Margrethe II of Denmark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II
Queen of Denmark
Reign 14 January 1972 - Present
Born 16 April 1940
Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen
Predecessor Frederick IX
Heir-Apparent Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
Consort Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark
Issue Frederik
Joachim
Royal House House of Glücksburg
Father Frederick IX
Mother Ingrid

Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark (Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, IPA: ['maʀg̥ɐɛd̥e 'ɑləksanɐinə 'θourhɪltʏr̥ 'iŋrið]) (born 16 April 1940) is the Queen regnant and head of state of Denmark.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Princess Margrethe was born at Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen, to Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid. She was baptised on 14 May 1940 at the Naval Church. As King Christian X was also the King of Iceland at the time, as a courtesy the Princess was given an Icelandic name, Þórhildur (spelled with the Icelandic thorn character, simplified as "th").

Her godparents were King Christian X of Denmark, Prince Knud of Denmark, Prince Axel of Denmark, King Gustaf V of Sweden, King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, The Duke of Connaught, Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, Princess Thyra of Denmark, Queen Louise of Sweden, Princess Helena Viktoria of Denmark, Lady Patricia Ramsay, Crown Princess Cecile of Prussia, and Princess Margrethe of Bourbon-Parma.

Queen Margrethe II's official motto is: "God's help, the love of the people, Denmark's strength".

[edit] Biography

Danish Royal Family

Margrethe was not born to be monarch, even though she was the eldest child of a Crown Prince, later King. At the time of her birth, only males could ascend the throne of Denmark, due 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 Knud would one day assume the throne.

The process of changing the constitution started in 1947, when it became clear that Queen Ingrid would have no more children. At this time Margrethe's uncle Prince Knud was the Heir Presumptive, but 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, similar to that in use in the United Kingdom. Princess Margrethe therefore became the Heiress Presumptive.

She was confirmed on 1 April 1955 at Fredensborg Palace. 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.

She studied prehistoric archaeology at the University of Cambridge during 1960-61, political science at Aarhus University between 1961-1962, at Sorbonne in 1963, and at the London School of Economics in 1965.

On 10 June 1967 Princess Margrethe of Denmark married a French diplomat, Henri de Laborde de Monpezat at the Naval Church. 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. Two children were produced from this union: Frederik André Henrik Christian, Crown Prince to Denmark was born on 26 May 1968; and Joachim Holger Waldemar Christian, Prince to Denmark, was born on 7 June 1969. The Queen and her husband, Prince Henrik, also have three grandsons: HRH Prince Christian; HH Prince Nikolai; and HH Prince Felix.

King Frederick IX died in 1972. 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.

Styles of
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
Reference style Her Majesty
Spoken style Your Majesty
Alternative style Ma'am

[edit] Political role

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 the 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 Foreign Minister 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. 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.

Queen Margrethe has a reputation for being one of Europe's most modern and progressive monarchs. She freely grants television interviews.

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 the Queen, she could easily make a living as a professional artist. 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. She is also an accomplished translator and is said to have participated in the Danish translation of "Lord of the Rings". She also designs some of her own clothes. Margrethe is also a chain smoker, and she is famous for her tobacco habit. However, on November 23, 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, the Queen does continue to smoke but in the future she will do so only privately. The announcement is probably due to the fact that the Danish Parliament recently has decided on strict rules concerning smoking.[1]

A statement in a 2005 authorized biography about the Queen (entitled "Margrethe") displays her antipathy towards fundamentalist Islam: "We are being challenged by Islam these years - globally as well as locally. It is a challenge we have to take seriously. We have let this issue float about for too long because we are tolerant and lazy. We have to show our opposition to Islam and we have to, at times, run the risk of having unflattering labels placed on us because there are some things for which we should display no tolerance. And when we are tolerant, we must know whether it is because of convenience or conviction." [2]

However, the line "We have to show our opposition to Islam" was poorly translated. The correct translation would be: "We have to show an alternative to the totalitarity that is also one of the sides of Islam". The actual words which the Queen told the author of the book, Annelise Bistrup, are (in Danish): Der må vises et "modspil" mod den "totalitet, som også er en side af Islam". The mistranslated word is "modspil" (which can never mean opposition).[3]

It is also worth noting that Abul Hassan Mohammad Shehada, the director of Al-Aqsa Cultural Center in Odense expressed incredulity at the quotation, stating: "it is impossible for a queen best known for her moderation and acceptance of the other to attack Islam as a whole" [4].

In her 1984 annual New Year's speech, the Queen of Denmark cautioned the Danish people to remember to be kind and hospitable towards immigrants.

The Queen is multilingual; she speaks Danish, French, Swedish, English and German.[5]


House of Glucksburg
Born: 16 April 1940; Died:
Preceded by:
Frederick IX		 Queen of Denmark
14 January 1972 -		 Succeeded by:
Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
Preceded by:
Not Applicable		 Line of succession to the Danish Throne
Preceded by:
Carl Johan Bernadotte		 Line of succession to the British Throne

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../m/a/r/Margrethe_II_of_Denmark_315a.html"