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Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who has ruled the country for 52 years, will leave the royal throne on January 14.
Source: Margrethe II during the New Year's speech, TV2, “European Truth”
Details: “I leave the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik,” the queen said.
The change of throne will take place on January 14, 2024, when Crown Prince Frederik becomes King of Denmark.
After the Council of State meeting, the Prime Minister will announce the change of throne at Christiansborg Castle.
The Queen has previously stated that she will remain monarch until her death.
With her departure, Margrethe also breaks with the tradition that the royal house has followed for many generations.
Queen Margrethe II took the throne on 14 January 1972 after the death of her father, King Frederik IX.
“I have decided that now is the right time. On January 14, 2024 – 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father – I will step down as Queen of Denmark,” Margrethe said.
After the succession of the throne, the Queen will continue to be titled Her Majesty.
During 2023, the Queen underwent back surgery, raising questions about whether it was time to pass on responsibility to the next generation, as outlined in the historic New Year's speech.
“The operation has naturally also given rise to reflection on the future – whether the time has come to pass on responsibility to the next generation,” the Queen said.
As such, it was also the Queen's last New Year's speech.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reacted to the news that the Queen of Denmark is stepping down after 52 years on the throne.
“On behalf of the entire population, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Her Majesty the Queen for her lifelong dedication and tireless efforts for the benefit of the Kingdom,” she said.
The Prime Minister called Queen Margrethe “the personification of Denmark.”
“Many of us have never known another monarch. Queen Margrethe personifies Denmark and has for many years poured her words and feelings into who we are as a people and as a nation,” she said in a statement.
Let us remind you: During his visit to Denmark in August, President Vladimir Zelensky also met with Queen Margrethe.
In June it became known that the 83-year-old Danish Queen Margrethe II, on the advice of doctors, decided to give up smoking, which she started at the age of 17.
At the beginning of the year, Margrethe shared her impressions of her two meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a candid interview with a Danish newspaper.
She said that when she met Putin in 2011 and 2014, she did not have a positive impression of him.
“I remember thinking that he was not pleasant. I had never seen such cold eyes in my life,” the queen said in a lengthy interview with the Weekendavisen newspaper.
