Margrethe II is Queen of Denmark and commander-in-chief of the Danish Defence. Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on 8 September 2022, she is Europe’s longest-serving current head of state, and the only current queen regnant.
Margrethe is the eldest child of Frederick IX of Denmark and Ingrid of Sweden. 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 1375–1412 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 II of Denmark Parents: Meet Frederick IX of Denmark, Ingrid of Sweden
Frederick IX of Denmark
Frederick IX was King of Denmark from 1947 to 1972. Born into the House of Glücksburg, Frederick was the elder son of King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine of Denmark. He became crown prince when his father succeeded as king in 1912. As a young man, he was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy.
In 1935, he was married to Princess Ingrid of Sweden and they had three daughters, Margrethe, Benedikte and Anne-Marie. During Nazi Germany’s occupation of Denmark, Frederick acted as regent on behalf of his father from 1942 until 1943. Frederick became king after his father’s death in early 1947.
During Frederick IX’s reign, Danish society changed rapidly, the welfare state was expanded and, as a consequence of the booming economy of the 1960s, women entered the labour market. The modernization brought new demands on the monarchy and Frederick’s role as a constitutional monarch. Frederick IX died in 1972 and was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Queen Margrethe II.
Ingrid of Sweden
Ingrid of Sweden was Queen of Denmark from 1947 until 1972 as the wife of King Frederick IX. (28 March 1910 – 7 November 2000)
Born into the House of Bernadotte, she was the daughter of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife, Princess Margaret of Connaught. In 1935, she married Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark and they had three daughters, Margrethe, the present Queen of Denmark, Benedikte, now a Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, and Anne-Marie, the former Queen of the Hellenes.
In 1947, her husband became king after his father’s death. As queen, Ingrid reformed the traditions of Danish court life, abolished many old-fashioned customs at court and created a more relaxed atmosphere at official receptions. King Frederick IX died in 1972, and Ingrid’s daughter Margrethe became queen.
She was also a paternal aunt of the present Swedish monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf.