On New Year’s Eve, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark unexpectedly announced that she has decided to abdicate the throne and will step down on the 14th of January, exactly 52 years after taking the throne, and hand it over to her son Crown Prince Frederik on the 1st of January, reports the BBC.
According to the media outlet, in the early 1990s Crown Prince Frederik, 55, was known in Denmark as a party prince, but perceptions of him began to change after he graduated from Aarhus University in 1995 with a master’s degree in political science.
He was the first member of the Danish royal family to have a university degree.
Crown Prince Frederik served in the Danish navy and is also known for his adventurous spirit, having taken part in a four-month skiing expedition in Greenland in 2000. Despite his royal status, he stresses that he wants to maintain his authentic, adventurous identity, expressing his desire not to be confined to living in the palace even after he ascends the throne.
Crown Prince Frederick, like King Charles III of Great Britain, is known for his passion for the environment. He has promised to “steer the ship” of Denmark into the future.
The Crown Prince’s wife, Australian-born Princess Mary, met him in 2000 while working as a lawyer in Sydney during the Olympic Games. The couple, who are considered to represent the modern values, prioritise a normal lifestyle for their four children – twins, a daughter and a son – and despite their royal status, the children attend state schools.
Unlike British royal tradition, there will be no official coronation ceremony and
Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark will be announced a king from Amalienborg Castle in Copenhagen.
When he ascends the throne, he will become King and Head of State of Denmark and Head of State of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Queen Margrethe II is the world’s only reigning Queen and the longest reigning monarch in Europe, having ascended the throne after the death of her father King Frederick IX in 1972.
The 83-year-old Queen revealed that the decision to abdicate the throne was made after much reflection following her back surgery in early 2023, stating that “it is time to leave the responsibility to the next generation,” writes the BBC.
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