Denmark is facing its first change of throne in exactly 52 years. Crown Prince Frederik, who will head the kingdom as Frederik X, scores points with his compatriots for his closeness to the people and sporting spirit.
When Denmark experienced a change of throne for the last time in 1972, the world was a different place: instead of the Ukraine and Gaza wars, the Vietnam War was raging on people’s minds, the situation in Northern Ireland was escalating, and the Federal Republic and the GDR remained separated by a wall for many years separate states.
King Frederik IX died in the state of Denmark at that time. after 25 years of rule. He was succeeded to the throne on January 14, 1972 by his 31-year-old daughter Margrethe, who at the time had two small sons: three-year-old Frederik and two-year-old Joachim. Since then, Queen Margrethe II has led Germany’s northern neighbor with dedication, humor and the occasional cigarette in her hand.
A full 52 years later, the older of Margrethe’s sons will now inherit her throne. Crown Prince Frederik will become the new King of Denmark this Sunday after Margrethe announced her abdication on New Year’s Eve, to the great surprise of the Danish people. “On January 14, 2024 – 52 years after I inherited my beloved father – I will step down as Queen of Denmark. I will hand over the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik,” the monarch announced in her New Year’s speech.
Historical sentences from a pragmatic monarch
A few hours before the New Year, these historic sentences hit louder than any New Year’s Eve firecracker. Abdications do not normally occur in the Kingdom of Denmark; no one has voluntarily given up the throne there for almost 900 years. Margrethe had also repeatedly stated that she wanted to stay on the throne until her death.
“She always said: I’ll stay until I die,” says the Danish ambassador to Berlin, Susanne Hyldelund. “Like many other Danes, the announcement touched me emotionally.” In fact, millions of Danes have only experienced one head of state in their kingdom throughout their lives – the Queen.
When making the announcement, however, Margrethe once again demonstrated the pragmatism and her own will that have always characterized her during her reign: a major back operation in February 2023 not only led to the queen giving up smoking. According to her own statements, the operation also made her think about whether the time was right to pass on responsibility to the next generation. Your decision: Yes, that’s it.
As announced, Margrethe is calling it quits on Sunday. She wants to sign her abdication at a meeting with the Danish government in the early afternoon – at this moment the change of throne will be formally carried out. At 3 p.m., the new King Frederik X will be proclaimed as the new monarch by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on the balcony of Christiansborg Palace.
52 years of preparation
Denmark will thus have a new king who has been a kind of long-term crown prince for 52 years. Frederik first had to warm up to the royal role at a young age; for a long time he struggled with the attention and expectations that were placed on him.
He found his way through sport and other physical challenges. In this way, the young prince could appear in public and be himself at the same time. He ran his first marathon in 1992 in a remarkable time of three hours and 23 minutes, completed the grueling combat swimmer training in the military and in 2000 took part in a 2,800 kilometer long sled expedition through Greenland.
Frederik’s fascination with sport also brought him closer to the Danish people, who were generally sport-loving people. As part of his 50th birthday, he launched the Royal Run fun run, in which tens of thousands of people have started every year since then at various locations in Denmark – including Frederik himself, of course. The next edition will take place on May 20th – then No longer with Frederik as crown prince in the field of participants, but as king.
Frederik’s biggest joker among the people is his family, especially his wife, Crown Princess Mary, who will now be queen. He met the Australian in a bar during the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and married four years later in Copenhagen. In 2005 their first child was born, Prince Christian, who will now become crown prince at the age of 18. Three more children followed: Isabella (16) and the twins Vincent and Josephine (both 13).
Smart parents with a wonderful group of children: The Crown Prince family is considered close to the people and popular among the Danes. Every now and then it even happened that Frederik was spotted in a cargo bike – like other parents in Copenhagen with his children on board. An unconfirmed report by a Spanish media about an alleged night with a Mexican woman in Madrid scratched this image last November, but did not affect the royals’ popularity.
The culture friend and the sports lover
In many ways, Frederik is different from his royal mother. “The Crown Prince is more of a man of the people,” reports Ambassador Hyldelund. “He asks a lot of questions and is curious about what the people he’s talking to have to say. He likes this closeness to the people.” Frederik is well aware of the contrasts between him and his mother. “The two of us have always complemented each other,” he said in September 2022 in a speech on Margrethe’s 50th anniversary of the throne.
“You are a woman. I am a man. You paint. I move,” compared Frederik. “You’ve mastered the word. I miss it sometimes. You like classical music, I like rock.” He described the monarch and himself as an excellent team with several years together under their belt – so many that she could be sure that he would continue to steer the ship when the time came. At the time, he could not have imagined that just 16 months later he would be taking over the helm of the kingdom.