5 things you need to know about the Queen of Denmark

Her Majesty, the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, is expected to pay a state visit to Ghana, her first visit to any West African country from November 23 to 24.

Here are five things you need to know about the Danish monarchs.

Queen for 45 years and counting…

Margrethe Alexandrine Þorhildur Ingrid, Her Majesty The Queen, became Queen of Denmark in 1972. On the occasion of her accession to the throne on 14 January 1972, HM Queen Margrethe II became the first Danish Sovereign under the new Act of Succession (The Royal House).

Education

HM The Queen attended Zahles Skole between 1946 and 1955- she was a private pupil at Amalienborg Palace from 1946 to 1949. Between 1960 and 1965, HM The Queen studied at universities in Denmark and other European countries.

Copenhagen University in 1960, University of Cambridge in 1960-61, Aarhus University in 1961-1962, at the Sorbonne in 1963 and at the London School of Economics in 1965(The Royal House).

Language

HM The Queen’s mother tongue is Danish. In addition, Her Majesty speaks French, Swedish, English and German (The Royal House).

Politics

HM The Queen takes no part in politics and does not express any political opinions. Denmark has a constitutional monarchy, which means that the monarch cannot independently perform political acts. Although The Queen signs all Acts of Parliament, these only come into force when they have been countersigned by a Cabinet Minister (The Royal House).

Number of travels and guiding principle

The Queen’s impending State Visit to Ghana in November will be her state visit no. 53. Since her accession to the throne in 1972, The Queen has been on state visits to large parts of the world. The first were to Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland, and the latest was to Indonesia in 2015 (The Royal House).