His father Prince Knud was then the heir presumptive, due to succeed Christian's uncle King Frederik IX, who had three daughters but no sons.
Christian was thus relegated to sixth in the line of succession to the Danish throne, but more importantly, he then ranked behind Margrethe and others who were likely to have dynastic children of their own (as has, in fact, happened).
Christian was given the title count of Rosenborg and the style of Excellency, as was customary in the twentieth century for Danish princes who renounced or forfeited their dynastic rights.
[citation needed] Prior to his elder son's wedding in 1968, Prince Knud sought to convince his brother that Ingolf should be allowed to retain his royal title after his non-dynastic marriage, a privilege which might have been subsequently extended to Christian.
[4] But the king refused, on the grounds that other males of the dynasty, who had been demoted to counts of Rosenborg upon marriage, might try to re-claim their royal rank if Ingolf were allowed to do so despite his marrying a commoner as they had done.
[6] In a 1985 interview with Billed-Bladet, Count Christian had explained (translated from Danish): As protocol dictates, I had to ask my uncle, King Frederik IX, if he had any objections to my getting engaged...I knew I would have to renounce my title of prince and my right of succession if I married her.
A number of members of the Danish royal family, led by Queen Margrethe, attended Count Christian's funeral, held at Lyngby Church on 29 May 2013.