DENMARK’s popular Queen Margrethe II, Europe’s longest-serving monarch, said Sunday that she would abdicate on January 14 and pass the baton to her son Crown Prince Frederik.
Margrethe, 83, has reigned for 52 years and has been Europe’s only reigning queen after the death of Britain’s Elizabeth II.
She has been hailed for subtly modernising Danish royalty in her half-century on the throne.
She made the surprise announcement during her traditional New Year’s Eve speech broadcast on Danish television, citing her age and health issues.
“In two weeks time I have been Queen of Denmark for 52 years,” she said.
That length of time would take its time on anyone, she added. “One cannot undertake as much as one managed in the past…
“On 14th January, 2024 –- 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father -– I will step down as Queen of Denmark. I will hand over the throne to my son Crown Prince Frederik.”
The chain-smoking queen has repeatedly said she would never abdicate, but back surgery she underwent in February “gave cause to thoughts about the future — whether now would be an appropriate time to pass on the responsibility to the next generation”.
The queen, known for her artistic talents, has been hugely popular in Denmark.
“She has managed to be a queen who has united the Danish nation in a time of large changes: globalisation, the appearance of the multicultural state, economic crises in the 1970s, 1980s and again in 2008 to 2015, and the pandemic,” historian Lars Hovebakke Sorensen told AFP.
“The basis of her popularity is that the queen is absolutely non-political,” he said.
