Margrethe II is Queen of Denmark and commander-in-chief of the Danish Defence. Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on 8 September 2022, she is Europe’s longest-serving current head of state, and the only current queen regnant.
Margrethe is the eldest child of Frederick IX of Denmark and Ingrid of Sweden. She became heir presumptive to her father in 1953 when a constitutional amendment allowed women to inherit the throne. Margrethe succeeded her father upon his death on 14 January 1972.
On her accession, she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margrethe I, ruler of the Scandinavian kingdoms in 1375–1412 during the Kalmar Union. In 1967, she married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, with whom she had two sons: Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim.
Met Margrethe II of Denmark’s Children
Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, RE, SKmd is the heir apparent to the Danish throne. He is the elder son of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik.
Frederik has completed extensive military studies and training in all three services, notably completing their education as a frogman in the naval elite special operations forces Frømandskorpset.
In the period 2001 and 2002, he completed further training for leaders at the Royal Danish Defence College. Frederik remains active in the defence services, and in the period 2002–2003 served as a staff officer at Defence Command Denmark, and from 2003 as a senior lecturer with the Institute of Strategy at the Royal Danish Defence College.
Prince Joachim of Denmark
Prince Joachim of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, RE, SKmd Joachim Holger Waldemar Christian; born 7 June 1969) is a member of the Danish royal family. The younger son of Queen Margrethe II, he is sixth in the line of succession to the Danish throne, following his elder brother, Crown Prince Frederik and his four children.
Joachim enjoys historic motor sports car racing and has participated in the Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix multiple times. In 2019, Joachim presented the documentary series Prins Joachim fortæller for Danmarks Radio. In the six-part series that he also co-produced, Joachim investigates the ideas and events that shaped Denmark’s history.