Danish royal family, the Queen of Denmark, an artist and archaeologist. The oldest daughter of King Frederick IX who had no sons, she became heir apparent in 1953 upon her father’s death, 1/15/1972, making her the queen of Denmark at age 32. Her succession was contingent upon the vote of the citizens of Denmark to change their constitution’s provision for male only succession.
Raised with the privileges of a royal childhood, Margrethe studied politics, economics and archaeology at five different colleges including The University of Copenhagen, University of Aarhus, Cambridge University and various colleges in Paris and London. After qualifying as an archaeologist, she married French diplomat Comte Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, who afterward became known as Prince Henrik, in 1967. They had two sons, Frederick in 1969 and Joachim in 1970. Male succession returns to the Danish throne upon her death, with Prince Frederick heir apparent.
Though the highly educated Queen has a degree in archaeology and speaks five languages, her passion is art. Among Her Majesty’s many talents are embroidery, painting on porcelain, illustrating the Danish edition of Tolkien’s “The Trilogy of the Rings” and designing and painting sets for the Royal Danish Ballet. On a more literary note, she and Prince Henrik have translated Simone Beauvoir into Danish.
On her first state visit to the US in 1991, she exhibited many of her own works of art at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. She was a shy, quiet young woman and informal while in private, known to her friends as “Daisy.” Immensely popular among her people, on her 50th birthday, the Danish press proclaimed the celebration “a tribute to the champion of queens.” Regarding Her Majesty’s place in history, she claims, “I hope people will remember me as one who did her best – and who wasn’t an anachronism.”
Link to Wikipedia biography