Margrethe II of Denmark

Margrethe II (Danish pronunciation: [mɑˈkʁeˀtə] ; b. Margrethe Alexandrine þórhildur Ingrid, 16 April 1940 in Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen, Occupied Denmark) is Queen of Denmark and commander-in-chief of the Danish Defence Forces. Born into the House of Glücksburg, a cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg, one of Europe's most prominent royal houses, Margrethe was the eldest child of King Frederick IX. 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, the founder of the Kalmar Union, which unified Scandinavia under a single dynasty for over a century. In 1967, Margrethe II married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, with whom she had two sons: Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim.