Danish Monarch. Born a younger son of Duke Wilhelm of Schleswig-Holstein-Sønderborg-Glücksborg and Princess Louise Caroline of Hessen-Kassel at Gottorp, Schleswig, a maternal line great-grandson of Frederik V of Denmark, as Frederik VII of Denmark had no heir, the great powers of Europe formulated the Treaty of London in 1852 which put the succession of the Danish throne in the hands of House of Glücksborg, a junior branch of the Royal House of Oldenburg. The new heir presumptive, Christian, had grown up in Denmark and was educated in the Military Academy of Copenhagen. Additionally, he was married to Louise of Hesse-Kassel, a niece of Christian VIII. He succeeded Frederik VII in November, 1863 when he refused to sign a new constitution for the joint affairs of Denmark and Schleswig, recently adopted, throwing his infant reign into crisis. The new king was eventually hounded into signing November Constitution. The result of his political capitulation was a war between Denmark and a Prussian-Austrian alliance in 1864, and it led to the loss of Schleswig and Holstein to Prussia in 1865. The king weathered numerous constitutional battles due to his continual support of the Højre (conservative) party, and resistance to full parliamentary government, but eventually bowed to the demand for Parliamentarism and appointed a government headed by the Venstre (liberal) party in 1901. The popularity of the monarchs increased greatly after that time. The couple produced six children; Frederik who would succeed to the Danish throne, Alexandra who became the Queen consort of Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Vilhelm who became George I of Greece, Dagmar who became the consort of Alexander III of Russia, Thyra who became consort of Ernst August of Hanover, Third Duke of Cumberland, and Valdemar who declined the offer of the throne of Bulgaria as well as that of Norway. The dynastic pairings of his progeny gave Christian the nickname ‘father-in-law of Europe.' Most of Europe's reigning royal families today are descendants of Christian IX.