Prince Henrik of Denmark

His Royal Highness Prince Henrik of Denmark, formerly Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, styled HRH The Prince Consort, (born June 11, 1934) is the Prince consort of Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

He was born in Talence, Gironde, France, the son of Comte André de Laborde de Monpezat (d. 1998) and Comtesse Renée de Monpezat, née Doursennot (d. 2002). He spent his first five years in French Indo-China (now Vietnam) where his father was in charge of family business interests. He returned to Hanoi in 1950, graduating from the French secondary school there in 1952. Between 1952 and 1957 he simultaneously studied law and political science at the Sorbonne, Paris, and Chinese and Vietnamese at the École Nationale des Langues Orientales. He also studied in Hong Kong in 1957 and Saigon in 1958.

After military service with the French army in Algeria between 1959 and 1962, in 1962 he joined the French Foreign Affairs ministry, working as a Secretary at the embassy in London from 1963 to 1967.

On 10 June 1967 he married Princess Margrethe, the Heiress Presumptive to the Danish throne. At the time of the wedding his name was Danicised to Henrik. They have two children, Crown Prince Frederik (born 26 May 1968) and Prince Joachim (born 7 June 1969).

Prince Henrik's native language is French, though he quickly learned Danish on his marriage. He also speaks fluent English, Chinese, and Vietnamese.

Publications

Prince Henrik has translated several books into Danish, as well as publishing several other books.

• In 1981, under the pseudonym H.M. Vejerbjerg he and the Queen translated Simone de Beauvoir's Tous les hommes sont mortels.
• Chemin faisant, 1982, a volume of French poems.
• Destin oblige, 1996, his memoirs as Prince Consort.
• Ikke Altid Gåselever (not always goose liver), 1999, a selection of favourite recipies.
• Cantabile, 2000, poems.
• Les escargots de Marie Lanceline, 2003.