Margrethe II of Denmark

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For other people of the same name, see Margaret of Denmark (disambiguation).
Margrethe II
Margrethe in May 2010
Queen of Denmark
Reign 14 January 1972 – present
&1000000000000004000000040 years, &1000000000000006000000060 days
Predecessor Frederick IX
Heir apparent Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
Prime Ministers
Spouse Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark (1967–present)
Issue
Crown Prince Frederik
Prince Joachim
Full name
Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid
House House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg[1]
Father Frederick IX
Mother Ingrid of Sweden
Born 16 April 1940 (1940-04-16) (age 71)
Amalienborg Palace, Denmark
Religion Church of Denmark Lutheranism
Monarchical styles of
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
Royal Coat of Arms of Denmark.svg
Reference style Her Majesty
Spoken style Your Majesty
Alternative style Ma'am

Margrethe II (Danish pronunciation: [mɑˈɡ̊ʁæːˀd̥ə]; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid; sometimes anglicised as Margaret II) (born 16 April 1940) is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Denmark. She is the eldest daughter of King Frederick IX and Queen Ingrid of Denmark. In 1967, she married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, with whom she has two sons: Crown Prince Frederik (born 1968) and Prince Joachim (born 1969). When her father, Frederick IX, died in 1972, Margrethe succeeded him as Queen of Denmark and became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margaret I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375–1412 during the Kalmar Union.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Princess Margrethe was born on 16 April 1940 at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen as the first child of Crown Prince Frederick and Crown Princess Ingrid of Denmark. Her father was the eldest son of King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, and her mother was the only daughter of Crown Prince Gustav Adolf and Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden. Her birth took place just one week after Nazi Germany's invasion of Denmark on 9 April 1940.

She was baptised on 14 May 1940 in the Church of Holmen in Copenhagen. The princess's godparents were King Christian X of Denmark, Prince Knud of Denmark, Prince Axel of Denmark, King Gustaf V of Sweden, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn.

She was named Margrethe after her maternal grandmother, Princess Margaret of Connaught, Alexandrine after her paternal grandmother, Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Ingrid after her mother. Since her paternal grandfather, the then-reigning King Christian X, was also the King of Iceland at the time, and Margrethe until 1944 was an Icelandic princess, the Princess was as a tribute to the people of Iceland given an Icelandic name, Þórhildur, consisting of "Thor" and the word for "battle" or "fight". The name is spelled with the thorn letter, which is a surviving rune, and is equivalent to "th". It is sometimes anglicized as Thorhildur.[2]

When Margrethe was four years old, in 1944, her first sister Princess Benedikte was born. She later married Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and lives in Germany. Her third sister Princess Anne Marie was born in 1946. She later married Constantine II of Greece and now lives in London.

On 20 April 1947, King Christian X died and Margrethe's father ascended the throne as King Frederick IX.

[edit] Heiress presumptive

At 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 she had no brothers, it was assumed that her uncle Prince Knud would one day assume the throne.

The process of changing the constitution started in 1947, not long after her 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. That proposal had to be passed by two Parliaments in succession and then by a referendum, which was held on 27 March 1953. The new Act of Succession permitted female succession to the throne of Denmark, according to male-preference primogeniture, where a female can ascend to the throne only if she does not have a brother. Princess Margrethe therefore became the Heiress presumptive.

Princess Margrethe in 1962 with Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser in Abdeen Palace in Cairo.

On her eighteenth birthday, 16 April 1958, the Heiress Presumptive was given a seat in the Council of State, and the Princess subsequently chaired the meetings of the Council in the absence of the King.

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

[edit] Education

She studied prehistoric archaeology at Girton College, Cambridge during 1960–61, political science at Aarhus University between 1961–1962, at the Sorbonne in 1963, and at the London School of Economics in 1965, and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Queen Margrethe is fluent in her native tongue, Danish; the native tongue of her husband, French; as well as English, Swedish and German.[3]

[edit] Marriage

On 10 June 1967, Princess Margrethe married a French diplomat, Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, at the Church of Holmen in Copenhagen. Laborde de Monpezat received the style and title of "His Royal Highness Prince Henrik of Denmark" because of his new position as the spouse of the Heiress Presumptive to the Danish throne.

Margrethe gave birth to her first child, Prince Frederik, on 26 May 1968. A second child, Prince Joachim, was born on 7 June 1969.

[edit] Reign

Queen Margrethe II and her consort, Prince Henrik, in 2010.

[edit] Succession

Shortly after King Frederick IX had delivered his New Year's Address to the Nation at the 1971/72 turn of the year, he fell ill. At his death 14 days later on 14 January 1972, Margrethe succeeded to the throne as Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, becoming the first female Danish sovereign under the new Act of Succession. She was proclaimed Queen from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace by Prime Minister Jens Otto Krag on 15 January 1972. The Queen chose the motto: God's help, the love of The People, Denmark's strength.[3]

[edit] Ruby Jubilee

On 14 January 2012, Queen Margrethe II celebrated her 40th year on the throne. This was marked by a carriage procession, and numerous TV interviews.

[edit] Constitutional role

Danish Royal Family
Royal Coat of Arms of Denmark.svg

HM The Queen
HRH The Prince Consort

HRH Princess Benedikte
HM The Queen of the Hellenes

HH Princess Elisabeth

1Not yet named—Danish tradition requires that naming the baby first takes place at the christening, which could be up to 3 months following the birth.

Extended royal family

The Queen's main tasks are to represent the Kingdom abroad and to be a unifying figurehead at home. She receives foreign ambassadors and awards honours and medals. The queen performs the latter task by accepting invitations to open exhibitions, attending anniversaries, inaugurating bridges, etc.

As an unelected public official, the Queen takes no part in party politics and does not express any political opinions. Although she has the right to vote, she opts not to do so to avoid even the appearance of partisanship.

After an election where the incumbent Prime Minister does not have a majority behind him, a “Dronningerunde” (Queen's meeting) between the chairmen of each of the Danish political parties attends a meeting with the monarch.[4]

Each party has the choice of selecting a Royal Investigator to lead these negotiations or alternatively, give the incumbent Prime Minister the mandate to continue his government as is. In theory each party could choose its own leader as Royal Investigator, the globalistic party Det Radikale Venstre did so in 2006, but often only one Royal Investigator is chosen plus the Prime Minister, before each election. The leader who, at that meeting succeeds in securing a majority of the seats in the Folketing, is by royal decree charged with the task of forming a new government. (It has never happened in more modern history that any party has held a majority on its own.)

Once the government has been formed, it is formally appointed by the Queen. Officially, it is the Queen who is the head of government, and she therefore presides over the Council of State, where the acts of legislation which have been passed by the parliament are signed into law. In practice, however, nearly all of the Queen's formal powers are exercised by the Council of State, and she is required by convention to act on its advice.

In addition to her roles in her own country, the queen is also the Colonel-in-Chief of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires), an infantry regiment of the British Army, following a tradition in her family.

[edit] Personal life and interests

The official residences of the Queen and the Prince Consort are Amalienborg Palace and Fredensborg Palace in Copenhagen. Their summer residence is Gråsten Palace near Sønderborg, the former home of the Queen's mother, Queen Ingrid, who died in 2000.

The Queen is an accomplished painter, and has held many art shows over the years.[5] Her illustrations—under the pseudonym Ingahild Grathmer—were used for the Danish edition of The Lord of the Rings published in 1977 and the re-issue in 2002.[6] In 2000 she illustrated Henrik, the Prince Consort's poetry collection Cantabile.

She is also an accomplished translator and is said to have participated in the Danish translation of The Lord of the Rings.[5]

She is also a costume designer, having designed the costumes for the 2009 Peter Flinth film, "De vilde svaner" (the Wild Swans).[7] Margrethe also designs some of her own clothes.

She is known for her colourful and sometimes eccentric clothing choices: as well as designing some of her own clothes, Queen Margrethe wears designs by Pierre Balmain, Jorgen Bender, and Birgitte Taulow. [8]

Margrethe is a chain smoker, and she is famous for her tobacco habit.[9] However, on 23 November 2006 the Danish newspaper B.T. reported an announcement from the Royal Court stating that the Queen would never again be seen smoking in public. Still, she does continue to smoke but in the future she will do so only privately. The announcement may be due to the fact that the Danish parliament recently has decided on strict rules concerning smoking.[10]

She suffers from arthritis and has had both her knees replaced as a result.

