Margrethe II of Denmark

Margrethe II (Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid; born 16 April 1940) was the Queen regnant of Denmark from 1972 until her abdication in 2024.

 Life 
Princess Margrethe was born at Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen. Her parents were Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid. She was baptised on 14 May 1940 at the Naval Church in Copenhagen. As King Christian X of Denmark was also the King of Iceland at the time of her birth, the Princess was given an Icelandic name, Þórhildur (spelled with the Icelandic thorn character, simplified as "th").

She studied archaeology at Girton College, Cambridge, from 1960 to 1961. She was also at the London School of Economics in 1965.

Margrethe was not born to be monarch, even though she was the eldest child of the Crown Prince, later King. At the time of her birth, only males could ascend the throne of Denmark.

The act of succession was changed in 1953.

Her father King Frederik IX died in 1972, and Queen Margrethe II became the first female Danish Sovereign.Queen Margrete I ruled Denmark, Norway and later also Sweden between 1387 and 1412. She was a Danish princess, who married the King of Norway, and thus became Queen. She had a baby boy, and when her husbond died, the little boy was formally chosen to be king of both Norway and Denmark. Because the new king was still very young, his mother, Queen Margrete ruled in his name. The young king died when he was 17 years old, but his mother continued to rule both countries, and from 1397 Sweden was added, and she became the ruler of all of Scandinavia. She was however never a Sovereign.

In 2018, her husband Prince Henrik died of pneumonia in February and her first cousin Princess Elisabeth died in June.

On 31 December 2023, during her annual New Year's Eve address, Margrethe announced that she will abdicate the throne in favour of her son, Crown Prince Frederik, on 14 January 2024, exactly 52 years after she ascended the throne to Frederik X.

 Titles and styles 

 16 April 1940 – 14 January 1972: Her Royal Highness Princess Margrethe of Denmark
 14 January 1972 – 14 January 2024: Her Majesty The Queen of Denmark
 14 January 2024 –: Her Majesty Queen Margrethe

Notes

Other websites

 The Queen's Homepage 
 The Official Website of The Danish Monarchy 
 Illustrations - Lord of the Rings 

Category:1940 births
Category:Living people
Category:Kings and Queens of Denmark
Category:Recipients of the Order of the Legion of Honour
Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Legion of Honour
Category:Recipients of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands
Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands
Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Category:Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Category:People from Copenhagen
Category:Current national leaders