Margrieta III

Margrieta III (Margrieta Agnese Āboliņš-Čaklais; born 14 February 1986) is the Queen of Galvia. She ascended the throne after turning 21 on 14 February 2007, replacing her uncle, Prince Arvīds, who had been acting as since 1989.

She is the eldest child and only daughter of Queen Margrieta II, and Prince Valerijs, Duke of Lietus. Her mother died on 17 October 1989 during the Bombing of the Zirnītis Opera House in the city of Sienal when Margrieta was three years old. Upon her mother's death, her uncle, the then Crown Prince Arvīds became heir apparent and ascended the throne on the same day as Crown Regent of Galvia, until Margrieta met the minimum ruling age requirement at 21 years old.

Her ascension to the throne was met with certain controversy as her uncle had been ruling for 18 years, and had benefited from the support and sympathy for the Monarchy from the general public that resulted from his sister's assassination. Margrieta III also replaced her uncle a year after, and was not present for the first year of her grand secretariat's term, Andrejs Lagzdiņš. She also was not able to appoint the nobles of her choosing to represent the Crown Capital Territory at the of parliament. Despite of this, Margrieta has been regarded as one of the most beloved monarchs in Galvian history, attributed to her, openness to the public, and active participation in national politics, uncommon behavior for previous monarchs.

The Queen's heir apparent is Crown Prince Kaspars, the eldest child of the Queen and her husband Olivjē, born in 2009. His sister and brother, Princess Aleksandrīna, and Prince Ēriks, are second and third in line to the throne, respectively. Margrieta is one of two monarchs in Galvian history to have ascended the throne at the minimum ruling age, only second to King Leonārs I, the first ever monarch of the Kingdom of Galvia, who ascended the throne on 3 January 1731.

Early life
Margrieta III was born Margrieta Agnese Āboliņš-Čaklais on 14 February 1986 in the Palace of Alma, in the Galvian capital city of Antonija, as the first child and only daughter of the late Queen Margrieta II and Prince Valerijs, Duke of Lietus. She immediately became heir apparent to the Galvian throne, replacing her uncle Prince Arvīds as first in line. Her brother, Prince Mārtiņš, Duke of Tirguš was born two years later on 14 May 1988, becoming second in line to the throne. During the earliest years of her life, Margrieta and her brother were raised in the Saskaņā Residency in the kingdom of Izaiciņa. Queen Margrieta II had made a public announcement, weeks after her daughter's birth, stating that she and her family would not reside in the national capital until Margrieta reached 5 years of age. This was not taken lightly by the general public, as the decision to raise a future monarch outside of the Roze Palace, the main residence of the royal family, had never been made. This led to several news outlets to theorize about the Queen's decision and the way the heir apparent was being raised. The situation had worsened when the Queen decided to give birth to her son, Prince Mārtiņš, in the Saskaņā Residency as opposed to one of the designated birth places for members of the royal family, which was quickly met with uncertainty from the public and some of the more vocal members of government alike. Citizens had begun to distrust the Queen's intentions, attributed to the lack of an explanation from the Royal Family, which gave way to many articles and news reports harshly criticizing the monarchy and their ability to rule.

It was under this context that Margrieta was raised for the first three years of her life, until 17 October 1989 when Queen Margrieta II was assassinated during the Bombing of the Zirnītis Opera House in the kingdom of Zināša. The Queen and her family had traveled to city of Aizsargāt to see the play Balts Pulkstenis, when sometime around 19:15 local time (UTC-1) the Opera House's ceiling collapsed onto the theatre, resulting in 56 people injured and 30 dead, including Margrieta II. The day after the incident, Prince Arvīds became the new heir apparent, as third in line to the throne but the first person to come next in the line of succession that met the minimum ruling age requirement, and ascended the throne as Crown Regent on 18 October 1989. Princess Margrieta and Prince Mārtiņš, though under direct custody of their father Valerijs, were now subject to Prince Arvīds as the head of the Royal Family, who called for his niece, nephew and brother-in-law to be restationed in the capital city in the Roze Palace.