King's Law

The '''King's Law () or ''Lex Regia'' () (also called the Danish Royal Law of 1665''') was the absolutist constitution of Denmark and Norway from 1665 until 1849 and 1814, respectively. It established complete hereditary (agnatic-cognatic primogeniture) and absolute monarchy and formalized the king's absolute power, and is regarded the most sovereign form of all the European expressions of absolutism. Danish professor in legal history of the University of Copenhagen, Jens Chr. V. Johansen, asserts that with Europe's least circumscribed form of absolutism, Denmark "may be considered the most absolute of all the absolute European monarchies". It is the only formal constitution of any absolute monarchy, and has therefore been the subject of considerable historical and academic attention.

The King's Law comprises 40 articles and is divided into seven main chapters. Articles 1 to 7 determine the royal absolute power, and the following articles contain rules on the king's authority and guardianship, on the king's accession and anointing, on the indivisibility of the kingdoms, on princes and princesses, on the king's duty to maintain absolute monarchy, and on the succession.

In Denmark the King's Law was replaced in 1849 by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Denmark (June constitution), although two Articles of the King's Law are still applicable: firstly Article 21, requiring the king's permission for the departure and marriage of princes and princesses, and secondly Article 25, according to which princes and princesses of the blood can be criminally prosecuted only on the king's orders.

The King's Law was read aloud during the king's coronation and anointing, but not published until 1709. Two original copies are currently accessible to the public, one at the Danish National Archives, and one at Rosenborg Castle (both in Copenhagen). The copy at Rosenborg is King Frederik X's private property and is stored in the treasury vault along with the Danish Crown Regalia. Provided by Wikipedia