Queen Margrethe celebrates her 45th anniversary of her accession on the Danish throne on 14 January 2017.

Her father King Frederik IX died on 14 January 1972 in Copenhagen, after suffering from influenza, followed by a heart attack.

The Danish monarchy is the oldest in the world as it can be traced back more than 1,000 years. Queen Margrethe’s ancestors include Gorm the Old, Harald Bluetooth and Cnut the Great.

Margrethe II is Denmark’s second-longest reigning monarch, following her ancestor Christian IV who reigned for 59 years from 1588 to 1648, and the first female monarch since Margaret I who ruled over Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and its overseas dependencies including Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Northern Isles from 1375–1412, as part of the Kalmar Union.

God’s help, the love of the People, Denmark’s strength.

King Frederik’s younger brother, Prince Knud, had been the heir-apparent until the Act of Succession had been amended in 1953 to allow his eldest daughter to become Queen.

Queen Margrethe is head of the Church of Denmark and Commander-in-Chief of the Danish Defence Forces.

Like Elizabeth II of Great Britain, Margrethe has no plans to abdicate and takes no part in politics and does not express any political opinions.

Queen Margrethe speaks her mother-tongue Danish, as well as English, French, Swedish, and German.

The Queen’s Motto: “God’s help, the love of the People, Denmark’s strength.”

A Brief Biography

King Frederik XI and Queen Ingrid of Sweden welcomed their eldest daughter Princess Margrethe Alexandrine Þorhildur Ingrid on 16 April 1940 at Amalienborg Palace during World War II. Her sister Benedikte was born in 1644 and Anne-Marie followed in 1646.

Margrethe was educated at Amalienborg Palace, before attending N Zahle’s School in Copenhagen during both her primary and high school years, finishing in 1959. She also spent a year at an English girls’ boarding school, North Foreland Lodge, from 1955-1956.

She studied philosophy at Copenhagen University, before continuing her tertiary education by studying archaeology at Girton College, Cambridge University from 1960-1961, graduating with a Diploma in Prehistoric Archaeology, political science at Aarhus University from 1961-1962, the Sorbonne in Paris in 1963, followed by studies at the London School of Economics in 1965.

On 16 April 1958, as the Heir Apparent, Princess Margrethe, was given a seat on the State Council, and she subsequently chaired the meetings of the State Council during her father’s absence.

She married a French diplomat Henri Marie Jean André, Count of Laborde de Monpezat on 10 June 1967 at Holmens Kirke, and the wedding reception was held at Fredensborg Palace. Her husband was given the title of His Royal Highness Prince Henrik of Denmark or the Prince Consort from 2005 to 2016.

They have two sons: Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim and are now the proud grandparents of eight, including Prince Christian who is second in line to the throne.

Queen Margrethe has also been involved in costume design for the Royal Danish Ballet, illustrated books under a pseudonym including the Danish edition of The Lord of the Rings and worked with journalist Thomas Larsen on a history book called, De Dybest Rødder or The Deepest Roots from pre-historic to modern times.

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