Who’s Who – The Danish Royal Family

While the British Royal Family are perhaps the most well known across the globe, it seems unfair to forget about their European counterparts. The Crown Chronicles is to keep you more updated on what Europe’s Royals are getting up to, so who are we talking about?

The Danes:

The Danish Monarch is the oldest in Europe and can be traced directly from the current monarch all the way back to the Viking King, Gorm the Old who reigned from c. 936.

Over one thousand years later and the Royal Family still enjoys high levels of popularity with over 80% of the population being in support of the monarchy. This is due primarily to the family’s ability to retain royal traditions while also managing to successfully adapt to the modern world.

Queen Margrethe II

Margrethe Alexandrine Þohildur Ingrid is the matriarch of the Danish Royal Family having ascended the throne on the 14th January 1972, following the death of her father, Frederik IX. She is currently the only other Queen Regnant in Europe besides Queen Elizabeth II. Born in Copenhagen on the 16th April 1940, Margrethe did not become heir presumptive to the throne until 1953 when changes were made to the 1850s succession laws that prohibited women from inheriting the throne.

Away from her role as Queen Margrethe has a passion for art, even providing the illustrations for the republishing of the Danish version of The Lord of the Rings series in 2002.

The Prince Consort

Although born in Gironde, France, on the 11th June 1934, Henri Marie Jean André, Count of Laborde de Monpezat, spent the first years of his childhood in Vietnam. He later returned there in 1950 in order to complete his secondary education. Thanks to his time there, he speaks fluent Vietnamese as well as English, Chinese, Danish and his mother tongue, French.

Upon his marriage on the 10th June 1967, he took on the Danish form of his name, Henrik. The Prince Consort is a keen poet, having written many that have gone on to be published.

The Crown Prince

On the 26th May 1968, the then Princess Margrethe, and Prince Henrik, welcomed their first son, Frederik André Henrik Christian, naming him in accordance with the Danish tradition, by which the heir apparent is named either Frederik or Christian.

During his time at Aarhus University, studying Political Science, he spent a year abroad at Harvard, under the alias of Frederik Henriksen.

The Crown Prince is a keen sportsman and became the first member of Royalty to compete in an Ironman triathlon. He completed the race in the time of 10:45:32, and encourages youth participation of sport today.

The Crown Princess

Mary Elizabeth Donaldson was born on the 5th February 1972 in Hobart, Tasmania. Her mother, Henrietta, passed away in 1997 and as such, never knew of her daughter’s Royal future.

Mary, a former  marketing consultant,  first met her future husband, Frederik, at the Slip Inn, in Sydney, while the Prince was visiting the country for the 2000 Summer Olympics; initially, she had no idea that she was talking to the future King of Denmark. After getting to know each other by phone, emails and letters, Mary made the move to Denmark in late 2001.

The couple married on the 14th May 2004 and have four children together. Since then, Mary has been a dedicated patron of several organisations and founded the Mary Foundation in 2007 whose mission is to “combat social isolation.”

Children of the Crown Prince Couple:

Prince Christian, second in line to the Danish throne.

Prince Christian Valdemar Henri John; born 15th October 2005
Princess Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe; born 21st April 2007
Prince Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander; born 8th January 2011 (twin)
Princess Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda; born 8th January 2011 (twin)

When in Greenland,  Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine are known by their Greenlandic middle names, Minik and Ivalo.

Prince Joachim and Princess Marie

Sixth-in-line to the throne, Joachim Holger Waldemar Christian is the second son of Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik. The Prince was born in Copenhagen on the 7th June 1969.

His first marriage was to Alexandra Manley in 1995 however, the couple divorced a decade later. From this marriage, the Prrince has two children, Nikolai (b. 1999) and Felix (b. 2002). Following the divorce, Alexandra was given the title of Countess of Frederiksborg and is still seen at some larger Royal events.

Joachim married again on 24th May 2004. The new Princess, Marie Agathe Odile Cavallier, was born in Paris, France on the 6th February 1976 but, following her parents’ divorce, moved to Geneva, Switzerland with her mother. The couple have since gone on to have two children, Henrik (b. 2009) and Athena (b. 2012).

Photos: Johannes Jansson, Holger Motzkau 2010, Stine Avnbøl, 2, 3, Frankie Fouganthin