A statement in a 2005 authorized biography about the Queen (entitled Margrethe) focused on her views of Islam: "We are being challenged by Islam these years. Globally as well as locally. There is something impressive about people for whom religion imbues their existence, from dusk to dawn, from cradle to grave. There are also Christians who feel this way. There is something endearing about people who give themselves up completely to their faith. But there is likewise something frightening about such a totality, which also is a feature of Islam. A counterbalance has to be found, and one has to, at times, run the risk of having unflattering labels placed on you. For there are some things for which one should display no tolerance. And when we are tolerant, we must know whether it is because of convenience or conviction."[11]

[edit] Family

Main article: Danish Royal Family
Her Majesty surrounded by her family waving to crowds on her 70th birthday in April 2010. From left to right: the Crown Princess, Prince Felix, the Crown Prince, Prince Christian, the Queen, Prince Nikolai, the Prince Consort, Prince Joachim and Princess Isabella

The Queen and The Prince Consort have two children and eight grandchildren:

In 2008 the Queen announced that her male-line descendants would bear the additional title of Count of Monpezat,[12] which they inherit from the Queen's husband and consort, Henri-Marie-Jean André Count de Laborde de Monpezat.[13]

[edit] Honours and decorations

She is the 1,188th Dame of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain and the 961st Knight/Lady of the Order of the Garter.

[edit] Danish decorations

Order of the Elephant
Grand Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog
One hundred anniversary Commemorative Medal of King Frederik IX's birth
One hundred anniversary Commemorative Medal of King Christian X's birth
Queen Ingrid's Commemorative Medal
Commemorative Medal for the 50-year anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Ingrid's arrival in Denmark
Home Guard fortjensttegn
Home Guard 25-year mark
Civil Defense League glory sign
Danish Reserve Officers Association Medal
Queen Margrethe II in Vágur, Faroe Islands, 21 June 2005
Queen Margrethe II and her husband Prince Henrik of Denmark welcome President George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush at Fredensborg Palace, July 5, 2005.

[edit] Foreign decorations

[edit] Symbols of Margrethe II

  • Royal Coat of Arms

  • Royal Standard

  • Royal Monogram of Margrethe II

  • Private Monogram of Margrethe II

  • Dual Monogram of Margrethe II and husband Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark

[edit] Ancestry

See also: Danish monarchs family tree and Danish royal family tree

[edit] Patrilineal descent

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Maclagan, M & Louda, J., Lines of Succession, London, Orbis Publishing, 1981 Tables 20 and 22
  2. ^ "Those Apprentice Kings and Queens Who May – One Day – Ascend a Throne," New York Times. 14 November 1971.
  3. ^ a b "The Danish Monarchy". http://kongehuset.dk/publish.php?dogtag=k_en_fam_oue. Retrieved 11 May 2010. 
  4. ^ Bysted A/S. "The Monarchy today – The Danish Monarchy". Kongehuset.dk. http://kongehuset.dk/english/the-monarchy-in-denmark/the-monarchy-today. Retrieved 2012-02-03. 
  5. ^ a b "Margrethe and Henrik Biography". Royalinsight.net. 1940-04-16. http://www.royalinsight.net/content/margrethe-henrik-biography/. Retrieved 2012-02-03. 
  6. ^ The Danish Monarchy Website – Queen's fact page[dead link]
  7. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1499643/
  8. ^ "The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor: Flashback Friday: Queen Margrethe's Style". Orderofsplendor.blogspot.com. 2012-01-13. http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.com/2012/01/flashback-friday-queen-margrethes-style.html. Retrieved 2012-02-03. 
  9. ^ "BBC News". BBC News. 2001-03-23. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1235946.stm. Retrieved 2012-02-03. 
  10. ^ bt.dk[dead link]
  11. ^ telegraph.co.uk
  12. ^ "House of Monpezat – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia". En.wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Laborde_de_Monpezat#Danish_titles. Retrieved 2012-02-03. 
  13. ^ "Monpezat til Frederik og Joachim". Berlingske Tidende. 30 April 2008. http://www.berlingske.dk/article/20080430/danmark/804300370/. Retrieved 2008-06-14. 

[edit] External links

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Margrethe II
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Born: 16 April 1940
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Frederick IX		 Queen of Denmark
1972–present		 Incumbent
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