Margrethe II Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940 is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark’s monarch for over 50 years, she is the world’s only current queen regnant and the longest-serving current female head of state. She has worked as a scenographer, costume designer, and Tolkien illustrator.
Margrethe II Facts
- Born :16 April 1940 (age 83), Amalienborg, Copenhagen,
- Reign: 14 January 1972 – presentReign 14 January 1972 – present
- Predecessor : Frederick IX
- Heir apparent: Frederik
- Spouse :Henri de Laborde de Monpezat
- IssueDetail:Frederik, Crown Prince of DenmarkPrince Joachim
Margrethe II Early life
Margrethe was baptised on 14 May in the Holmen Church in Copenhagen. Her godparents were King Christian X of Denmark (her paternal grandfather); Prince Knud of Denmark (her paternal uncle); Prince Axel of Denmark (her paternal grandfather’s first cousin); the King Gustaf V of Sweden (her maternal great-grandfather); the then Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden (her maternal grandfather); Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (her maternal uncle); and Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (her maternal great-grandfather).[citation needed]
The infant was named Margrethe – the Danish variation of her late maternal grandmother Margaret, Crown Princess of Sweden’s name; Alexandrine after her paternal grandmother, Queen Alexandrine; and Ingrid after her mother. Since her paternal grandfather was also King of Iceland, she was given the Icelandic name Þórhildur.hen Margrethe was four years old, in 1944, her younger sister Benedikte was born. Princess Benedikte later married Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and lives some of the time in Germany. Her second sister, Princess Anne-Marie, was born in 1946. Anne-Marie later married King Constantine II of Greece and currently lives in Greece.[citation needed
Margrethe and her sisters grew up in apartments at Frederik VIII’s Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen and in Fredensborg Palace in North Zealand. She spent summer holidays with the royal family in her parents’ summer residence at Gråsten Palace in Southern Jutland. On 20 April 1947, King Christian X died and Margrethe’s father ascended the throne as King Frederik IX.[citation needed
To her family and close friends, Margrethe is known affectionately as “Daisy.”Heir presumptive
Princess Margrethe in August 1966At the time of her 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.
Margrethe II The process of changing the constitution started in 1947, not long after Margrethe’s father ascended the throne and it became clear that Queen Ingrid would have no more children. The popularity of Frederik and his daughters and the more prominent role of women in Danish life started the complicated process of altering the constitution. The law required that the proposal be passed by two successive Parliaments and then by a referendum, which occurred on 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.In 2009, the law of succession was modified into absolute primogeniture.
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.[8] In 1960, together with the princesses of Sweden and Norway, she travelled to the United States, which included a visit to Los Angeles, and to the Paramount Studios, where they met several celebrities, including Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and Elvis Presley.
Margrethe IIEducation
Margrethe was educated at the private school 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,[13] and later studied prehistoric archaeology at Girton College, Cambridge, during 1960–1961, political science at Aarhus University between 1961 and 1962, attended the Sorbonne in 1963, and was at the London School of Economics in 1965.[14] She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
Margrethe is fluent in Danish, French, English, Swedish and German, and has a limited knowledge of Faroese.
Margrethe II Reign
Margrethe II Shortly after King Frederik IX delivered his New Year’s Address to the Nation at the 1971/72 turn of the year, he fell ill, and died 14 days later on 14 January 1972. Margrethe succeeded to the throne at the age of 31, becoming the first female Danish sovereign under the new Act of Succession. She was proclaimed Queen from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace 15 January 1972 by Prime Minister Jens Otto Krag. Queen Margrethe II relinquished all the monarch’s former titles except the title to Denmark, hence her style “By the Grace of God, Queen of Denmark” (Danish: Margrethe den Anden, af Guds Nåde Danmarks Dronning). The Queen chose the motto: God’s help, the love of The People, Denmark’s strength.
In her first address to the people, Queen Margrethe II said:My beloved father, our King, is dead. The task that my father had carried for nearly 25 years is now resting on my shoulders. I pray to God to give me help and strength to carry the heavy heritage. May the trust that was given to my father also be granted to me.