Margrethe II Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid born 16 April 1940 is Queen of Denmark Having reigned as Denmarks monarch for over 50 years she is the worlds only current queen regnant and the longestserving current female head of state Born into the House of Glücksburg a cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg Margrethe is the eldest child of King Frederick IX and Queen Ingrid She became heir presumptive to her father in 1953 when a constitutional amendment allowed women to inherit the throne Margrethe succeeded her father upon his death on 14 January 1972 On her accession she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margrethe I ruler of the Scandinavian kingdoms in 13761412 during the Kalmar Union In 1967 she married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat with whom she had two sons Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim Margrethe is known for her strong archaeological passion and has participated in several excavations including in Italy Egypt Denmark and South America She shared this interest with her grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden with whom she spent some time unearthing artefacts near Etruria in 1962 As of 2023 Margrethe has as sovereign received 42 official state visits and she has undertaken 55 foreign state visits herself She and the royal family have made several other foreign visits Support for the monarchy in Denmark has been and remains consistently high at around 82 as does Margrethes personal popularity Princess Margrethe was born 16 April 1940 at Frederik VIIIs Palace in her parents residence at the Amalienborg palace complex the principal residence of the Danish royal family in the district of Frederiksstaden in central Copenhagen She was the first child of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess later King Frederick IX and Queen Ingrid Her father was the elder son of the thenreigning King Christian X while her mother was the only daughter of the Crown Prince of Sweden later King Gustaf VI Adolf Her birth took place just one week after Nazi Germanys invasion of Denmark on 9 April 1940 Margrethe was baptised on 14 May in the Holmen Church in Copenhagen The Princesss godparents were King Christian X paternal grandfather Hereditary Prince Knud paternal uncle Prince Axel her paternal grandfathers first cousin King Gustaf V of Sweden maternal greatgrandfather Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden maternal grandfather Prince Gustaf Adolf Duke of Västerbotten her maternal uncle and Prince Arthur Duke of Connaught and Strathearn maternal greatgrandfather She was named Margrethe after her late maternal grandmother Margaret Crown Princess of Sweden Alexandrine after her paternal grandmother Queen Alexandrine and Ingrid after her mother Since her paternal grandfather was also the King of Iceland she was given the Icelandic name Þórhildur When Margrethe was four years old in 1944 her younger sister Princess Benedikte was born Princess Benedikte later married Prince Richard of SaynWittgensteinBerleburg and lives some of the time in Germany Her second sister Princess AnneMarie was born in 1946 AnneMarie later married King Constantine II of the Hellenes and currently lives in Greece Source Article Margrethe II from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30
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