Queen Margrethe II, the longest-reigning monarch in Denmark’s history, has announced that she will abdicate in January 2024.
The news came during Margrethe’s New Year’s speech on Sunday, when the queen, 83, revealed that her son, Crown Prince Frederik, would succeed her as Denmark’s new king.
“I have decided that now is the right time. On January 14, 2024, 52 years after succeeding my beloved father — I will step down as Queen of Denmark. I leave the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik,” she said, according to an English translation of the official transcription of the speech.
Queen Margrethe of Denmark in July 2023.
CLAUS FISKER/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty
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“In 14 days I will be Queen of Denmark for 52 years,” she also said in the speech. “Such a long time does not pass without a trace for any human being – not even for me! Time passes and ‘diseases’ increase. You no longer deal with the same things as you could before.”
Her announcement comes after the Danish Royal House announced back in February that the Queen had undergone “extensive back surgery” which was going “as planned”.
As she noted in her final televised speech, the monarch revealed that the medical procedure “prompted thinking about the future – whether the time has come to pass the responsibility on to the next generation”.
The Danish Royal House shared the following statement on Instagram: “Her Majesty the Queen announced tonight, in her New Year’s address, that Her Majesty will step down as Queen of Denmark on 14 January 2024 and hand over the throne to HRH the Royal Family.”
In an additional announcement that included a translation of Queen Margrethe’s speech, the Danish royal house noted that she thanked her supporters and the people of Denmark for their “enormous warmth and support that I have received over the years.”
“Thanks to the changing governments, which were always worth working with, and to the Parliament, which has always shown me trust,” the statement reads. “I thank all the many, many people who, at special events and everyday, surrounded me and my family with words and thoughts full of love. That made this year many gems.” “The support and help I received over the years was crucial in enabling me to complete my assignment,” she added. “I hope that the new royal couple will be met with the same trust and affection that they shared with me. Det merkerning de! Det merkerning Danmark!”
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In July, Queen Margrethe became the Scandinavian country’s longest-reigning monarch, more than five decades after she succeeded her father Frederik IX in January 1972. In January, she would have served 52 years as Queen of Denmark.
Queen Margrethe was the first woman allowed to inherit the throne in Denmark after the Succession Act of 1953. She married Prince Henrik in 1967 and the couple had two children, Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim. Her decision to step down follows the death of her husband in 2018 at the age of 83.
After the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in September 2022, she became the only reigning female monarch in Europe.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education