Queen Margrethe of Denmark reached a major milestone this month.
In an Instagram post shared on Saturday, the Danish Royal House said that Queen Margrethe, 83, is now the longest-reigning monarch in the Scandinavian country’s history, surpassing King Christian IV, who lived from 1577 to 1648.
“So far it has been Christian IV, who was barely 11 years old when he was chosen to become king on his father’s death in 1588,” the post explained. “As he was not yet of legal age, however, a guardian government was installed, which in the coming years took care of the country’s leadership. It was not until August 1596 that Christian IV was installed as king. Christian IV then ruled until his death in February 1648 – that is, for approximately 51 years and six months.”
“Her Majesty the Queen took over the throne from her father, Frederik IX, on 14 January 1972,” the post continued, “and is thus from the middle of this month the longest-reigning monarch in Danish history.”
The post was accompanied by pictures of the Queen taken Saturday aboard the Royal Ship Dannebrog.
Queen Margrethe became the first woman allowed to inherit the throne in her country after the 1953 Act of Succession “gave women the right of succession to the Danish Throne… however only secondarily,” according to Denmark’s official website.
The Act of Succession was amended again in 2009, “when full equality in the succession to the throne was introduced,” per Denmark’s website. “That means the regent’s oldest child — regardless of gender — inherits the throne (so-called primogeniture).”
Queen Margrethe married Prince Henrik in 1967, a union that lasted until his death in 2018 at the age of 83. The couple has two children, Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim.
As Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, Queen Margrethe doesn’t take part in politics, according to the Danish Royal House. Her duties as head of state include participating in the formation of a new government and hosting official visits from foreign heads of state and making state visits outside of Denmark.
Queen Margarethe became Europe’s only ruling female monarch following the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth on Sept. 8, 2022. The U.K.’s late Queen ruled for 70 years, a record in its own right — and in 2022, she became the second-longest reigning monarch in world history.
Queen Margrethe led a moment of silence in honor of Queen Elizabethduring her own Golden Jubilee, when she celebrated her 50-year reign at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. In addition, Queen Margrethe scaled back a majority of the weekend’s festivities out of respect for Queen Elizabeth.
Source: People
