A tale of two Queens. In touching detail, historian IAN LLOYD reveals how Denmark’s Margrethe has been inspired by her friend, cousin and mentor, our own Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II was more than a fellow head of state to Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. She was a friend, a cousin, and a role model.

The late queen’s devotion to duty was an inspiration to Margrethe, who once admitted: ‘She is a good deal more experienced than I am.’

Elizabeth taught her ‘that I must somehow understand that I must dedicate my life to my nation like she has done, and in that way she has been very important to me.’

Elizabeth also made it clear to Margrethe that the monarchy is ‘a task you have handed down to you and that you keep as long as you live.’

This shared belief that being sovereign is a job for life, made this week’s abdication announcement – which came out of the blue – all the more surprising.

Having said that, Margrethe may well had had the late queen in mind since her priority is for a smooth transition of her throne to Crown Prince Frederick.

Elizabeth II, as an anointed sovereign, would never have abdicated but in February 2022 she memorably asked the country to give Charles and Camilla ‘the same support that you have given me’ and endorsed Camilla as her son’s queen consort.

Which is to say, there seems to have been a strong threat of planning and preparation for the future in the late Queen’s final years.

Similarly, Margrethe would have taken on board the no-nonsense way that Elizabeth stripped Harry and Meghan of their HRH status, their royal patronages and the prince’s honorary military titles once they had decided to step down as working royals in 2020.

In a similar move – and one provoking controversy at home – the Danish queen removed the titles prince and princess from the four children of her younger son Prince Joaquim.

As with Elizabeth II, it hurt her to do so but Margrethe thought it a necessary measure, commenting that ‘difficulties and disagreements can arise in any family, including mine.’

Elizabeth and Margrethe were not only friends, they were also third cousins.

Both are great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria and also of Denmark’s King Christian IX, whose daughter was Elizabeth’s great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra (Queen Consort of Edward VII).

Prince Philip had an even closer tie to Margarethe.

He was born Prince Philippos of Greece, but the Greek royal family were in fact Danish.

Philip’s grandfather was Prince William of Denmark, who agreed to take on the vacant throne of Greece, serving as King George I.

While Elizabeth and Margrethe addressed each other in public as ‘Your Majesty’, in private Margrethe was known to her cousin as ‘Daisy’.

This was the Danish queen had been named after her British-born grandmother Princess Margaret (‘Daisy’) of Connaught, one of Victoria’s many granddaughters.

Elizabeth was known to Margrethe by her family of ‘Lilibet’ as her cousin once explained:

‘That’s the way we have known each other always. That is what we call each other when we see and speak to one another. We are definitely affectionate, but I don’t want to splash it all over the place!’

Margrethe was 31 when she became queen.

Fourteen years younger than Elizabeth, she had watched on as Lilibet succeeded her father aged just 25.

‘When I was growing up, I hoped I wouldn’t be as young as that when my father died,’ Margrethe said decades later.

‘It made an enormous impression on me. The fact that she was dedicating her life. I understood what that meant. This is for life. That is the whole point of my life. And I know she sees that too.’

‘When I was growing up, my mother and father said to me, look at what they do in England, and I could see that it could be done and it was worthwhile and you could live a very full life with it, even with a heavy schedule and demanding job.

‘Both she and I see it as a dedication, but also a job.’

When she became queen in 1972 Margrethe soon realised ‘one has a position which is in some ways alone, but one depends on all sorts of people…. It’s important to know that you are not alone.’

Sharing the burden, were their two consorts. Both women married before succeeding to the throne, and both married foreigners – Philip was a Greek prince and the French-born Prince Henrik had been a diplomat.

The two men were both outspoken, controversial characters, who modernised the two royal courts and were impatient with bureaucracy. Margrethe once said, ‘my husband has found it difficult I know.’

The onset of dementia made it worse. Henrik once went on strike until he had an increase in his allowance from the state and he was incensed when his son, Crown Prince Frederick was placed above him in the order of precedence.

Much sadness was caused when he refused to attend Margrethe’s 75th birthday celebrations and also announced that he did not wish to be buried alongside her.

Beside admiring Elizabeth’s sense of duty, Margrethe loved her sense of humour.

She was in the royal box for the opening of the London Olympic Games in 2012 and like all the other guests was taken in by Elizabeth’s involvement in the James Bond spoof.

‘There was the queen sitting with her back to the camera and I thought “Is that somebody being very clever impersonating her, and she got up and it was her! What a good sport.”

Afterwards, she continued, ‘I told her how much I admired that she had taken part and told her that we all thought it was absolutely wonderful.’

According to Daisy, Elizabeth ‘enjoyed the surprise – apparently she hadn’t even told her children.’

Margrethe was the head of state the late Queen saw most of.

Protocol dictates that a Queen Regnant such as Margrethe should only make one state visit to a country during the reign of a fellow monarch.

The Danish queen was, however, invited twice, first in 1974 and again in 2000.

Elizabeth bestowed the Royal Victorian Chain on her cousin in 1972 – a rare honour, with less than a dozen living recipients.

She was also made only the seventh Lady of the Garter since Queen Alexandra became the first in 1901.

Elizabeth and Philip both received Denmark’s highest order of chivalry, the Order of the Elephant, as a wedding present in 1947, though rather than in a formal presentation ceremony, Margrethe’s father, King Frederick sent it in the ordinary post.

Elizabeth also made Daisy Colonel-in-Chief of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment in 1997 the year after Princess Diana renounced the role following her divorce.

Margrethe and the other members of the ‘Trade Union of Kings’ as Edward VII dubbed his fellow monarchs often gathered to mark significant state occasions in Britain including three of Elizabeth’s four jubilees, and her silver and golden and wedding anniversaries.

In addition, Margrethe has a house in Belgravia just behind Buckingham Palace and once said Elizabeth ‘always invites me for lunch when I am in London – when we talk about family, how things are going in this country and that country and what the children are up to.’

Elizabeth’s death in September 2022 coincided with the celebrations in Denmark marking Margrethe’s golden jubilee.

Many events were cancelled as a mark of respect.

One that went ahead was a gala at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. Before it began, Margrethe called for a minute of silence to honour Elizabeth.

Daisy travelled to London for the funeral in September 2022.

As she attended the late queen’s Lying in State at Westminster Hall, she was photographed clearly tearful and looking rather desolate.

On the news of Elizabeth’s death, her cousin sent a special letter to King Charles III that read:

‘Deeply moved by the sad news of your beloved mother’s death, I send you and Camilla my warmest thoughts and prayers.

‘Your mother was very important to me and my family. She was a towering figure among the European monarchs and a great inspiration to us all. We shall miss her terribly.’

• Ian Lloyd is the author of The Queen: 70 Chapters in the Life of Elizabeth II, (The History Press)