Frederik X in the context of "Princess Benedikte of Denmark"

The House of Oldenburg is a German dynasty whose members rule or have ruled in Denmark, Iceland, Greece, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Livonia, Schleswig, Holstein, and Oldenburg. The current kings of Norway and the United Kingdom are patrilineal descendants of the Glücksburg branch of this house.

The dynasty rose to prominence when Count Christian I of Oldenburg was elected King of Denmark in 1448, of Norway in 1450 and of Sweden in 1457. Denmark's current monarch, King Frederik X, belongs to the Glücksburg branch of the House of Oldenburg through his mother, Queen Margrethe II.

Margrethe II (Danish: [mɑˈkʁeˀtə]; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly 52 years, she was the second-longest-reigning Danish monarch after Christian IV.

Margrethe was born into the House of Glücksburg, a cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King Christian X. She is the eldest child of King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid. She became heir presumptive to her father in 1953 when a constitutional amendment allowed women to inherit the throne. In 1967 she married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, with whom she had two sons, Frederik and Joachim. Margrethe succeeded her father upon his death in January 1972.

The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church (Danish: Folkekirken lit. 'the People's Church', or unofficially den danske folkekirke, 'the Danish People's Church'; Greenlandic: Ilagiit lit. 'the Congregation'), sometimes called the Church of Denmark, is the established, state-supported church in Denmark. The supreme secular authority of the church is composed of the reigning monarch and Denmark's Parliament, the Folketing. As of 2025, 70.7% of the population of Denmark are members, though membership is voluntary.

Christianity was introduced to Denmark in the 9th century by Ansgar, Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. In the 10th century, King Harald Bluetooth became Christian and began organizing the church, and by the 11th century, the country was fully Christianized. Since the Reformation in Denmark, the church has been Lutheran, while retaining much of its high church pre-Reformation liturgical traditions.

The history of Denmark as a unified kingdom began in the 8th century, but historic documents describe the geographic area and the people living there—the Danes—as early as 500 AD. These early documents include the writings of Jordanes and Procopius. With the Christianization of the Danes c. 960 AD, it is clear that there existed a kingship. King Frederik X can trace his lineage back to the Viking kings Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth from this time, thus making the Monarchy of Denmark the oldest in Europe. The area now known as Denmark has a rich prehistory, having been populated by several prehistoric cultures and people for about 12,000 years, since the end of the last ice age.

Denmark's history has particularly been influenced by its geographical location between the North and Baltic seas, a strategically and economically important placement between Sweden and Germany, at the center of mutual struggles for control of the Baltic Sea (dominium maris baltici). Denmark was long in disputes with Sweden over control of Skånelandene and with Germany over control of Schleswig (a Danish fief) and Holstein (a German fief).

The Danish royal family is the dynastic family of the monarch of Denmark. While some members of the Danish royal family hold the title of Prince(ss) of Denmark, descendants of Margrethe II additionally bear the title Count(ess) of Monpezat. Children of the monarch are accorded the style of His/Her Royal Highness. The King and Queen are styled Majesty.

Through his mother, Margrethe II, King Frederik X and his descendants belong to the House of Glücksburg, which is a branch of the royal House of Oldenburg. Margrethe II's children and male-line descendants also belong agnatically to the Laborde de Monpezat family, and were given the concurrent title Count/Countess of Monpezat by royal decree on 30 April 2008.

The Act of Succession of 27 March 1953 (Danish: tronfølgeloven) is an act adopted after a 1953 referendum in Denmark and dictates the rules governing the succession to the Danish throne. The 1953 referendum changed the act so that it became possible for a woman to inherit the throne if she has no brothers, a system known as male-preference cognatic preference primogeniture. As the reigning King Frederik IX had three daughters and no sons, this made Princess Margrethe heiress presumptive to the throne, replacing her uncle Prince Knud. As Frederik IX's wife Queen Ingrid was not expected to (and did not) have any more children, this effectively ensured that Princess Margrethe would become Queen of Denmark, which she did in 1972. The act also removed the succession rights of minor members of the House of Glücksburg.

Following a referendum in 2009, the Act of Succession was amended so that primogeniture no longer puts males over females, meaning the first-born child would become heir apparent to the throne regardless of gender. The expected result of the referendum was on the balance, since 40% of the entire electorate had to vote yes in order to make the change. However, the succession amendment was confirmed by a larger turnout especially in rural areas. The change of the act had no effect on the expected line of succession at the time, but would affect the line of succession among the then Crown Prince Frederick's younger children, putting Princess Isabella (who was born in 2007) ahead of her younger brother Prince Vincent (born in 2011).

Count of Monpezat (Danish: Greve af Monpezat), or Countess of Monpezat (Danish: Komtesse af Monpezat) when the holder is female, is a hereditary title of Danish nobility. It was granted on 30 April 2008 by Queen Margrethe II to her two sons, Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim, and their legitimate patrilineal (male-line) descendants. The title is derived from the French title of "comte de Laborde de Monpezat", which was used by Frederik and Joachim's father, Prince Henrik. His family started using this title as a title of pretense in republican France in the late 19th century.

The title can only be passed down the male line, but unmarried daughters of a count hold the courtesy title komtesse (derived from the French word for countess). The wife of a count holds the courtesy title grevinde (the Danish word for countess). A komtesse (a count's daughter) cannot pass on the title to her husband or children.