Queen Margrethe

Margrethe II
Queen Margrethe II in May 2012
Queen of Denmark (more...)
Reign	14 January 1972 – present
Predecessor	Frederick IX
Heir apparent	Crown Prince Frederik
Prime Ministers	See list Denmark Jens Otto Krag Anker Jørgensen Poul Hartling Poul Schlüter Poul Nyrup Rasmussen Anders Fogh Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen Helle Thorning-Schmidt Lars Løkke Rasmussen Faroe Islands Atli Dam Jógvan Sundstein Marita Petersen Edmund Joensen Anfinn Kallsberg Jóannes Eidesgaard Kaj Leo Johannesen Greenland Jonathan Motzfeldt Lars Emil Johansen Hans Enoksen Kuupik Kleist Aleqa Hammond Kim Kielsen
Born	(1940-04-16) 16 April 1940 (age 77) Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark
Spouse	Henri de Laborde de Monpezat (m. 1967)
Issue Detail	Crown Prince Frederik Prince Joachim
Full name Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid
House	Glücksburg
Father	Frederick IX of Denmark
Mother	Ingrid of Sweden
Signature

Margrethe II (Danish: Margrethe 2., pronounced [mɑˈɡʁæːˀdə]; Faroese: Margreta 2.; Greenlandic: Margrethe II; full name: Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid; born 16 April 1940) is the Queen of Denmark. She is also the supreme authority of the Church of Denmark and Commander-in-Chief of the Danish Defence Forces. Born into the House of Glücksburg, a royal house with origins in Northern Germany, she was the eldest child of Frederick IX of Denmark and Ingrid of Sweden. She succeeded her father upon his death on 14 January 1972, having had become heir presumptive to her father in 1953, when a constitutional amendment allowed women to inherit the throne. On her accession, Margrethe became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margaret I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375–1412 during the Kalmar Union. In 1967, she married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, with whom she has two sons: Crown Prince Frederik (born 1968) and Prince Joachim (born 1969). She has been on the Danish throne for 45 years, becoming the second longest-reigning Danish monarch after her ancestor Christian IV.