Caroline Matilda travelled by boat to Rotterdam, and then across the Netherlands and northern Germany. Following a ceremonial crossing of the Elbe, she was received at the Danish court in Altona. The second, proper wedding ceremony was held in Copenhagen on 8 November, and in May 1767 the festivities culminated in the coronation of the royal couple.
Caroline Matilda was now able to see for herself that the rumours which had reached her ears in England were only too true: Christian VII was mentally impaired, unpredictable and neither personally nor politically capable of fulfilling his role as head of state. Many people at court used the king’s weakness to their own advantage. In this fraught political atmosphere full of different forces working against each other, and without her own trusted allies, Caroline Matilda was unable to find her feet as queen and was soon isolated at court.
Christian, for his part, showed little interest in his wife. The arrival of the eagerly awaited crown prince in January 1768 was the result of pressure from the royal family on both spouses.