Danish Queen Margrethe II announced on Sunday during her traditional New Year’s speech that she would abdicate on January 14, after 52 years of reign. “On January 14, 2024, 52 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 said during her televised vows.
Back surgery
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 reflections on the future, on the question of 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 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 50 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,” responded Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a statement.