Birthday of Her Majesty, Margrethe II of Denmark

HER Majesty, Queen Margrethe II, is the reigning Queen of Denmark. She is also the supreme authority of the Church of Denmark and commander-in-chief of Danish Defence.

She was born Margrethe Alexandrine Thorhildur Ingrid to Crown Prince Frederick (future King Frederick IX of Denmark) and Princess Ingrid on April 16, 1940, barely a week after the Nazi Germany’s invasion of Denmark on April 9, 1940. Her birthplace is Amalienborg, Copenhagen, 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.

Every year, on Her Majesty’s birth anniversary thousands of Danes gather in front of the Queen’s home, proudly waving Danish flags to pay homage to her. The Queen and her family would step out on the balcony and receive a big “Hurra” from the jubilant Danish people. She usually makes an appearance either on her balcony at Amalienborg Palace, which is the winter residence of the royal family, or outside the royal family’s summer residence in Marselisborg Palace.

The young Margrethe attended school in Copenhagen and continued her studies at the universities of Copenhagen, Arthus in Jutland, Cambridge, the London School of Economics, and the Sorbonne. In 1953, following a change in the Danish constitution to permit female succession to the throne, Margrethe, being the king’s eldest daughter, assumed the title of “Throne Heiress.” When she turned 18, she regularly took part in meetings of the Council of State in preparation for her future regal duties.

She succeeded to the throne after her father succumbed to a sudden illness in 1972. She was proclaimed Queen by Prime Minister Jens Otto Krag on January 15, 1`972, and became the first female Danish sovereign under the new Act of Succession. Her proclamation took place at the balcony of the Christiansborg Palace. Queen Margrethe II relinquished all the monarch’s former titles except the title to Denmark.

We greet Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark on the occasion of her 78th birthday and wish her all the best and success in all her endeavors.