Princess Margaret of Denmark

Princess Margaret of Denmark (Prinsesse Margrethe Françoise Louise Marie Helene til Danemark) (17 September 1895, Bernstorff Palace – 18 September 1992, Copenhagen, Denmark) was a princess of Denmark and Iceland by birth and a princess of Bourbon-Parma as the wife of Prince René of Parma.

Her parents were Prince Valdemar of Denmark, youngest son of Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), and Princess Marie d'Orleans. Her parents had agreed beforehand that their all sons will be raised Lutheran, their father's creed, and all their daughters Roman Catholic, their mother's faith. She was the first Danish princess since the Reformation born a Roman Catholic.

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 in Copenhagen. He was the third youngest son (and seventh surviving son) of the many children of 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 1947 to Birgitte Alexandra Maria, comtess of Holstein-Ledreborg (1922–2009). He was a motorsport-enthusiast, but killed in a traffic accident on a highway in Denmark. They have three children.
  • Anne of Parma (born 18 September 1923); married king Michael I of Romania. With issue.
  • Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma (born 4 March 1926); married firstly Princess Yolande de Broglie-Revel, and they have five children. Secondly, he married Princess Maria Pia of Savoy; without issue.
  • Prince André of Bourbon-Parma (6 March 1928 – 22 October 2011);

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

The family was relatively poor. They chiefly resided in France. In 1939 the family fled from the Nazis and escaped to Spain. From there they went to Portugal and then to the United States. She died one day after her 97th birthday, on the 69th birthday of her daughter Anne. She is still the longest lived member of Danish Royal House.

Read more about Princess Margaret Of Denmark:  Ancestors

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