Princess Benedikte of Denmark celebrates her 76th birthday on Wednesday, 29 April 2020.
King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid’s second daughter, Benedikte Astrid Ingeborg Ingrid, was born in the Frederick VIII Palace at Amalienborg in 1944, during World War II.
The Nazi Occupation in Denmark prevented the traditional 21-gun salute to mark the royal birth taking place, as the Germans had dissolved both the Danish army and Navy.
The Danish resistance group Holger Danske performed a 21-gun salute of 21 bombs in Ørtedparken, in central Copenhagen, to honour the new princess.
Her baptism took place at the Holmen Church in Copenhagen, with her paternal grandparents Christian X and Queen Alexandrine, Gustav V of Sweden, and Elizabeth II of Great Britain among her godparents.
Princess Benedikte attended a private school, N Zahle’s Skolel, in Copenhagen, was a boarder at Benenden School (Princess Anne’s alma mater) in England before attending the Swiss finishing school at Brillamont Ecole in Lausanne.
She completed her education with a course in dressmaking and design at Margaretheskolen in 1965.
Princess Benedikte married Richard 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg in the Fredenborg Palace church on 3 February 1968.
They settled in Prince Richard’s birthplace, Schloss Berleburg after the wedding and produced three children, Prince Gustav, Princess Alexandra and Princess Nathalie, but none are in the line of succession as they were raised in Germany, not Denmark.
Prince Richard died suddenly on 13 March 2017 at Schloss Berleburg in Germany, aged 82.
Her older sister Margrethe became Queen of Denmark in 1972 and her younger sister Princess Anne-Marie married King Constantine II of Greece and Denmark in 1964.
At the moment, Princess Benedikte is currently 11th in the line of succession to the Danish throne, as a new Act of Succession came into effect in 1953, allowing female succession to the throne, so a daughter could succeed if she had no brothers.
Princess Benedikte often represents Queen Margrethe at official or semi-official events and is involved in the Scout and Guide organisation, both in Denmark and overseas.
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