The 50thanniversaryof HM Queen Margrethe II'saccession to the throne

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.