There are so many royal families in Europe; after a minute, they all start to sound the same. One has to really dive into the history, the people behind the palace walls, and the backstory to see how unique each royal family is. The Danish Royal Family is elegant, unique, modern, and so interesting.
The Danish Royal Family Backstory
The Danish Royal family is comprised of a branch of the Royal House of Oldenburg, called the House of Glücksburg. They own a stunning nine royal residences worldwide but primarily call the Amalienborg Castle in Copenhagen home. Compared to other royal families across the globe, this family is seemingly down-to-earth. They send their kids to public school and grocery shop around town like everyday folk. While they are certainly not down and out regarding finances, they are not loaded up to the eyeballs like some other Royals in the world.
Members of the Danish Royal Family
Who runs the world? Girls! Well, in this country, ladies reign supreme, literally. Get to know the Danish Queen and her kin.
Meet Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II of Denmark is the daughter of Frederick IX of Denmark and Ingrid of Sweden. While she reigns Queen over her people, the road to Queenship wasn't a right from birth. In 1953, her father had the constitution amended, allowing women to take the throne as rightful heirs. Margarethe had two sons with her deceased husband, the eldest being the next in line for the Danish throne. She is well-known to be an accomplished painter and is worth roughly $40 million.
Crown Prince Frederik
The Queen's eldest son, Prince Frederik, is next in line to sit atop the throne. He was named after his grandfather and, according to Danish tradition, would have had to either be named Frederik or Christian, as all heirs are. He and his brother grew up attending regular school with other typical Danish children. He met his wife, Mary Donaldson, at the 2000 Olympics, and the pair was married some four years later. The couple has four children together.
Prince Joachim
The second son of Queen Margarethe is Prince Joachim. He stands sixth in line to inherit the throne behind his older brother and his brother's four children. In 1995, he married Alexandra Christina Manley. Together, they had two children, Prince Nikolai and Prince Felix. The couple divorced in 2005 but remained close friends following their split. Joachim later went on to wed Marie Cavallier. They have two children together as well, Prince Henrik and Princess Athena.
Royal Wives Club
Margarethe only bore sons, but she gained daughters through her children's marriages. These are the women who married into the Danish Royal Family.
Alexandra Christina Manley
Alexandra Christina Manley was the first woman to join the Danish Royal Wives Club when she wed second son Joachim in 1995. Manley was born in Hong Kong and later studied international business at Vienna University and Economics and Business in Austria. After her education, she returned to Hong Kong, where she met Prince Joachim at a party in 1994. The couple fell hard and fast and were wed a year later. As a Danish princess, Alexandra was adored by the people and often referred to as "The Diana of the North." Her marriage dissolved in 2005, and she went on to remarry and divorce again in 2015. While she is no longer married to a Prince, she remains a Countess.
Marie Cavallier
Prince Joachim went on to marry Marie Cavallier, following his split from his first wife. The French-born beauty seemed to fit into this royal family very well, becoming friendly with Prince Frederik's wife early on and even becoming friends with her husband's first wife, Countess Alexandra. Upon marrying Prince Joachim, Marie also became an instant stepmother to her new husband's two children from his first union. She has two children with her husband, a young son, and a daughter and enjoys pastimes like bike riding, running, and skiing. She and her husband also share a love of racing.
Mary Donaldson
Princess Mary is the mother to four of the royal grandchildren, all of whom stand in line to inherit the Danish throne after their father. As a child, Mary excelled at athletics and music, riding horses competitively, playing basketball, hockey, the flute, clarinet, and piano. Donaldson met her future husband at the Sydney Olympics and moved to Denmark in 2001. She learned Danish and also speaks English and French. Mary supports numerous humanitarian causes and started Mary's Foundation. The organization aims to improve the lives of those who have found themselves socially isolated because of environment, heredity, illness, or other circumstances.
The Royal Grandkids
- Prince Christian - Son of Prince Frederik and Princess Mary
- Princess Isabella - Daughter of Prince Frederik and Princess Mary
- Prince Vincent - Son of Prince Frederik and Princess Mary
- Princess Josephine - Daughter of Prince Frederik and Princess Mary
- Prince Nikolai - Son of Prince Joachim and his first wife Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg
- Prince Felix - Son of Prince Joachim and his first wife Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg
- Prince Henrick - Firstborn child of Prince Joachim and Marie Cavallier
- Princess Athena - Youngest daughter of Prince Joachim and Marie Cavallier
New Age Royal Family
Of all the royal families in Europe, the Danish Royal Family is a modern gang who manages to infuse history and timeless tradition with contemporary life and less scandal than other royal families. The Danes seem to really love their Royal Family. When the Queen took the throne, the approval rating for the monarchy was about 42%. In 2020, over 80% of the Danish people thought abolishing the monarchy was a bad idea. From the perspective of the Danes, long live the Queen and her kin.
