Christian VII (1749-1808) was king of Denmark from 1766 to his death in 1808. He was married to Caroline Mathilde and the father of Frederik VI and Louise Augusta.

Christian VII was born in 1749 and at the age of merely 17 married his cousin, the English Caroline Mathilde.

The king’s mental illness meant that many of the government decisions were made by different royal advisors depending on who won the internal power struggle at the royal court. Here the queen dowager, Juliane Marie and her son, the hereditary Prince Frederik, as well as the statesman, Ove Høegh-Guldberg, were in the center.

In the period of 1770-1772, it was mostly his royal physician, Johan Friederich Struensee, who reigned.

In 1784, the king’s son, Frederik VI, pulled off a coup where he became hereditary Prince regent and unofficially started ruling the country. He was only 16 years old at the time. Christian VII was continuedly officially the Danish Royal Head of State, but it was Frederik VI who completed the agricultural reforms and the repeal of adscription.

Christian VII died in 1808 at the age of 59.