(c.1019–1042), Danish king of Denmark 1028–42 and England 1040–42, son of King Canute and Emma, daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy. Hardecanute's absence in Denmark allowed Canute's illegitimate son Harold, who had been made Regent on Canute's death in 1035, to take the English throne in 1037. Hardecanute became king on Harold's death in 1040.