DENMARK’S QUEEN PLANS TO STEP DOWN ON JAN. 14
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, the longest-serving monarch in Europe, unexpectedly declared that she would abdicate her throne after more than a half-century, announcing in her New Year’s speech on Sunday that her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederik, would succeed her.
In her speech, Margrethe, 83, said that her age and health were factors in her decision after more than 50 years as queen. “Such a long time does not pass unnoticed for anyone — not even me,” she said. “Time wears, and ailments increase.”
In particular, she said, a back surgery she underwent this year was a factor in making her “think about the future — whether it was time to hand over responsibility to the next generation.”
“I have decided that now is the right time,” she said in her speech. “Fifty-two years after I succeeded my beloved father, I will step down as queen of Denmark.”
She said she would step down on Jan. 14. The crown prince, Frederik, is 55.
Margrethe, the eldest of three daughters of King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid, acceded to the throne after her father’s death in 1972 — and after Denmark made a constitutional change to allow female succession, allowing the king to pass over his brother for Margrethe, his eldest child.
Denmark’s royal family, like its British counterpart, holds a largely ceremonial role under a parliamentary government. But Margrethe has been credited with modernizing the Danish monarchy and restoring its popularity.
In her speech, Margrethe thanked the Danish people for their support, as well as “the successive governments, with whom it has always been rewarding to work, and to the Danish parliament, which has always trusted me.”