H.M. Queen Margrethe of Denmark

Her mother was a daughter of the Swedish royal family, whose reigning king Folke Hubertus Carl XVI. Gustaf is therefore Margrethe's uncle. As a result of a constitutional change in 1953, with which Frederik IX. had also introduced female succession to the throne, Margrethe was officially sworn in as heir to the throne according to the Danish constitution when she came of age on April 16, 1958. After private school education, which also took Margrethe to England, she graduated from high school in 1960. She then completed a one-year law study abroad at the Sorbonne in Paris. This was followed by studying law, political science, economics and history in Copenhagen and Aarhus. Margrethe completed her studies with further stays abroad at the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics. Margrethe was already being prepared for her future high office during her school and university years. While traveling at home and abroad, she got to know her own country and the world as well as the representative functions of the Danish head of state. In 1967, the Crown Princess married the French diplomat Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat. After she had already taken over the regency at the beginning of 1972 due to her father's illness, she succeeded the late Frederik IX on January 14, 1972. on the throne. Since then, as Chairwoman of the State Council and Head of State, Margrethe II has primarily performed representative functions in coordination with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. However, she also uses the public influence given to her for socio-political commitment, through which she has campaigned against increasing xenophobia in recent years. The Queen and Prince Henrik of Denmark made numerous state trips through Europe, the Far East and North and South America. The general popularity that Margrethe II enjoyed as monarch made the Danish monarchy an institution recognized by the population and still popular today. In addition to state affairs, the Queen is also artistically talented in many ways. In 1977, for example, she illustrated Tolkien's bestseller "Lord of the Rings". She has already made a name for herself as a costume designer for the theater, as an interior designer and as a ballet dancer. Margrethe II of Denmark was, among other things, awarded honorary doctorates from the Universities of Cambridge and London. In 2000 she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Edinburgh. She has two sons with Prince Henrik of Denmark.