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Margrethe II

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Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II (Margrethe Alexandrine Þorhildur Ingrid), styled HM The Queen (born April 16, 1940), is the Queen regnant and head of state of Denmark.

She was born at Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen, to Frederick IX and Princess Ingrid of Sweden. Queen Margrethe II's official motto is "God's help, the love of the people, Denmark's strength".

Princess Margrethe (pronounced Margretta) was baptised on 14 May 1940 at The Naval Church and confirmed on 1 April 1955 at Fredensborg Palace. As the Danish king was also sovereign of Iceland at the time, as a courtesy the princess was given an Icelandic middle name, Þorhildur (spelt with the Icelandic thorn character, transliterated "th").

Margrethe was not born to be Queen, even though she was the child of a Monarch. At the time of her birth in Denmark, only males could ascend to the throne. Since Margrethe had no brothers it was assumed that one of her uncles would one day assume the throne. However, in 1952 Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom and this caused questioning into why a woman could not become Queen of Denmark. As a result, a referendum was held and on March 27, 1953 a new Act of Succession permitted female succession to the throne of Denmark, but only if the King had no sons. Princess Margrethe was therefore Heiress Presumptive to the Danish throne.

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.

On 10 June 1967 Her Royal Highness The Princess Margrethe of Denmark married a French diplomat, Henri de Laborde de Monpezat at the Naval Church. Henri received the title of "His Royal Highness Prince Henrik of Denmark" because of his new position as the spouse of the heiress apparent to the Danish Throne. Two children were produced from this union: His Royal Highness Frederik André Henrik Christian, Crown Prince of Denmark was born on 26 May 1968; and His Royal Highness Joachim Holger Waldemar Christian, Prince of Denmark, was born on 7 June 1969.

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.

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 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 Minister of Foreign Affairs 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.

The Queen was appointed Allied Colonel-in-Chief of the Queen's Regiment of the British Army. On its amalgamation with the Royal Hampshire Regiment to form the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, she retained her position as Allied Colonel-in-Chief. On the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, Queen Margrethe became the sole Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment.

Queen Margrethe has a reputation for being one of Europe's most modern and progressive monarchs. She openly grants television interviews, and is fond of casual public appearances.

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 Queen, she could easily make a living as a professional artist. Her illustrations 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 this book.

She is also known for being a chain-smoker.

Preceded by:
Frederick IX 		King of Denmark Heir-Apparent:
Crown Prince Frederik
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