Princess Margaret of Denmark

Princess Margaret of Denmark (Margrethe Françoise Louise Marie Helene; 17 September 1895 – 18 September 1992) was a Danish princess by birth and a princess of Bourbon-Parma as the wife of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma. She was the youngest grandchild of Christian IX of Denmark and Queen Louise.

Her parents were Prince Valdemar of Denmark, youngest son of Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel, and Princess Marie d'Orleans. Her parents had agreed beforehand that all their sons would be raised Lutheran, their father's creed, and all their daughters Roman Catholic, their mother's faith. She was therefore the first Danish princess since the Reformation raised a Roman Catholic. She was named for her mother's sister Princess Marguerite d'Orléans. Her mother died in 1909.

She married a Catholic prince, her mother's relative, Prince René of Bourbon-Parma (Schwarzau, 17 October 1894 – Hellerup, Copenhagen, 30 July 1962) on 9 June 1921 at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Copenhagen. His father was Robert I, Duke of Parma. His mother was the Duke's second wife Princess Maria Antonia, daughter of the exiled King Miguel I of Portugal. René was the brother of Empress Zita of Austria and of Felix, the consort of Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.

René and Margrethe had four children:

• Prince Jacques of Bourbon-Parma (9 June 1922 – 5 November 1964) married Birgitte von Holstein-Ledreborg, Countess of Holstein-Ledreborg on 9 June 1947. They have three children and two grandsons:
  • Prince Philippe of Bourbon-Parma (born 22 January 1949) married Annette Smith on 5 May 1979. They have two sons:
    • Prince Jacques Carl Christian Marie of Bourbon-Parma (b. 3 January 1986)
    • Prince Joseph Axel Alain Erik Marie of Bourbon-Parma (b. 6 June 1989)
  • Princess Lorraine Charlotte of Bourbon-Parma (b. 27 July 1951)
  • Prince Alain Jean of Bourbon-Parma (b. 15 May 1955) married Inge-Birgitte Vedel Andersen on 3 March 2001.
• Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma (18 September 1923 – 1 August 2016) she married King Michael I of Romania on 10 June 1948. They had five daughters.
• Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma (4 March 1926 – 7 July 2018) he married Princess Yolande de Broglie-Revel on 9 June 1951 and they have five children and twelve grandchildren. They divorced in 1966. He remarried Princess Maria Pia of Savoy on 17 May 2003.
• Prince André of Bourbon-Parma (6 March 1928 – 22 October 2011) he married Marina Gacry on 2 May 1960. They have three children and six grandchildren:
  • Princess Tania Sophie of Bourbon-Parma (b. 13 November 1961) she married Gilbert Jacques Marcel Bécaud on 9 August 1988. They have three children:
    • Marguerite Bécaud (b. 3 January 1993)
    • Héléna Bécaud (b. 1998)
    • Dagmar Bécaud (b. 2004)
  • Princess Astrid of Bourbon-Parma (b. 22 September 1964)
  • Prince Axel of Bourbon-Parma (b. 18 September 1967) he married Raphaele de Montagnon on 17 August 1996. They have three children:
    • Prince Côme of Bourbon-Parma (b. 7 May 1997)
    • Princess Alice of Bourbon-Parma (b. 26 March 2000)
    • Princess Aure of Bourbon-Parma (b. 13 December 2004)

In June 1951, Margaret was travelling in a car her husband was driving when they ran over a 22-year-old man, Jaja Sorensen, who died soon after being taken to hospital.

The family was poor compared to other royalty. They chiefly resided in France, where all of their children were born. In 1939 the family fled from the Nazis and escaped to Spain. From there they went to Portugal and then to the United States. There, in New York, Margrethe made a living making hats while her husband worked at a gas company and her daughter as a shop assistant. They returned to Paris after the war. She died one day after her 97th birthday, on the 69th birthday of her daughter Anne. She was the last child of Prince Valdemar and the longest lived and last grandchild of Christian IX.