Queen Margrethe II of Denmark will soon step down from the throne.
She announced her decision to abdicate in early 2024 during the annual New Year’s Eve broadcast on Danish television.
In her speech, the 83-year-old also revealed her intention to hand over the throne to her son, Crown Prince Frederik, citing personal remorse triggered by back surgery she underwent in February 2023.
“In two weeks, I will have been Queen of Denmark for 52 years,” the Queen said, acknowledging that she had been on the throne for a long time.
“The number of ‘diseases’ increases over time. We cannot do as much as we have done in the past.”
She said her health condition led her to reflect on the future and the appropriateness of passing on responsibilities to the next generation.
Queen Margrethe II revealed the details of her plans, setting the transition date as January 14, 2024, exactly 52 years after she ascended the throne after the death of Frederick IX. According to the Danish Prime Minister’s Office, her son, Crown Prince Frederick, will become His Majesty King Frederick X.
Following the surprising announcement by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark of her plans to abdicate the throne, let’s take a look back at other memorable abdications over the past century.
edward VIII
On December 12, 1936, when King Edward VIII, who had been on the throne for less than a year, made the shocking announcement that he was abdicating to marry divorced American Wallis Simpson, the British public was shocked. I was shocked.
Edward and Simpson’s turbulent love affair sparked a major constitutional crisis, with the stubborn monarch insisting that he wanted to marry the American socialite – a marriage that the Church of England, of which he was head, banned. This was despite my strong opposition.
In an explosive radio broadcast, Edward said he felt it was “impossible” to become king without the support of “the woman I love”.
His younger brother Albert, father of the late Queen Elizabeth II, succeeded him as King George VI.
Norodom Sihanouk
Cambodia’s late and revered King Norodom Sihanouk, who led the country in various capacities for a turbulent 60 years, abdicated twice.
He was appointed to the throne in 1941 by colonial power France’s collaborationist Vichy government, but abdicated in favor of his father in 1955 after independence.
The self-proclaimed “naughty boy”, who was married six times and served as president and prime minister, abdicated again on October 7, 2004 due to cancer treatment, and was succeeded by his son, King Norodom Sihamoni.
Mr. Sihanouk died in Beijing in 2012.
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI, leader of the world’s Catholics and ruler of Vatican City, resigned in 2013 due to health reasons, becoming the first pope to step down in about 600 years.
The German pope, a defender of Catholic Orthodoxy, lived another 10 years until his death in December 2022.
The reputation of the Spanish monarchy suffered under the previous king, Juan Carlos I, who abdicated on June 18, 2014 after a series of revelations about his love affairs and personal finances.
Carlos, then 76, ascended the throne in 1975 following the death of dictator Francisco Franco.
A symbol of national unity, he was widely respected for his role in supporting Spain’s transition to democracy.
But revelations about his lavish lifestyle and extramarital affairs overshadowed the later years of his reign, with him standing next to a dead elephant during a hunting trip to Botswana in the midst of Spain’s financial crisis. His popularity has dropped dramatically since the photo was taken.
He abdicated in favor of his son Felipe and subsequently moved to the United Arab Emirates.
Akihito
On April 30, 2019, Japan’s widely beloved Emperor Akihito abdicated the throne at the age of 85 after nearly 30 years on the throne, becoming the country’s first emperor in more than two centuries to abdicate.
Akihito, who worked to restore Japan’s standing in the world after its defeat in World War II, said he felt it was impossible to continue working as his health deteriorated.
His son, Emperor Naruhito, ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019.
With information from AFP