Royalty - Queen Margrethe II of Denmark - postcard c.1970s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in the c.1970s
• Publisher:  Farvefoto
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

Please ask if you need any other information and I will do the best I can to answer.

Image may be low res for illustrative purposes - if you need a higher definition image then please contact me and I may be able to send one. No cards have been trimmed (unless stated).

------------------------------------------------

Postage & Packing:

Postage and packing charge should be showing for your location (contact if not sure).

No additional charges for more than one postcard. You can buy as many postcards from me as you like and you will just pay the fee above once. Please wait for combined invoice. (If buying postcards with other things such as books, please contact or wait for invoice before paying).

Payment Methods:

UK - PayPal, Cheque (from UK bank) or postal order

Outside UK: PayPal ONLY (unless otherwise stated) please.   NO non-UK currency checks or money orders (sorry).

NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

----------------------------------------------

Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

*************

Margrethe II (Danish pronunciation: [m?'g°?æ??d??], full name: Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid; born 16 April 1940) is the Queen regnant of Denmark. As the eldest child of King Frederik IX and Ingrid of Sweden, she 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 countries in 1375–1412 during the Kalmar Union.

Margrethe was born in 1940, but did not become heiress presumptive until 1953, when a constitutional amendment allowed women to inherit the throne (after it became clear that King Frederik was unlikely to have any male issue). In 1967, she married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, with whom she has two sons: Crown Prince Frederik (born 1968) and Prince Joachim (born 1969).

Princess Margrethe was born on 16 April 1940 at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen as the first child of the future King Frederik IX and Ingrid of Sweden. Her father was the eldest son of the then-reigning King Christian X, while her mother was the only daughter of the future King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden. Her birth took place just one week after Nazi Germany's invasion of Denmark on 9 April 1940.^[2]

She was baptised on 14 May 1940 in the Church of Holmen in Copenhagen.^[2] The princess's godparents were: her paternal grandfather; her paternal uncle, Prince Knud; her cousin, Prince Axel; her maternal great-grandfather, King Gustaf V of Sweden: her maternal grandfather; her maternal uncle, Prince Gustaf Adolf; and her maternal great-grandfather, Prince Arthur.

She was named Margrethe after her maternal grandmother, Princess Margaret of Connaught, Alexandrine after her paternal grandmother, Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Ingrid after her mother. Since her paternal grandfather was also the King of Iceland, and Margrethe until 1944 was an Icelandic princess, she was given an Icelandic name, Þórhildur (Thorhildur).^[3]

When Margrethe was four years old, in 1944, her first sister, Princess Benedikte, was born. Princess Benedikte later married Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and lives some of the time in Germany. Her second sister Princess Anne Marie was born in 1946. Anne-Marie later married Constantine II of Greece and now lives in London.

On 20 April 1947, King Christian X died and Margrethe's father ascended the throne as King Frederik IX.

At the time of her birth, only males could ascend the throne of Denmark, owing to the changes in succession laws enacted in the 1850s when the Glücksburg branch was chosen to succeed. As she had no brothers, it was assumed that her uncle Prince Knud would one day assume the throne.

The process of changing the constitution started in 1947, not long after her father ascended the throne and it became clear that Queen Ingrid would have no more children. The popularity of Frederik and his daughters and the more prominent role of women in Danish life started the complicated process of altering the constitution. That proposal had to be passed by two Parliaments in succession and then by a referendum, which was held on 27 March 1953. The new Act of Succession permitted female succession to the throne of Denmark, according to male-preference cognatic primogeniture, where a female can ascend to the throne only if she does not have a brother. Princess Margrethe therefore became heiress presumptive.^[2]

On her eighteenth birthday, 16 April 1958, Margrethe was given a seat in the Council of State. She subsequently chaired the meetings of the Council in the absence of the King.^[2]

In 1960, together with the princesses of Sweden and Norway, she travelled to the United States, which included a visit to Los Angeles, California, and to the Paramount Studios, where they were met by several celebrities, including Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and Elvis Presley.^[4]

The official residences of the Queen and the Prince Consort are Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen and Fredensborg Palace. Their summer residence is Gråsten Palace near Sønderborg, the former home of the Queen's mother, Queen Ingrid, who died in 2000.

