The monarch will make a surprise retirement on January 14. His eldest son, Crown Prince Frederick, succeeded him.
Danish Queen Margrethe II abdicates. The 83-year-old said in his televised New Year's address on Sunday evening that he intends to step down as regent on January 14, 2024. The King has been the head of Denmark since January 14, 1972. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Crown Prince Frederick. This announcement created a stir in the country. Margrethe had previously insisted that she wanted to remain on the throne until her death.
“I have decided now is the right time. On January 14, 2024 – 52 years after I had my beloved father – I will abdicate as Queen of Denmark. “I will hand over the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik,” the monarch said. As announced by the Danish chancellor, King Frederik will ascend the throne as Frederik X at the same time as Frederik abdicates. However, Margrethe will continue to be referred to as “Her Majesty” in future.
“Totally History”
Danish media described the Queen's announcement as “absolutely historic”. Spontaneous applause broke out among the spectators gathered in the palace square in front of Amalienborg Palace.
Margrethe ascended the throne after the death of her father Frederick IX in 1972. Inheritance. In addition to EU country Denmark, their kingdom also includes Greenland and the tiny Faroe Islands. The ever-radiant and often smoking ruler was popular with the masses, and his New Year's Eve speeches gained a particularly cult status. He is considered highly creative and artistically inclined, practical and sometimes unconventional. Her husband, French-born Prince Henrik (Henri de Laborde de Monpezat), died in 2018 after 50 years of marriage. After the death of British Queen Elizabeth II, who was a third cousin, Margrethe was considered the longest-serving monarch on earth.
The future Danish King Frederik was born in Copenhagen in 1968, the eldest son of the then Crown Princess and had a military career. He has a younger brother named Joachim. Frederick has been married to Australian Mary Donaldson since 2004; The couple has two sons and two daughters. (APA)
