King Christian 7. Jens Juel Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen, Denmark

When she was 16, Caroline Mathilde gave birth to their only child, who later became Frederik 6. Christian 7. had just turned 17, when he succeeded Frederik 5. on the Danish-Norwegian throne. Very early on, it became clear that the young king was not completely normal. He suffered from schizophrenia. This serious mental illness made him more and more mentally deranged, and as the years passed, he no longer was able to carry out his role as king.

A short time after he ascended to the throne, the 17-year-old king indulged in nightly escapades with a 21-year-old prostitute named Støvlet-Catherine« (Bootie-Catherine). These two and their entourage were fond of ravaging the city's brothels, beating the girls and destroying the furniture. They took great pleasure in breaking windows, beating up people they met, fighting each other and flogging the poor night watchmen, whose job it was to maintain peace and quiet at night. On occasion the king was beaten so badly that we was completely useless the next day. Finally, it was too much for the night watchmen. They complained to the Royal Court, and in the end the story was that Støvlet-Cathrine was banished from the city.

In 1768 Christian 7. embarked on a long journey abroad and during a stay in Slesvig, he took on the 31-year-old Johann Friederich Struensee as a traveling doctor. Struensee apparently had a good influence on the king and after their return he was employed by the Royal Court. Struensee's quick career at Court went via Caroline Mathilde's bed. He became the 19-year-old queen's lover and through his relationship with her, and his great influence on the king, he secured a powerful position for himself.

Struensee had his old friend Enevold Brandt installed as the king's advisor for entertainment matters, and after awhile he managed to isolate the king from the officials and the Court. During the fall of 1770, Struensee appointed JHE Bernsdorff as Foreign Minister. In December Struensee persuaded Christian 7. to dissolve the Privy Council, set up a cabinet government and give him the role of the king's only minister.

In the summer of 1771 Struensee seized dictatorial powers and appointed himself Minister of State. The appointment meant that he could issue Cabinet orders by his own hand, and since the king's mental illness worsened, Streunsee's power was in reality unlimited.

Johann Friedrich Struensee Chr. August Lorentzen · 1771 Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerød, Denmark

But the many hastily introduced reforms met with resistance. The times were apparently not ready to accept changes and reforms this extensive and earned Struensee many enemies. At a palace coup in the middle of January 1772, Struensee and his friend Enevold Brandt were arrested during the night following a masked ball in the Royal Theater. Dowager Queen Juliane Marie (Frederik 5.s second wife) and her son, Crown Prince Frederik were the leaders of the coup.

The primary charges against Struensee were misuse of power and his relationship with the Queen. Brandt was accused of beating the king on several occasions, among other things. Both were judged guilty of lese-majesty (violating the dignity of the king), and Christian 7. signed their death sentence.

Thousands of Copenhageners flocked to Øster Fælled on April 28 to witness the macabre event when the sentence was to be carried out. Both Struensee and Brandt first had their right hands cut off and a short time later, the executioner held their severed heads up for the crowd. Then the bodies were cut into parts and put on wheels, and the heads and hands were put on stakes.

Queen Caroline Mathilde confessed to her relationship with Struensee, the marriage with the king was annulled, and the queen was deported to Celle in Hannover. She never saw her children again – neither the Crown Prince Frederik or her daughter, Louisa Augusta, whose father was Struensee. Caroline Mathilde died during an epidemic of scarlet fever in 1775. The King's comment about her death in this way: That was too bad, she had good legs.

Dowager Queen Juliane Marie and Crown Prince Frederik each secured a position for themselves in the newly established state council, but the greatest influence was given to one of the ringleaders of the coup, theologian and professor in rhetoric Ove Høegh-Guldberg. He was appointed Cabinet Secretary and eventually became the de-facto leader of the government. The government under Høegh-Guldberg brought an end to most of the reforms which Struensee had put into effect, and more or less stopped development. Høegh-Guldberg was himself a victim of a palace coup in 1784, when Crown Prince Frederik, who later became Frederik 6., took over the government. As a formality the increasingly more insane Christian 7. was still the absolute ruler, but his role was reduced to signing resolutions that the Privy Council had passed.

Christian 7. died of a stroke on March 13, 1808 and is buried in Roskilde Cathedral. He was succeeded by his son Frederik 6.