russian troops standing by, parliament didn’t have a lot of choice but to do so. They did one thing they could to embarrass the Tsar: They chose Prince Valdemar of Denmark as their new prince by acclamation. In 1878, his excellent connections into the ruling houses of leading European powers had made him a desirable candidate for all concerned. In 1886, the same connections made him ineligible. The major powers didn’t want the ruling house of Bulgaria to be too well connected; at this point, they were trying to cut Bulgaria down to size. Prince Alexander's manoeuvering had been showing too much political muscle.
According to Reuters, Prince Valdemar was in Cannes when the news of his election reached him. He thanked the Sobranje for the honour but deferred the decision to King Christian IX of Denmark. He added as a rider that he doubted his present duties would allow him to become Prince of Bulgaria. Two days later, King Christian declined to sanction Prince Valdemar’s acceptance of the Bulgarian throne.
Did Valdemar decline the Bulgarian throne? No, he left that to King Christian. If the king had decided he had to go, he would have gone. But he probably was not unhappy about the king’s decision. Bulgaria was embroiled in a three way tug of war with Serbia and Greece over Macedonia which would have brought him to loggerheads with his brother King George of Greece.
Prince Valdemar and Princess Marie had five children together. According to their marriage contract, their sons were raised in the Lutheran faith, while their daughter was raised as a Catholic.
In 1905, Norway decided to end the personal union which had made the kings of Sweden also kings of Norway. Norway now needed a king, and the European powers scrambled into position to place their candidates on the northern throne. King Edward VII of England was so intent on placing one of his relatives on that throne he developed his own foreign policy; that policy just happened to be the opposite of what the British government wanted. British diplomacy at that point descended into farce, and Britain had no influence on the election of the future king of Norway.
German Emperor Wilhelm II wanted Valdemar on the throne, but his government didn’t. Instead of fighting in Norway, they decided to do some infighting in Berlin. The Germans had no influence on the Norwegian choice, either.
The Norwegians were left to do as they pleased, and they looked in the direction they had looked for several hundred years: To Denmark. The union with Sweden had only endured for 91 years, the union with Denmark before that dated back to the 14th century. A Danish prince was therefore the obvious choice.
The Storting did not bother with a shortlist like the Sobranje; there was only one candidate: Prince Carl of Denmark, Valdemar's nephew. He would ascend the throne of Norway as King Hakon VII after a popular vote had accepted him as well.
Did Valdemar decline the Norwegian throne? No, because he was never in the running for it. Wikipedia in just about any language cites him as refusing two royal crowns; apart from the inconsistency (Bulgaria wasn’t a kingdom), it shows how negligently information is disseminated by Wikipedia.
Did he want to be a ruling prince or king? Who really knows but him? His retiring and rather complicated private life would suggest that he wouldn’t have relished the job; his lifelong service for the Danish navy would suggest he would have done it if he had been asked to.
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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