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| image = Christian X of Denmark circa 1915.jpg
| alt = Portrait photograph of Christian X
| caption = Christian X in {{circa|1915}}
| succession = [[King of Denmark]]
| moretext = ([[Style of the Danish sovereign|more...]])
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==Early life==
===Birth===
[[File:Louise of Sweden, Crown Princess of Denmark with her eldest child.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Crown Princess Louise with her eldest child, early 1870s]]
Christian was born on 26 September 1870 at his parents' country residence, the [[Charlottenlund Palace]], located on the shores of the [[Øresund Strait]] 10 kilometers north of [[Copenhagen]] on the island of [[Zealand]] in Denmark, during the reign of his paternal grandfather, [[Christian IX of Denmark|King Christian IX]].{{sfn|Thorsøe|1889|p=529}} He was the first child of [[Frederick VIII of Denmark|Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark]] and his wife [[Louise of Sweden]].<ref name="Burke's Royal Families">{{cite book|editor1-last=Montgomery-Massingberd|editor1-first=Hugh|editor1-link=Hugh Massingberd|title=Burke's Royal Families of the World|volume=1|location=London, UK|publisher=[[Burke's Peerage]] Ltd|year=1977|page=71}}</ref> His father was the eldest son of [[Christian IX of Denmark|King Christian IX of Denmark]] and [[Louise of Hesse-Kassel]], and his mother was the only daughter of [[Charles XV of Sweden|King Charles XV of Sweden and Norway]] and [[Louise of the Netherlands]]. The Danish author [[Hans Christian Andersen]] wrote the next day in his diary: "The night before 12 a Prince was born by the Crown Princess, the whole city flagged today in the beautiful weather."<ref name=hca>{{cite web|url=http://base.kb.dk/hca_pub/cv/main/Page.xsql?nnoc=hca_pub&p_VolNo=8&p_PageNo=416&p_mode=facsimile|title=H.C. Andersens dagbøger|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060930004640/http://base.kb.dk/hca_pub/cv/main/Page.xsql?nnoc=hca_pub&p_VolNo=8&p_PageNo=416&p_mode=facsimile|date=30 September 2006|publisher=The [[Royal Library, Denmark]]|archive-date=30 September 2006|language=da}}</ref> He was baptised with the names ''Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm'' in the [[Christiansborg Palace Chapel|chapel]] of [[Christiansborg Palace]] on 31 October 1870 by the [[Diocese of Zealand|Bishop of Zealand]], [[Hans Lassen Martensen]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Allerh. approb. Program for høitidelige Daabshandling i Christiansborg Slotskirke d. 31. Oct 1870.|location=Copenhagen|date=1870|language=da}}</ref> The [[royal christening gown (Denmark)|royal christening gown]], which has been used for the baptism of almost all royal children in Denmark ever since, was used for the first time at his christening. This gown is made of [[Brussels lace]], and was bought by [[Louise of Sweden|Crown Princess Louise]] in [[Belgium]] for her eldest son's christening.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kongehuset.dk/en/royal-collections/baptismal-font-basin-and-gowns/|title=Baptismal font, basins and gowns|author=<!--Not stated-->|publisher=[[Monarchy of Denmark]]|website=kongehuset.dk|accessdate=26 February 2024}}</ref>
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[[File:Meeting of Scandinavian kings 2.jpeg|thumb|Christian X of Denmark, [[Gustav V of Sweden]] and [[Haakon VII of Norway]] at the meeting of the three Scandinavian kings in [[Malmö]] in December 1914.]]