Margrethe is an accomplished painter, and has held many art shows over the years.^[6] Her illustrations—under the pseudonym Ingahild Grathmer—were used for the Danish edition of The Lord of the Rings, which she was encouraged to illustrate in the early 1970s. She sent them to J.R.R. Tolkien who was struck by the similarity of her drawings to his own style. Margrethe's drawings were redrawn by the British artist Eric Fraser in the translation published in 1977 and re-issued in 2002. In 2000, she illustrated Henrik, the Prince Consort's poetry collection Cantabile. She is also an accomplished translator and is said to have participated in the Danish translation of The Lord of the Rings.^[6] Another skill she possesses is costume designing, having designed the costumes for the Royal Danish Ballet's production of A Folk Tale and for the 2009 Peter Flinth film, ""De vilde svaner"" (the Wild Swans).^[2][10] She also designs her own clothes and is known for her colourful and sometimes eccentric clothing choices. Margrethe also wears designs by Pierre Balmain's former designer Erik Mortensen, Jørgen Bender, and Birgitte Taulow.^[11] She was listed as one of the fifty best-dressed over 50s by the Guardian in March 2013. ^[12]

Margrethe is a chain smoker, and she is famous for her tobacco habit.^[13] However, on 23 November 2006 the Danish newspaper B.T. reported an announcement from the Royal Court stating that in future the Queen would smoke only in private.^[14]

A statement in a 2005 authorized biography about the Queen (entitled Margrethe) focused on her views of Islam: ""We are being challenged by Islam these years. Globally as well as locally. There is something impressive about people for whom religion imbues their existence, from dusk to dawn, from cradle to grave. There are also Christians who feel this way. There is something endearing about people who give themselves up completely to their faith. But there is likewise something frightening about such a totality, which also is a feature of Islam. A counterbalance has to be found, and one has to, at times, run the risk of having unflattering labels placed on you. For there are some things for which one should display no tolerance. And when we are tolerant, we must know whether it is because of convenience or conviction.""^[15]

Hendes Majestæt Dronning Margrethe II (Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, Danmarks dronning) (født 16. april 1940 på Amalienborg Slot) er siden 14. januar 1972 Danmarks regent. Hun er datter af Kong Frederik 9. og Dronning Ingrid. Margrethe II er gift med Henrik, Prinsgemalen med hvem hun har sønnerne Kronprins Frederik og Prins Joachim.

Margrethe II er Danmarks dronning i medfør af Tronfølgeloven af 1953, og tilhører den glücksburgske slægt. Dronningen tituleres Hendes Majestæt Dronning Margrethe II i tiltale Deres Majestæt.

Idet Margrethe II er barnebarn af Margareta af Connaught er hun nr. 321 i den britiske tronfølge.^[1]

Prinsesse Margrethe blev født den 16. april 1940 på Amalienborg Slot i København som datter af Kronprins Frederik og Kronprinsesse Ingrid af Danmark. Hendes far var ældste søn af Kong Christian 10. og Dronning Alexandrine af Danmark. Hendes mor var eneste datter af Kronprins Gustav Adolf (senere Kong Kong Gustaf 6. Adolf) og Kronprinsesse Margareta af Sverige. Hendes fødsel fandt sted en uge efter Nazi-Tysklands invasion af Danmark i 1940.

Prinsesse Margrethe blev døbt i Holmens Kirke i København den 14. maj 1940. Hendes faddere var Kong Christian 10., Prins Knud af Danmark, Prins Axel af Danmark, Kong Gustav 5. af Sverige, Kronprins Gustaf Adolf af Sverige, Prins Gustaf Adolf af Sverige og Prins Arthur af Storbritannien.

Hun fik navnene Margrethe efter sin mormor, Prinsesse Margaret af Storbritannien, Alexandrine efter sin farmor, Prinsesse Alexandrine af Mecklenburg-Schwerin og Ingrid efter sin mor. Eftersom hendes farfar Kong Christian 10 også var Konge af Island, da hun blev født, modtog hun også det islandske navn, Þórhildur, der indholder det islandske bogstav Þ^[2]

I 1944, da Margrethe var fire år gammel, blev hendes første søster Prinsesse Benedikte født. Hun giftede sig senere med Prins Richard zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. To år senere, i 1946, blev hendes næste søster Prinsesse Anne-Marie født. Hun blev senere gift med Kong Konstantin 2. af Grækenland.

