Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg was born in Copenhagen on April 16, 1940. Her third name goes back to her grandfather Christian IX, who was also King of Iceland until 1944.

After the Danish constitution was amended in 1953 to allow female succession to the throne, she replaced her uncle Knut of Denmark as heir to the royal throne. After the death of her father on January 14, 1972, she was proclaimed Queen of Denmark the next day as Margarethe II.

On June 20, 1974, she visited the Hessian state capital with her husband Prince Henrik of Denmark during a trip to Germany. Mayor Schmitt welcomed the royal guests in the ballroom of the town hall. Margarethe II expressed her thanks for the friendly welcome and focused her speech on the beauty of the city and the region, which she was able to see for herself during a tour. The royal couple then signed the city's Golden Book, just like their ancestors Christian X of Denmark and Oskar II of Sweden and Norway 72 years earlier.