Queen Margrethe II celebrates 69th Birthday

  April 16, 2009 at 5:00 am by

Click to see more from PPE

Click to see more from PPE

Queen Margrethe celebrated her 69th birthday today, April 16, surrounded by her ever-growing family on the balcony of Christian IX’s Palace at Amalienborg Palace.

As she does every year, the Danish Queen stepped out on to the balcony at noon to greet the crowd of well-wishers which gathered below. Joined by her husband Prince Henrik, sons Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim, daughters-in-law Crown Princess Mary and Princess Marie, and four grandchildren: Princes Nikolai, Felix and Christian, and Princess Isabella; Margrethe beamed with joy as the Royal Life Guards band played the national anthem, and then ‘Happy Birthday’ for their monarch.

Queen Margrethe II was born Princess Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid in 1940 at Amalienborg Palace, to the then Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid of Denmark (later King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid). She was christened less than a month later, on May 14th, at the Holmens Kirke with King Christian X of Denmark, Princes Knud and Axel of Denmark, King Gustaf V of Sweden, the future King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and the Duke of Connaught as her godaprents. Strong Swedish ties were present in the choice of godparents, as Margrethe’s mother was born a Princess of Sweden, the daughter of the future King Gustaf VI Adolf.

In 1953, the Danish Act of Succession was altered to allow Princess Margrethe to succeed her father as Denmark’s sovereign, because up until that point, Denmark followed male primogeniture; meaning her paternal uncle Prince Knud was the heir. The change in succession meant that the new succession allowed females to ascend the throne, putting Margrethe and her two sisters, Princess Benedikte and Princess Anne-Marie, in the first three positions in the line of succession.

Princess Margrethe met Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat in 1965, the pair married on June 10th, 1967. Their marriage produced two children, sons Frederik and Joachim. Princess Margrethe succeeded her father as Queen on January 14th, 1972 following King Frederik IX’s death. Queen Margrethe has a keen interest in art, she is a keen painter and has designed costumes and scenography for many theatre productions.

More information about this year’s celebrations, and those from previous years, can be found here.

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