Den 20. april 1947 døde Kong Christian 10., og hendes far besteg tronen som Kong Frederik 9.

Tronfølger

Med Grundloven af 5. juni 1953 blev Landstinget nedlagt og den parlamentaristiske sædvane indskrevet i lovteksten. Samtidig ændredes Tronfølgeloven, så der indførtes kvindelig arvefølge til tronen, dog havde drengebørn fortrinsret til tronen. Da Frederik 9. kun havde døtre, blev Prinsesse Margrethe dermed tronfølger.

Prinsesse Margrethe blev konfirmeret på Fredensborg Slot den 1. april 1955.

På sin 18-års fødselsdag i 1958 blev hun optaget i statsrådet, hvor hun ledede møderne under sin fars fravær.

Uddannelse

Hun gik i folkeskole på N. Zahles Skole i København, hvorfra hun også blev student i 1959 som privatist.^[3] Margrethe har deltaget i forskellige studier i Danmark, Frankrig og England: Hun har taget filosofikum ved Københavns Universitet i 1960, fulgte arkæologi ved Cambridge University fra 1960-1961, statskundskab ved Aarhus Universitet fra 1961-1963 samt forskellige studier ved Sorbonne i 1963 og ved London School of Economics i 1965.

Ægteskab

Den 10. juni 1967 blev hun i Holmens Kirke gift med den franske diplomat Henri-Marie-Jean André greve de Laborde de Monpezat, der herefter fik titlen Prins Henrik og nu tituleres Hans Kongelige Højhed Prinsgemalen.

Margrethe fødte den 26. maj 1968 tronarvingen Frederik André Henrik Christian (Kronprins Frederik). Den 7. juni 1969 fulgte parrets anden søn Joachim Holger Waldemar Christian (Prins Joachim).

Dronning

Ved sin fars død den 14. januar 1972 besteg hun tronen som Margrethe 2. af Danmark. Hun blev udråbt som dronning fra Christiansborg Slots balkon af statsminister Jens Otto Krag den 15. januar 1972. Dronningen valgte som valgsprog: Guds hjælp, Folkets kærlighed, Danmarks styrke.

Dronning Margrethe blev fejlagtigt betegnet som den anden Margrethe-dronning. Margrete 1. var imidlertid ikke dronning, idet datiden i 1300-tallet kun tillod kvinder som Danmarks riges formynder. Hun var formynder for sin søn Oluf, men ved hans død i 1387 valgte Rigsrådet Margrete til regent. Margrethe 2. er officielt den første regerende dronning af Danmark, idet kvindelig arvefølge først blev indført med grundlovsændringen af 1953.

Dronning Margrethe blev farmor første gang den 28. august 1999, da Prins Joachim og hans daværende hustru Prinsesse Alexandra (nu Alexandra, grevinde af Frederiksborg) fødte Prins Nikolai. Siden fulgte 6 børnebørn, hvoraf tronarvingen Christian Valdemar Henri John (Prins Christian), søn af Kronprins Frederik og Kronprinsesse Mary, fødtes den 15. oktober 2005.

Opgaver

I følge Danmarks Riges Grundlov er Danmarks styreform konstitutionelt monarki, hvilket betyder at monarken er statsoverhoved i et land med en demokratisk valgt regering. Monarkens beføjelser er reguleret gennem en forfatning.

I Danmark er monarken afskåret fra alene at udføre politiske handlinger, da dette er regeringen og Folketingets opgave. Love skal underskrives af regenten og af den pågældende fagminister før de er gyldige. Endvidere har Dronningen er vigtig rolle i forhold til udnævnelse af og afsked af regeringer. Dronningen har i forbindelse med en såkaldt dronningerunde en vigtig opgave i at udpege den person, der kan mønstre størst opbakning og dermed også skabe grundlag for at danne regering. Når en folketingsvalgt person har skabt grundlag for en regering, der ikke har et flertal i mod sig i Folketinget, vil personen meddele Dronningen dette og anbefale en regeringsudnævnelse på dette grundlag.

type=printed

subject=royal figure - women

period=post-war (1945-present)

postage condition=unposted

number of items=single

size=continental/ modern (150x100 mm)

county/ country=denmark