Princess Thyra of Denmark

Princess Thyra of Denmark (Thyra Amalie Caroline Charlotte Anna; 29 September 1853 – 26 February 1933) was the youngest daughter and fifth child of Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. In 1878, she married Ernest Augustus, the exiled heir to the Kingdom of Hanover. As the Kingdom of Hanover had been annexed by Prussia in 1866, she spent most of her life in exile with her husband in Austria.

Thyra was the sister of King Frederik VIII of Denmark, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, King George I of Greece, Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia and Prince Valdemar of Denmark.

Birth and family
Thyra was born on 29 September 1853 at the Yellow Palace, an 18th-century town house at 18 Amaliegade, immediately adjacent to the Amalienborg Palace complex in Copenhagen. She was the third daughter and fifth child of Prince Christian and Princess Louise of Denmark. As a child, she shared a bedroom with her elder sisters, Alexandra and Dagmar, and was taught how to sew and knit her own clothes and socks. Her family had been relatively obscure but happy until her father, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was chosen with the consent of the great powers to succeed his childless distant cousin, Frederick VII, to the Danish throne. Just two months before Thyra's birth, the new Act of Succession had been passed and Prince Christian was given the title of Prince of Denmark.

Early life
In 1863, when Thyra was 10 years old, King Frederick VII died, and her father succeeded to the throne of Denmark as King Christian IX. Earlier the same year, her brother Vilhelm had been elected King of Greece, and her sister Alexandra had married Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. In 1866, her other sister Dagmar married the Tsarevich of Russia, Alexander. Princess Thyra was confirmed on 27 May 1870 by the Bishop of Zealand, Hans Lassen Martensen in the chapel of Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen.

In 1871, at 18 years of age, Thyra fell in love with Vilhelm Frimann Marcher, a lieutenant in the cavalry, which resulted in a pregnancy. To avoid scandal, Thyra fled to Greece to be with her brother, George I of Greece. When her father Christian IX learned that Thyra was "unwell", from the Greek media, he rushed to Greece to be with her. When Thyra gave birth in Athens, the baby was immediately given up for adoption to avoid scandal. The Danish press was told Thyra had been taken ill with jaundice.

Thyra was an attractive and gentle young woman, with dark hair and dark blue eyes, and Queen Louise wanted her youngest daughter to make a good marriage as her elder daughters had. Thyra's first suitor was King William III of the Netherlands, but as he was thirty-six years older than she was, she rejected him.

Marriage
During a family visit to Germany in 1878, Louise and Alexandra left, saying that they were going to attend an optician consultation. However, they were actually arranging a meeting between Thyra and Ernest Augustus of Hanover, Crown Prince of Hanover, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale. Ernest Augustus was the eldest child and only son of the exiled King George V of Hanover and his wife, Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg. Thyra wrote in her journal that she was "very excited" to meet the Crown Prince. Ernest Augustus had been born as a Crown Prince of Hanover, but in 1866 his father had been deprived of his throne, when the Kingdom of Hanover was annexed by Prussia after siding with Austria in the Austro-Prussian War. Ernest Augustus had Schloss Cumberland in Gmunden, Austria, built in 1882 as exile seat. Despite this, Thyra wrote that she believed Ernest Augustus would one day ascend the Hanoverian throne.

Upon meeting, Thyra's hand was immediately kissed by Ernest Augustus, while Alexandra peeked from around the corner. After some time, Thyra proposed to Ernest Augustus. While Thyra's family was excited, Queen Victoria stated that her engagement was "completely without foundation" after failing to marry off one of her own sons to Thyra. In December 1878, Thyra married Ernest Augustus at the Chapel Royal of Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen.

Later life
After the wedding, the couple took up residence in Gmunden, Upper Austria, where Thyra lived for the rest of her life at the large Schloss Cumberland. They also had a townhouse in Vienna. The couple had six children, three sons and three daughters.

Her husband died on 14 November 1923. Thyra survived him by nine years and died in Gmunden, Upper Austria, on 26 February 1933.

Issue
The Duke and Duchess of Cumberland and Teviotdale had six children: