Caroline Mathilde is a two-act ballet to music by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Its original choreographer was Flemming Flindt in 1991.
It tells the story of the eighteenth-century English princess Caroline Mathilde (sister of George III), who in 1766 was sent to Denmark aged 15 to be married to the 17-year-old schizophrenic Danish king, Christian VII. The ballet portrays her unhappy marriage, the king's growing madness and her fatal love-affair with Struensee, the king's influential physician, which ultimately leads to their arrest, his execution and her exile at the age of 20, separated from her two young children.
As with Davies' earlier ballet, Salome , it was a commission by the Royal Danish Ballet. It was first performed on 14 March 1991 at the Royal Danish Theatre, Copenhagen. The orchestra was conducted by Markus Lehtinen.
Davies prepared two concert suites, each based on an act of the ballet.
Lensgreve Johann Friedrich Struensee was a German-Danish physician, philosopher and statesman. He became royal physician to the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark and a minister in the Danish government. He rose in power to a position of de facto regent of the country, and he tried to carry out widespread reforms. His affair with Queen Caroline Matilda caused a scandal, especially after the birth of a daughter, Princess Louise Augusta, and was the catalyst for the intrigues and power play that caused his downfall and dramatic death.
Christian VII was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. For his motto he chose: "Gloria ex amore patriae".
Frederick VI was King of Denmark from 13 March 1808 to 3 December 1839 and King of Norway from 13 March 1808 to 7 February 1814, making him the last king of Denmark–Norway. From 1784 until his accession, he served as regent during his father's mental illness and was referred to as the "Crown Prince Regent". For his motto he chose God and the just cause and since the time of his reign, succeeding Danish monarchs have also chosen mottos in the Danish language rather than the formerly customary Latin. As Frederick VI had no surviving sons to succeed him, he was succeeded on the throne of Denmark by his half-first cousin Christian, who was his father's half-brother's son.
Mathilde is Queen of the Belgians as the wife of King Philippe. She is the first native-born Belgian queen. She has founded and assisted charities to decrease poverty in the country.
Caroline Matilda of Great Britain was Queen of Denmark and Norway from 1766 to 1772 by marriage to King Christian VII.
Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark was a member of the Danish royal family, the younger son and child of King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine.
Princess Louisa Anne of Great Britain was a grandchild of King George II and sister of King George III.
Flemming Flindt was a Danish choreographer born in Copenhagen. He studied at the Royal Danish Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet schools, joined the Royal Danish Ballet and was promoted to soloist in 1955. He guested with the London Festival Ballet in 1955, the Ballet Rambert in 1960, the Royal Ballet 1963 and the Bolshoi Ballet in 1968, becoming an étoile at the Paris Opera Ballet in 1961.
Caroline Mathilde may refer to:
Thomas Lund is the head master of The Royal Danish School of Ballet in Copenhagen. Lund admitted to The Royal Danish School of Ballet in 1986 aged 11. He became apprentice in 1991, member of the corps de ballet of The Royal Danish Ballet in 1993, soloist in 1996 and was appointed principal dancer in 2000. In September 2012 Lund retired as a Principal Dancer to become the head master of The Royal Danish School of Ballet He held that position until June 2022.
Princess Helena Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg was the third eldest daughter of Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. She was a princess of Denmark through her marriage within the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg to Prince Harald of Denmark. Princess Helena was a Nazi sympathiser during World War II and was after the war exiled from Denmark, but eventually allowed to return, where she died.
Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark was a daughter of Prince Harald of Denmark and granddaughter of King Frederick VIII of Denmark. As the wife of Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark, she became Hereditary Princess of Denmark.
Sorgenfri Palace is a royal residence of the Danish monarch, located in Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, on the east side of Lyngby Kongevej, in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen. The surrounding neighbourhood is called Sorgenfri after it. Only the cellar and foundations survive of the first Sorgenfri House, which was built in 1705 to design by François Dieussart. The current house was built in 1756 by Lauritz de Thurah and later adapted and extended by Peter Meyn in the 1790s. Lauritz de Thurah has also designed buildings which flank the driveway closer to the road.
Louise Scheel von Plessen was a Danish lady-in-waiting and memoir writer. She wrote the memoirs of her time at the Danish court: Mémoires de la cour de Danemark.
Events from the year 1768 in Denmark.
A Royal Affair is a 2012 drama film directed by Nikolaj Arcel, starring Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander and Mikkel Følsgaard. The story is set in the 18th century, at the court of the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark, and focuses on the romance between his wife, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, and the royal physician Johann Friedrich Struensee.
Ingrid Vetlesen is a Norwegian soprano.
Morten Edvard Fallesen was a Danish army officer, politician and theatre manager. He fought in the First and Second Schleswig War and served as a member of both the upper and lower houses of the Danish Parliament. From 1876 until his death at the age of 77, he was the General Director of the Royal Danish Theatre. Fallesen was appointed Chamberlain to King Christian IX in 1872 and awarded the Order of the Dannebrog in 1876.
Anna Sofie von Bülow (1745-1787), was a Danish noble and courtier, known for her love life and unconventional life style, known in history as one of the Three Graces of the Danish royal court.