The Schleswig-Holstein Question (; ) was a complex set of diplomatic and other issues arising in the 19th century from the relations of two duchies, Schleswig  and Holstein , to the Danish crown and to the German Confederation. The British statesman Lord Palmerston is reported to have said: “Only three people have ever really understood the Schleswig-Holstein business—the Prince Consort, who is dead—a German professor, who has gone mad—and I, who have forgotten all about it."