His reluctance to fully embrace democracy resulted in the Easter Crisis of 1920, in which he dismissed the democratically elected Social Liberal cabinet with which he disagreed, and installed one of his own choosing.

Faced with mass demonstrations, a general strike organized by the Social Democrats and the risk of the monarchy being overthrown he was forced to accept that a monarch could not keep a government in office against the will of parliament, as well as his reduced role as a symbolic head of state.

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.

"[3] He was baptised with the names Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm in the chapel of Christiansborg Palace on 31 October 1870 by the Bishop of Zealand, Hans Lassen Martensen.

This gown is made of Brussels lace, and was bought by Crown Princess Louise in Belgium for her eldest son's christening.

Under the supervision of their mother, the children of the Crown Princess received a rather strict Christian-dominated upbringing, which was characterized by severity, the fulfillment of duties, care and order.

In 1889 Prince Christian passed the examen artium (the university entrance examination in Denmark) in 1889 as the first member of the Danish royal family.

On 14 May 1912, King Frederick VIII died at the age of 68 after collapsing from shortness of breath while taking an evening walk in Hamburg, Germany.

At the start of the First World War in 1914, King Christian and the Danish government advocated that Denmark pursue a policy of neutrality.

[12]In April 1920, Christian instigated the Easter Crisis, perhaps the most decisive event in the evolution of the Danish monarchy in the twentieth century.

Danish claims to the region persisted to the end of World War I, at which time the defeat of the Germans made it possible to resolve the dispute.

Faced with the potential overthrow of the Danish Crown, Christian X stood down and dismissed his own government, installing a compromise cabinet until elections could be held later that year.

To date, this is the last time a reigning Danish monarch has attempted to take political action without the full support of parliament.

Following the crisis, Christian X bowed fully to his drastically reduced status, and spent the last quarter-century of his rule as a model constitutional monarch.

[13] With no prospect of being able to hold out for any length of time, and faced with the explicit threat of the Luftwaffe bombing the civilian population of Copenhagen, and with only one general in favour of continuing to fight, Christian X and the entire Danish government capitulated at about 6 am,[14] in exchange for retaining political independence in domestic matters,[15] beginning the occupation of Denmark, which lasted until 5 May 1945.

During the first two years of the German occupation, despite his age and the precarious situation, he took a daily ride on his horse, Jubilee, through Copenhagen, unaccompanied by a groom, let alone a guard.

A popular way for Danes to display patriotism and silent resistance to the German occupation was wearing a small square button with the Danish flag and the crowned insignia of the king.

Christian, who believed that Sveinn had given him assurances that Iceland would not make further moves toward independence while the occupation was ongoing, felt quite badly betrayed.

However, at the urging of his relative, the King of Sweden, Christian still accepted the outcome and sent a message of congratulations to Iceland during the celebration of the founding of the Republic on 17 June 1944.

A cloth armband of the type worn by members of the Danish resistance movement was placed on his coffin under a castrum doloris.

[19][20] On 22 November 1942, The Washington Post published a photograph of Christian X, facetiously calling him a victim of Hitler, and stated that the nation of this monarch did not oppose German occupation with arms.

[22][failed verification] 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 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.

In his personal diary, he wrote this entry: "When you look at the inhumane treatment of Jews, not only in Germany but occupied countries as well, you start worrying that such a demand might also be put on us, but we must clearly refuse such this due to their protection under the Danish constitution.

"[26] The myth may originate from a Swedish newspaper cartoon, in which the King is asked what to do if Nazi-supported prime minister Erik Scavenius makes the Jews wear yellow stars.