It was during her traditional New Year’s speech that the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, announced on Sunday, December 31, that she would abdicate. “On January 14, 2024, fifty-two years after succeeding my beloved father, I will step down as Queen of Denmark. I will leave the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik”she declared during her televised wishes.
Unifying and popular, the sovereign, widowed since 2018, had undergone major back surgery in February which prevented her from appearing in public until April. “The operation (…) gave rise to thoughts about the future, about whether it was time to transfer responsibilities to the next generation”confided the queen, 83 years old.
On the throne since the death of her father in 1972, this polyglot and French-speaking intellectual contributed to gradually modernizing the monarchy. Since the death of her distant cousin Elizabeth II, Margrethe is the last queen to reign in Europe. More than 80% of Danes identify as monarchists, and they turned out in their thousands to celebrate his jubilee of fifty years of rule last year.
“Many of us have never known another monarch. Queen Margrethe is the very embodiment of Denmark and, over the years, she has put into words and feelings what we are as a people and as a nation.”reacted the Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, in a press release.