Anne-Marie (Greek: Άννα-Μαρία, romanized: Ánna-María; born Princess Anne-Marie Dagmar Ingrid of Denmark, 30 August 1946) is a Danish princess who was Queen of Greece as the consort of King Constantine II from their marriage on 18 September 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy on 1 June 1973.
Anne-Marie is the youngest daughter of Frederik IX of Denmark and Ingrid of Sweden. In 1964, she married Constantine and became queen consort of Greece. They had five children: Princess Alexia, Crown Prince Pavlos, Prince Nikolaos, Princess Theodora, and Prince Philippos. As queen, Anne-Marie spent much of her time working for a charitable foundation known as "Her Majesty's Fund", a foundation established by her mother-in-law, Queen Frederica of Greece. In 1967, Anne-Marie and her family were forced into exile upon the rise of a military dictatorship. After fleeing to Rome, they eventually settled in London, when the Greek monarchy was officially abolished.
Anne-Marie and her family were stripped of their Greek citizenship and had their property revoked, leading them to sue in the European Court of Human Rights. From the compensation she earned, Anne-Marie set up the "Anne-Marie Foundation", which provided assistance to people in rural areas of Greece. In 2013, she and Constantine moved back to Greece. They moved to Athens in 2022, where Constantine died in January the following year.
Anne-Marie was born on 30 August 1946 at Frederik VIII's Palace, an 18th-century palace which forms part of the Amalienborg Palace complex in central Copenhagen. She was the third and last daughter and child of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid of Denmark. Her father was the eldest son of Christian X of Denmark and Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; her mother, born a princess of Sweden, was the only daughter of the Crown Prince of Sweden (later King Gustaf VI Adolf) and Princess Margaret of Connaught. At birth, Anne-Marie had two elder sisters: Princess Margrethe (later queen of Denmark) and Princess Benedikte (who became princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg).
Anne-Marie was baptised on 9 October at the Holmen Church in Copenhagen. Her godparents were her paternal grandparents, King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine of Denmark; her maternal grandfather, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden; her maternal uncle Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland; her paternal great-uncle King Haakon VII of Norway; her paternal great-aunt Princess Dagmar of Denmark; her grandfather's cousin Prince George of Greece and Denmark; her father's cousin, Crown Princess Märtha of Norway; Queen Mary of the United Kingdom; and Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands.
Anne-Marie is a great-great-granddaughter of both Queen Victoria and Christian IX of Denmark. Therefore, she is related to many other members of European royalty, such as her future husband Constantine II, who is also a great-great-grandchild of both Queen Victoria and Christian IX of Denmark. Moreover, Anne-Marie is the maternal aunt of Frederik X of Denmark, the first cousin of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, and an aunt by marriage of Felipe VI of Spain.
Anne-Marie and her sisters grew up in apartments at Frederik VIII's Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen and in Fredensborg Palace in North Zealand. She spent summer holidays with the royal family in her parents' summer residence at Gråsten Palace in Southern Jutland. On 20 April 1947, less than a year after Anne-Marie's birth, her grandfather, Christian X, died, and her father ascended the throne as King Frederik IX.
At the time of her father's accession to the throne, only males could ascend the throne of Denmark. As Anne-Marie's parents had no sons, it was assumed that her paternal uncle, Prince Knud, would one day assume the throne. The popularity of Frederik IX and his daughters and the more prominent role of women in Danish life paved the way for a new Act of Succession in 1953 which permitted female succession to the throne following the principle of male-preference primogeniture, where a female can ascend to the throne if she has no brothers. Her eldest sister, Margrethe, therefore became heir presumptive, and Benedikte and Anne-Marie became second and third in the line of succession.
Anne-Marie was educated at N. Zahle's School, a private school in Copenhagen, from 1952 to 1961. In 1961, she attended the Chatelard School for Girls, an English boarding school outside Montreux in Switzerland. In 1963 and 1964, she attended the Institut Le Mesnil, a Swiss finishing school also in Montreux. Upon returning from schooling, Anne-Marie undertook childcare work for a few years. This was in approval of her mother, who wished for her to become a good housewife to her future husband.
In 1959, at the age of 13, Anne-Marie first met her future husband, her third cousin Constantine, Crown Prince of Greece, who accompanied his parents, King Paul and Queen Frederica, on a state visit to Denmark. Constantine at the time was 19 years old. They met a second time in Denmark in 1961, when Constantine declared to his parents his intention to marry Anne-Marie. The pair became secretly engaged without telling the public nor members of their families due to Frederik IX's opposition to their relationship because of her young age. They met again in Athens in May 1962 at the wedding of Constantine's older sister, Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark, and Prince Juan Carlos of Spain. Anne-Marie was a bridesmaid, while Constantine was a groomsman for the future monarchs of Spain. The couple spent time in Athens afterward and told their families about their engagement. They met again in 1963 at the centenary celebrations of the Greek monarchy. Though it had already been revealed to their family, their engagement was announced to the public during these celebrations. Following this, Anne-Marie began studying the history of Greece and the history of the Greek monarchy, as well as taking Modern Greek lessons in order to learn the language of the country her husband was to reign over.
Constantine's mother, Frederica, initially requested that one million dollars be spent on the wedding, however, the private office of the Danish royal family denied this. The Danish and Greek royal families eventually agreed on two million dollars being invested in the wedding. Prior to it being spent, this money was stored in the Swiss banking system. In July 1964, the announcement of the engagement of Constantine and Anne-Marie raised the polite protests of the Left in Denmark. Previously, on 6 March 1964, King Paul died, and Constantine succeeded him as King of the Hellenes. There was speculation that as a result of Paul's death, the wedding would be postponed and delayed. However, Frederica requested that their marriage take place on its original date. Anne-Marie and Constantine were married on 18 September 1964 (two weeks after Anne-Marie's 18th birthday) in the Metropolis, the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Athens. Anne-Marie converted from Lutheranism to the Greek Orthodox Church on 21 April 1965, seven months and three days after her marriage, with special permission from the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece, in order for her to be able to celebrate the Easter, which was four days later.
As she was marrying a foreign ruler, consent to the marriage was given on the condition that Anne-Marie renounce her succession rights to the Danish throne for herself and her descendants.
As Queen of Greece, Anne-Marie's initial primary role was to provide the nation with an heir who would eventually take over as King. Anne-Marie spent much of her time working for a charitable foundation known as "Her Majesty's Fund" and later as the "Anne-Marie Foundation", which provided assistance to people in rural areas of Greece. Her Majesty's Fund was an organisation set up by Frederica during her husband's reign which aimed at assisting the poor and disadvantaged. Anne-Marie also worked closely with the Red Cross and other not-for-profit charities.