Queen Margrethe made her traditional balcony appearance on Thursday for her birthday celebration

A throng of well-wishers cheered Queen Margrethe II today at Amalienborg Palace, as the press and public gathered to celebrate her 69th birthday.

As is traditional, the Queen and the rest of the royal family appeared on the balcony of Christian IX Palace to greet the public, many of whom were proudly waving their small Danish flags.

The red and white of the Dannebrog flag also adorned public buses and businesses today in honour of the Queen’s birthday.

The Queen led the crowd of thousands in a rousing round of the Danish version of  ‘Happy Birthday’, while her four grandchildren waved excitedly to the crowd. Princess Isabella, who celebrates her 2nd birthday on Tuesday, seemed initially hesitant, but eventually had to be coaxed away from waving to the crowd as the family left the balcony.

Laura and Danielle, two students from Rhode Island in the US, are studying in Denmark and were very impressed by the turnout.

‘It’s, like, really cool. This would never happen in the States,’ said one of the girls.

In 1972, Margrethe II was crowned queen after the constitution was changed to allow female royals to take the throne if they had no older or younger brothers.

A referendum is likely to be held in June to decide if another change should be made to the Act of Succession to allow the eldest royal child to inherit the throne, regardless of gender. If the change is passed, it will not affect the royal family for at least the next two generations, as Crown Prince Frederik is next in line, followed by his son, Christian.