At the start of the [[First World War]] in 1914, King Christian and the [[Government of Denmark|Danish government]] advocated that Denmark pursue a [[Neutral country|policy of neutrality]]. The King supported the policy of neutrality by participating in the so-called meeting of the Three Kings held on 18 December 1914 in [[Malmö]] in [[Sweden]]. There, the three Scandinavian monarchs King Christian X of Denmark, King Haakon VII of Norway (Christian's brother) and King [[Gustav V of Sweden]] (Christian's mother's cousin) met along with their foreign ministers to discuss and emphasize the neutrality of the Nordic countries, and in a joint declaration, confirmed the three states' strict neutrality during the war.<ref>{{cite web|first=Sara|last=Griberg|title=Trekongemødet i Malmø|url=http://altomhistorie.dk/artikler/trekongemoedet-i-malmoe|website=altomhistorie.dk|date=12 November 2014|access-date=2 April 2017|language=da}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Jacob|last=Wiberg|url=http://www.popularhistoria.se/artiklar/trekungamotet-i-malmo-1914/|title=Trekungamötet i Malmö 1914|journal=Populär Historia|issue=12|year=2008|language=sv}}</ref> The meeting in 1914 was followed by another three-kings meeting in Kristiania in November 1917.
Denmark in fact managed to maintain its neutrality during the war. However, the Danish government bowed to pressure from [[German Empire|Germany]], and had [[naval mine]]s laid in Danish waters with tacit [[British Empire|British]] acceptance, despite the fact that Denmark was obliged under [[international law]] to [[Freedom of navigation|keep its territorial waters open]].<ref name="byhistorie">{{cite web|last1=Baltzersen|first1=Jan|title=Denmark and Southern Jutland during the First World War|url=http://ddb.byhistorie.dk/monumenter/artikel.aspx?xid=denmark_and_southern_jutland|website=ddb.byhistorie.dk|accessdate=4 November 2020}}</ref>
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===Death===
==Legends==
On 22 November 1942, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' published a photograph of Christian X
King Christian used to ride daily through the streets of Copenhagen unaccompanied while the people stood and waved to him. One apocryphal story relates that one day, a German soldier remarked to a young boy that he found it odd that the King would ride with no bodyguard. The boy reportedly replied, "All of Denmark is his bodyguard." This story was recounted in [[Nathaniel Benchley]]'s bestselling book ''Bright Candles'' as well as in [[Lois Lowry]]'s book ''[[Number the Stars]]''. The contemporary patriotic song ''"Der rider en Konge"''<!--contemporary Danish spelling--> (''There Rides a King'') centers on the King's rides. In this song, the narrator replies to a foreigner's inquiry about the King's lack of a guard that "he is our freest man" and that the King is not shielded by physical force but that "hearts guard the king of Denmark."<ref>"Der rider en Konge". Lyrics by Hans Hartvig Seedorff Pedersen. Published e.g. in Emilius Bangert et al., "Dansk Alsang-Bog", Copenhagen: Egmont H. Peterens Forlag, 1941.</ref>
Another popular, but apocryphal, legend carried by the American press<ref>{{cite news|last=Creel|first=George|date=21 April 1945|title=The Heroes V.|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page12480596|access-date=8 April 2024|newspaper=[[The Australasian]]|publisher=[[National Library of Australia]]|location=Melbourne, Victoria|page=12|language=en}}</ref> concerned the supposed flying of the German flag over the [[Hotel d'Angleterre]] (then being used as the German military headquarters in Copenhagen). The King, riding by and seeing the flag,
King Christian X became the hero of a number of myths about his defense of the Danish Jews. He became the subject of a persistent [[urban legend]] according to which, during [[Nazi]] occupation, Nazis forced the Jews to wear the [[Yellow badge|Star of David]] and the king donned the Star of David himself as a symbol of solidarity with them. However, in Denmark, unlike other Nazi-controlled territories, Jews were never forced to wear the Star of David. The legend likely stems from a 1942 British report that claimed he threatened to don the star if this was forced upon Danish Jews, and was popularised when it was included in [[Leon Uris]]'s best-selling novel, ''[[Exodus (Uris novel)|Exodus]]''.<ref>[http://www.b.dk/nationalt/islandsk-forsker-christian-x-red-aldrig-med-joede-armbind Islandsk forsker: Christian X red aldrig med jøde-armbind – Nationalt| www.b.dk<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
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