Margrethe II (Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 1972 until her abdication in 2024. Having reigned for 52 years, she was the second longest-reigning monarch in Danish history, as well as the longest reigning enthroned Danish monarch. Her son, Frederik X, acceded to the throne; nonetheless, she retains her royal style.
Born into the House of Glücksburg, a cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg, Margrethe is the eldest child of King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid. She became heir presumptive to her father in 1953, when a constitutional amendment allowed women to inherit the throne. In 1967, she married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, with whom she had two sons: Frederik and Joachim. Margrethe succeeded her father upon his death on 14 January 1972.
As sovereign, Margrethe received 42 official state visits and she undertook 55 foreign state visits herself. Margrethe has worked as a scenographer, a costume designer, and an illustrator of works by J. R. R. Tolkien. She and the royal family have made several other foreign visits. During her reign, support for the monarchy in Denmark remained consistently high at around 82%, as did Margrethe’s personal popularity.
Some of the best quotes from Queen Margrethe II are listed below.
- “Being Queen is a profession, a job, a position, an office that one cannot put aside when you come home from work. It is there all the time – and it is there all your life.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “But are we seeing indications these years that we have become more selfish, that we have become inclined to first and foremost make demands, and make sure that we all get what we ourselves think we are entitled to? Are we becoming distrustful of each other, and beginning to ascribe less than pure motives to each other? If that is the case, we are not only in an economic crisis. Then it is our attitudes that are slipping. It is a crisis that is insidious because it creeps upon us and poisons our relationships with each other. It means that we are jeopardising something that may be irretrievable.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “For me it is always the colour, first and foremost.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “For me, it [being Queen] is a responsibility that does not include abdication. It is a task one has been given and taken upon oneself, and one does not relinquish it because it would perhaps be convenient personally to be rid of some of it.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “God’s help, the love of the people, the strength of Denmark.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “Gradually he [King Frederik] showed me everybody was going to help me in this… it was not a terrifying thing, but a great challenge.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “I do not think one should chase the fashions of the day, concerning neither sweaters nor opinions.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “I have always felt that it is a task that you are given, and that you have it as long as you live. That is my fundamental view. It is an integral part of the job that you have it for life.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “I have decided that now is the right time. On 14 January 2024 – 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father – I will step down as Queen of Denmark. I will hand over the throne to my son Crown Prince Frederik.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “I hope I will be able to paint as long as I live.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “I think that people imagine protocol and etiquette as some kind of great dragon that hovers behind the pageantries of the palace to pounce on you and eat you up if you aren’t behaving as you should. But in fact etiquette is saying how to do when you meet people, saying good night to your parents before going to bed, opening a door to a woman, getting up if an older person wants to sit down on the bus and it’s all full, that is etiquette, or protocol, if you wish. At the everyday level, all the time, all of us. It’s a way of knowing what you’ve got to do so that you have your mind free to do other things and think of other things.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “I think, for me, nature has always been my main point of reference. I think as a child I was fascinated by landscapes and nature wherever I went. I was able to travel all over Denmark, which is not that large, everywhere in this country where I’ve been I always loved the landscape.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “I was supported from every side by my family and by the ministers, but so much also by the people.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “I will remain on the throne until I fall off!” – Queen Margrethe II
- “I would like to stress that the obligation [of being Queen] has always been driven by joy. The joy is rooted in the warmth that has met me and my family everywhere through every year, in celebration and joy as in sorrow, in the so-called “big days”, as well as in everyday life.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “In February this year I underwent extensive back surgery. Everything went well, thanks to the competent health personnel, who took care of me. Inevitably, the operation gave cause to thoughts about the future – whether now would be an appropriate time to pass on the responsibility to the next generation.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “In spite of the many initiatives our society offers to help and support, recovery can be such a monumental task that some give up. They withdraw into themselves. Not least during Christmas and New Year is it hard to feel left out. Tonight my thoughts are with them.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “In the course of the last few generations, society has developed in such a way that we can live more and more safely, both financially and socially. We have got used to being able to pick and choose quite freely in big and small matters. Our circumstances are so good now that we have almost forgotten that our decisions also have consequences and that we cannot opt into or out of all life’s conditions.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “One may well use one’s head even though one is in love. Someone has said that one cannot prevent lightening from striking – but one may prevent the whole town from burning down.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “One should never be so formal that one loses life, but one should never be so informal that one becomes without form of any kind.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “One shouldn’t write one’s own epitaph. I hope people will remember me as one who did her best – and who wasn’t an anachronism.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “One would not die from my cooking, but I am not sure one would survive my driving.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “Painting is not what my life is about, but it is very important to me, and I am very lucky to be able to give some time to it. The time that I devote to painting is not a lot of time, but I do it 100 percent while I am working, and then there’s nothing else that counts.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “That cold January day – and so many people… I’d never imagined it would happen nowadays.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “The fact that I am a woman has never really played into what I have done or not done. I have just been lucky that things have played out so that I could do things.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “There is nothing so clever as people you agree with.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “We can be very relaxed in our relationship with the Danish people…I feel extraordinarily privileged.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “We do not have that much to moan about when one thinks of what people did not moan about before.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “We were so busy that we didn’t have time to think about how terrible it was or – in fact it felt strangely natural.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “When people say that I may not speak, they forget that I may well think. I may think what I want, like everyone else. I shall just refrain from saying everything I think. That might be something many people should do once in a while.” – Queen Margrethe II
- “You are handed your job as the old king or queen dies… It is not a life sentence, but a life of service.” – Queen Margrethe II
