The 50thanniversaryof HM Queen Margrethe II'saccession to the throne
On 14
January 1972, King Frederik IX passed away and HM Queen Margrethe ll succeeded
her father on the throne. For half a century, she has represented Denmark and
her popularity among the people of Denmark is prodigious.
At the age
of 13, Princess Margrethe's life changed tremendously. Until then, she wasn't
supposed to succeed her father's throne due to Danish constitutional law at the
time.
However, in
1953, the Act of Succession was amended gave women the right of succession to
the Danish Throne but, however only secondarily. On the proclamation of her
accession to the Throne on 14 January 1972, HM Queen Margrethe II became the
first Danish Sovereign under the new Act of Succession.
The Act of
Succession was amended again in 2009, when full equality in the succession to
the throne was introduced. That means the regent’s oldest child – regardless of
gender – inherits the throne (so-called primogeniture).
Head of
State for 50 years
In January
2022, HM The Queen has served as Head of State of Denmark, the Faroe Islands,
and Greenland through half
a century. With her 50 years on the throne, The Queen is the second
longest-serving monarch in Danish history - only surpassed by King Christian
IV, who sat on the Danish throne for 60 years.
When Queen
Margrethe was proclaimed Queen on 15 January 1972, she was affected by the loss
of her loving father, King Frederik IX. Still, she showed strength when she
stepped out on the balcony at Christiansborg in front of thousands of
people. From the balcony, she expressed the tremendous family grief: "My
beloved father, our King, is dead, and a great sorrow has befallen us all. But
the greatest grief is for my mother".
Her
Majesty and the people
Today, the
Danish monarchy enjoys broad public support. This has not always been the
case, though. When The Queen ascended the throne in 1972, only 42 per cent of
Danes were in favor of keeping the monarchy. During the years, the Danes'
support to the Royal House has gradually increased. Today, 84 per cent of the
Danes support the Danish Royal House to a high or some degree. Thereby, the
Danish monarchy is among the most popular in Europe.
Denmark,
a constitutional monarchy
Denmark is
a democracy and has a constitutional monarchy, which means that the monarch
cannot independently perform political acts and does not express any
political opinion. For example although The Queen signs all Acts of Parliament,
these only come into force when they have been countersigned by
a Cabinet Minister and The Queen must at all times act loyal to the government
in power.
During The
Queen's reign, Denmark has had nine Prime Ministers and 24 governments. The
first Prime Minister was Jens Otto Kragh, who proclaimed The Queen regent in
1972.
The Queen's
main tasks are to represent Denmark abroad and to be a figurehead at home. In
practice this means that in Denmark, The Queen is invited to make visit all
over Denmark and participate in public events and ceremonies. These could be
opening of exhibitions, attending anniversaries, give speeches at events, and
maintain her patronage of a number of organisations or communities which mean a
great deal to local communities all over Denmark. The Queen often hosts large
event herself such as New Year's leeves, birthdays, concerts, and
receptions.
The Queen
also represents Denmark officially abroad. During the Queen's reign, she has
headed 54 outgoing and 58 incoming state visits to date. The very first visits
took place in 1973, when The Queen made her inaugural visits to Sweden,
Norway, Finland and Iceland. Since then, The Queen has visited a
broad range of places like Ireland, China, the Netherlands, Argentina, France,
and Japan. The latest state visit went to Germany in November 2021, where HM
The Queen and HRH The Crown Prince both participated.
When Danish
business delegations visit countries abroad, members of the Royal Family often
attend as Heads of Delegation as well, thereby supporting the export
opportunities of Danish products and services.
A
monarch with various talents and interests
HM Queen
Margrethe has a deep passion for art and archeology. After having passed
the examination in philosophy at Copenhagen University in 1960, The Queen
studied archaeology at the University of Cambridge, England in 1960-1961 and
earned a Diploma in Prehistoric Archaeology. The Queen has
participated in a myriad of excavations at home and abroad. As a young
Princess, The Queen was on excavation holidays in Italy in the late 1950s with
her grandfather, the Swedish King Gustav VI Adolf. Together, the King and
Princess shared an interest in archeology.
HM Queen
Margrethe ll is also a versatile artist in costume designs, scenography,
illustrations, church textiles, découpage works, embroidery, and
paintings. Many of the artistic works have been shown in connection with
exhibitions in Denmark and abroad.
The Queen has also been painting through outmost of her life; in the beginning,
she mainly used watercolor paint, but since then mostly acrylic paint. No
less than eight times has The Queen been part of the artistic team
behind a ballet performance at Tivoli. In 2021, The
Queen designed costumes and scenography for the Snow Queen in
Tivoli.
The Queen’s
artistic works are represented at the following art museums:
Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery of Denmark), ARoS Aarhus Art
Museum, and Køge Art Gallery Sketch Collection (sketches for church
textiles).
Ingahild
Grathmer
When Queen
Margrethe was still a Princess, she created beautiful illustrations of
Tolkien's bestseller The Lord of the Rings while she studied
in England.
The then
Princess Margrethe used the pseudonym ‘Ingahild Grathmer’ and sent her
interpretations of the scenes from the book to Tolkien in the early 1970s.
Tolkien usually did not want artists to illustrate his works, as he encouraged the
reader to create their own pictures of the story in their heads. However, when
Tolkien passed away in 1973, several black and white drawings were found with
complimentary remarks written on the drawings. It was the drawings of Ingahild
Grathmer. Tolkien was fascinated by the mysterious design and the fact that no
characters were depicted.
The Lord
of the Rings with
The Queen’s illustrations were first published in 1977 and then again in 2001
and 2021.