List of heirs to the Danish throne

House of Oldenburg, Elected Monarchy 1448-1660

Although the monarchy was elective during this time period, succession following Christian I of Denmark (with one exception of a forced abdication) followed Salic law.

Heir	Status	Relationship to Monarch	Became heir		Ceased to be heir		Next in succession relation to heir, dates	Monarch
			Date	Reason	Date	Reason
Succession unknown			1448	no children	1450	son born to king	none (1448-1471)	Christian I
Olaf	heir apparent	son	1450	born	1451	died
Knud	heir apparent	son	1451	brother died	1455	died
John	heir apparent	son	1455	brother died	21 May 1481	became king
							Frederick brother (1471-1481)
Frederick	heir presumptive	brother	21 May 1481	brother became king	1 Jul 1481	son born to king	none (1781)	John
Christian	heir apparent	son	1 Jul 1481	born	22 Jul 1513	became king	Frederick, Duke of Schleswig and Holstein uncle (1481-1497, 1511-1513)
							Francis brother (1497-1511)
Frederick, Duke of Schleswig and Holstein	heir presumptive	uncle	22 Jul 1513	nephew became king	21 Feb 1518	son born to king	Christian son (1513-1518)	Christian II
John	heir apparent	son	21 Feb 1518	born	20 Jan 1523	father forced to abdicate, in exile	Frederick, Duke of Schleswig and Holstein great-uncle (1518-1519, 1520-1523)
							Philip Ferdinand brother (1519-1520)
Christian	heir apparent	son	20 Jan 1523	father became king	4 Jul 1534	became king	John the Elder, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev brother (1523-1533)	Frederick I
Interregnum (10 Apr 1533 - 4 Jul 1534)
Frederick	heir apparent	son	1 Jul 1534	born	1 Jan 1559	became king	John the Elder, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev] uncle (1534-1540)	Christian III
							Magnus, Duke of Holstein brother (1540-1559)
Magnus, Duke of Holstein	heir presumptive	brother	1 Jan 1559	brother became king	12 Apr 1577	son born to king	John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg brother (1559-1577)	Frederick II
Christian	heir apparent	son	12 Apr 1577	born	4 Apr 1588	became king	Magnus, Duke of Holstein uncle (1577-1578)
							Ulrik brother (1578-1588)
Ulrik	heir presumptive	brother	4 Apr 1588	brother became king	10 Apr 1603	son born to king	John of Schleswig-Holstein brother (1588-1602)	Christian IV
							John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg uncle (1602-1603)
Christian	heir apparent	son	10 Apr 1603	born	2 Jun 1647	death	Ulrik uncle (1603-1609)
							Frederick brother (1609-1647)
Frederick	heir apparent	son	2 Jun 1647	eldest brother died	28 Feb 1648	became king	Christian son (1647-1648)
Christian	heir apparent	son	28 Feb 1648	father became king	9 Feb 1670	became king	Valdemar Christian of Schleswig-Holstein uncle (1648-1651, 1652-1653)	Frederick III
							Frederik brother (1651-1652)
							George brother (1653-1670)

House of Oldenburg, Absolute monarchy 1660-1863

Frederick III adopted a Semi-salic law of succession.

Heir	Status	Relationship to Monarch	Became heir		Ceased to be heir		Next in succession relation to heir, dates	Monarch
			Date	Reason	Date	Reason
George	heir presumptive	brother	9 Feb 1670	brother became king	11 Oct 1671	son born to king	Anna Sophie sister (1670-1671)	Christian V
Crown Prince Frederick	heir apparent	son	11 Oct 1671	born	25 Aug 1699	became king	George, Duke of Cumberland uncle (1671-1672, 1673-1675)
							Christian William brother (1672-1673)
							Christian brother (1675-1695)
							Charles, Count of Holstein brother (1695-1697, 1698-1699)
							Christian son (1697-1698)
Charles, Count of Holstein	heir presumptive	brother	25 Aug 1699	brother became king	10 Dec 1699	son born to king	William brother (1699-1699)	Frederick IV
Crown Prince Christian	heir apparent	son	10 Dec 1699	born	12 Oct 1730	became king	Charles, Count of Holstein uncle (1699-1701, 1702-1703, 1704-1723)
							Frederick brother (1701-1702)
							George brother (1703-1704)
							Frederick son (1723-1730)
Crown Prince Frederick	heir apparent	son	12 Oct 1730	father became king	6 Aug 1746	became king	Louise sister (1730-1735)	Christian VI
							Christian son (1745-1746)
Crown Prince Christian	heir apparent	son	6 Aug 1746	father became king	3 Jun 1747	died	Sophia Magdalena sister (1746-1747)	Frederick V
Sophia Magdalena	heir presumptive	daughter	3 Jun 1747	brother died	29 Jan 1749	son born to king	Princess Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark sister (1747-1749)
Crown Prince Christian	heir apparent	son	29 Jan 1749	born	14 Jan 1766	became king	Sophia Magdalena sister (1749-1753)
							Frederick brother (1753-1766)
Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark	heir presumptive	brother	14 Jan 1766	brother became king	28 Jan 1768	son born to king	Sophia Magdalena sister (1766-1768)	Christian VII
Crown Prince Frederick	heir apparent	son	28 Jan 1768	born	13 Mar 1808	became king	Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark uncle (1768-1805)
							Christian cousin (1805-1808)
Christian	heir presumptive	cousin	13 Mar 1808	cousin became king	3 Dec 1839	became king	Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Denmark brother (1808)	Frederick VI
							Frederick son (1808-1839)
Crown Prince Frederick	heir apparent	son	3 Dec 1839	father became king	20 Jan 1848	became king	Ferdinand uncle (1839-1848)	Christian VIII
Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Denmark	heir presumptive	uncle	20 Jan 1848	nephew became king	29 Jun 1863	died	disputed, eventually:	Frederick VII
							Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg 1st cousin, once removed (1852-1863 by legislation)
Christian	heir presumptive	2nd cousin	29 Jun 1863	heir died	15 Nov 1863	became king	Frederick son (1863)

House of Glücksburg

With both Frederick VII and his uncle, Ferdinand childless, legislation was passed in 1852 to give the Danish throne to Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a great-grandson of Frederick V. Semi-salic law continued to be used until 1953 when male-preference primogeniture was adopted. This lasted until 2009 when absolute primogeniture was put in place.

Heir	Status	Relationship to Monarch	Became heir		Ceased to be heir		Next in succession relation to heir, dates	Monarch
			Date	Reason	Date	Reason
Crown Prince Frederick	heir apparent	son	16 November 1863	father became king	29 January 1906	became king	Prince Valdemar brother (1863–1870)	Christian IX
							Prince Christian son (1870–1906)
Crown Prince Christian	heir apparent	son	29 January 1906	father became king	14 May 1912	became king	Prince Frederick son (1906–1912)	Frederick VIII
Crown Prince Frederick	heir apparent	son	14 May 1912	father became king	20 April 1947	became king	Prince Knud brother (1912–1947)	Christian X
Hereditary Prince Knud	heir presumptive	brother	20 April 1947	brother became king	27 March 1953	succession law changed	Prince Ingolf son (1947–1953)	Frederick IX
Princess Margrethe	heir presumptive	daughter	27 March 1953	succession law changed	14 January 1972	became queen	Princess Benedikte sister (1953–1968)
							Prince Frederik son (1968–1972)
Crown Prince Frederik	heir apparent	son	14 January 1972	mother became queen	current heir		Prince Joachim brother (1972–2005)	Margrethe II
							Prince Christian son (2005–present)