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Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II (Margrethe Alexandrine Þorhildur Ingrid), styled HM The Queen (born
April 16, 1940), is the Queen regnant and head of state of Denmark.
She was born at Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen, to Frederik IX and Princess Ingrid of
Sweden. Queen Margrethe II's official motto is "God's help, the love of the people, Denmark's strength".
Princess Margrethe (pronounced Margretta) was baptised on 14 May 1940 at The Naval Church and confirmed on 1 April
1955 at Fredensborg Palace. As the Danish king was also sovereign of Iceland at the time, as a courtesy the princess was given an Icelandic middle name, Þorhildur (spelt with the Icelandic
thorn character, transliterated "th").
Margrethe was not born to be Queen, even though she was the child of a Monarch. At the time of her birth in Denmark, only
males could ascend to the throne. Since Margrethe had no brothers it was assumed that one of her uncles would one day assume the
throne. However, in 1952 Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom and this caused questioning into why a woman could not become Queen of Denmark. As a result,
a referendum was held and on March 27, 1953 a
new Act of Succession permitted female succession to the throne of Denmark, but only if the King had no sons. Princess Margrethe was therefore Heiress
Presumptive to the Danish throne.
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.
On 10 June 1967 Her Royal Highness The
Princess Margrethe of Denmark married a French diplomat, Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat at the Naval Church.
Henri received the 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. Two children were produced from this union:
His Royal Highness Frederik André
Henrik Christian, Crown Prince of Denmark was born on 26 May 1968; and His Royal Highness Joachim Holger Waldemar Christian, Prince of Denmark, was born on 7 June 1969.
On the occasion of the accession to the throne on 14 January 1972, Queen Margrethe II became the first Danish Sovereign under the new Act of Succession.
The Kingdom of Denmark is a Constitutional Monarchy, which means that the sovereign cannot perform political acts
independently. Although The Queen signs all Acts of Legislation before they can become Law, these only come into effect when they
have been countersigned by a Cabinet Minister. As Head of State, The Queen participates in the formation of a new government.
After consultation with representatives of the political parties, the Leader of the Party which holds the largest number of
seats in the Danish Parliament is invited to form a new government. Once it has been formed, the monarch formally appoints it.
Additionally, it is The Queen who is the real Head of the Government and therefore presides over the Council of State, where the
Acts of Legislation which have been passed by Parliament are signed into law.
The Prime Minister of Denmark and the Danish
Minister of Foreign Affairs report regularly to The Queen to notify and advise her on the latest political developments. Her
Majesty hosts official visits by foreign Heads of State and pays State Visits abroad. The Queen receives every Ambassador from
foreign countries represented in Denmark and also formally appoints and dismisses
civil servants.
The Queen's main tasks are to represent the Kingdom abroad and to be a unifying figurehead at home. 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.
Queen Margrethe has a reputation for being one of Europe's most modern and
progressive monarchs. She openly grants television interviews, and is fond of casual public appearances.
The Queen is also an accomplished and critically-acclaimed painter, and has held
many art shows over the years. It is often said that were she not Queen, she could easily make a living as a professional
artist. Her illustrations were used for the Danish edition of The Lord of the Rings published in 1977 and the re-issue in
2002. She is also an accomplished translator and is said to have participated
in the Danish translation of this book. She also designs some of her own clothes.
On a less favorable note, she is also known to be an infamous chain-smoker.
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