Margrethe II of Denmark

## Margrethe II

*Margrethe in 2018*

Queen of Denmark

## Media

Official Biography at Kongehuset

Wiki Gallery

**Margrethe II of Denmark** (*Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid;* born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 1972 until her abdication in 2024. Having reigned for 52 years, she was the second longest-reigning monarch in Danish history after her ancestor Christian IV.

Born into the House of Glücksburg, Margrethe was the eldest child of King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid of Denmark. In 1953, she became heir presumptive to her father when a constitutional amendment allowed women to inherit the throne.

In 1967, she married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, with whom she had two sons, Frederik X and Prince Joachim.

Margrethe succeeded her father upon his death on 14 January 1972, becoming the first female monarch of Denmark since Margaret I. During her reign, support for the monarchy in Denmark remained consistently high at around 82%, as did Margrethe's personal popularity.

Margrethe has also worked as a scenographer, a costume designer, and an illustrator of works by J. R. R. Tolkien.

## Danish Royal Family

* **The King**
The Queen
	+ The Crown Prince
	+ Princess Isabella
	+ Prince Vincent
	+ Princess Josephine

* **Queen Margrethe II**
	+ Prince Joachim
	Princess Marie
		- Count Nikolai
		- Count Felix
		- Count Henrik
		- Countess Athena

* Princess Benedikte
* Queen Anne-Marie

## Extended royal family

* The Crown Prince of Greece
The Crown Princess of Greece
	+ Princess Maria-Olympia
	+ Prince Constantine-Alexios
	+ Prince Achileas-Andreas
	+ Prince Odysseas-Kimon
	+ Prince Aristidis-Stavros

* Queen Anne-Marie
	+ Princess Alexia
	+ Prince Nikolaos
	Princess Tatiana
	+ Princess Theodora
	+ Prince Philippos
	Princess Nina

* Queen Sofía of Spain
* Princess Irene

* Prince Michael

### Birth

Margrethe was born on 16 April 1940 at Amalienborg in Copenhagen, Denmark, just one week after Nazi Germany's invasion of Denmark on 9 April. As the eldest child and daughter of then-Crown Prince Frederick and Crown Princess Ingrid, she was styled as *Princess of Denmark.*

Margrethe has two younger siblings: Princess Benedikte and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece.

### Christening

*See Christening of Princess Margrethe of Denmark*
Margrethe was baptized on 14 May 1940 at Holmen Church in Copenhagen. Her names were announced as *Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid.*

Her godparents were Christian X of Denmark, Prince Knud of Denmark, Prince Axel of Denmark, Gustaf V, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden (later King of Sweden), Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn.

### Childhood

Margrethe and her sisters grew up in the apartments at Frederick VIII's Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen and in Fredensborg Palace in North Zealand. She spent summer holidays with the royal family in her parent's summer residence at Gråsten Palace in Southern Jutland.

## Heir presumptive

At the time of Margrethe's birth, only males could ascend the throne of Denmark, owing to the changes in succession laws enacted in the 1850s when the Glücksburg branch was chosen to succeed. As Margrethe had no brothers, it was assumed that her uncle Prince Knud would one day assume the throne.

On 20 April 1947, Christian X died and Margrethe's father ascended the throne as Frederick IX. Not long after, as it became clear that Queen Ingrid would have no more children, the complicated process of altering the constitution began. The popularity of Frederick and his daughters and the more prominent role of women in Danish life helped to spur the process forward.

The law required that the proposal be passed by two successive Parliaments and then by a referendum, which occurred 27 March 1953. The new Act of Succession permitted female succession to the throne of Denmark, according to male-preference cognatic primogeniture, where a female can ascend to the throne only if she does not have a brother. Princess Margrethe therefore became heir presumptive.

On her eighteenth birthday, 16 April 1958, Margrethe was given a seat in the Council of State. She subsequently chaired the meetings of the Council in the absence of the King.

In 1960, together with the princesses of Sweden and Norway, she traveled to the United States, which included a visit to Los Angeles, and to the Paramount Studios, where they were met by several celebrities, including Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and Elvis Presley.

## Education

Margrethe was educated at the private N. Zahle's School in Copenhagen from which she graduated in 1959. She spent a year at North Foreland Lodge, a boarding school for girls in Hampshire, England, and later studied prehistoric archaeology at Girton College, Cambridge, during 1960–1961, political science at Aarhus University between 1961 and 1962, attended the University of Paris in 1963, and was at the London School of Economics in 1965. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Queen Margrethe is fluent in Danish, French, English, Swedish and German, and has a limited knowledge of Faroese.

## Personal Life

### Marriage

*See Wedding of Princess Margrethe of Denmark and Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat*
On 10 June 1967, Princess Margrethe married a French diplomat, Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, at the Church of Holmen in Copenhagen. Henri received the style and title of "His Royal Highness Prince Henrik of Denmark" because of his new position as the spouse of the heir presumptive to the Danish throne. The couple were married for over fifty years until Henrik's death on 13 February 2018.

### Issue

Margrethe gave birth to her first child 26 May 1968. By tradition, Danish kings were alternately named either Frederick or Christian. She chose to maintain this by assuming the position of a Christian, and thus named her eldest son Frederik. A second child, named Joachim, was born 7 June 1969.

## Titles, Styles, & Arms

* **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 - present:** *Her Majesty* Queen Margrethe II