Margrethe, 83, said the back surgery she underwent in early 2023 had made her “think about the future” and when she would hand over the responsibilities of the throne to her son. “I have decided that now is the right time,” she said in a speech.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen paid tribute to her in a statement, saying: “I am deeply grateful for her lifelong dedication and tireless efforts for the Kingdom.”
Frederiksen’s statement said Margrethe was “the epitome of Denmark” and “has given us language and emotion for many years as a people and as a nation.”
Margrethe, a 6-foot-tall chain-smoker, is one of the most popular public figures in Denmark, where the king’s role is largely ceremonial. She often walked the streets of Copenhagen largely unaccompanied, and her warm demeanor and her talents as a linguist and designer earned the admiration of the Danes.
An avid skier, she participated in judo classes and snow endurance tests as a member of the Danish Women’s Air Force as a princess. Margrethe remained tough even as she grew older. In 2011, at age 70, she wore a military jumpsuit to visit Danish troops in southern Afghanistan.
As monarch, she crisscrossed the country, regularly visiting Greenland and the Faroe Islands, two semi-independent territories that are part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and was met with cheering crowds everywhere.
Denmark is home to Europe’s oldest monarchy, tracing its lineage back to the Viking King Gorm the Elder, who died in 958. Although Magrethe is the head of state, the Danish constitution strictly prohibits her involvement in party politics.
However, the Queen was clearly well versed in the law and knew the contents of the bill she was asked to sign.
She was educated in French and English from an early age, as well as Swedish by her mother. In addition to her archeology, she studied philosophy, politics, and economics at the universities of Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Cambridge, the London School of Economics, and the Sorbonne University in Paris.
Frederic Andre Henrik Christian has been the heir to the Danish throne since his birth on May 26, 1968.
He is the eldest son of Queen Margrethe and her French-born husband Prince Henrik, who died in February 2018. Frederick, 55, has a younger brother, Prince Joachim.
Since the age of 18, he has served as regent when his mother is abroad, shaking hands with thousands of people and entertaining foreign dignitaries.
The Queen’s announcement consisted of just a few sentences at the end of a wide-ranging New Year’s speech that reflected on the “upheaval and upheaval of the world” amid wars in the Middle East and Ukraine and the climate crisis.
But she also appreciated the “warmth and hospitality of the people I encountered everywhere in Denmark.”
While the Prime Minister lavished praise on the Queen, he also looked to the future.
“In the new year, Crown Prince Frederick will become king and Crown Princess Mary will become queen. The kingdom will have a new regent and a new king and queen,” he said in a statement. “We are looking forward to all of this because we know they are ready to take on the responsibility and the task.”