Copenhagen, Dec 31 (EFE). – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, 83, and the longest reigning living monarch, announced Sunday that she will abdicate on January 14 in favor of her son, Crown Prince Frederik, after 52 years as head of state.
In her traditional televised New Year’s Eve address, Margrethe II, currently the world’s only female monarch, said the back surgery she underwent in February had made her think about the future and “whether the time had come to hand over responsibility to the next generation.”
“I have decided that now is the right time,” she said. On January 14, 2024, 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father, I will step down as Queen of Denmark,” the queen said.
“Time is running out, and the ills are increasing. You can no longer overcome the same things as you once could,” she explained.
In Denmark, as in the other Nordic monarchies, there is no tradition of abdication, and it is customary for monarchs to remain on the throne until death.
Margarita has always said in public that she had no plans to relinquish the throne and that being queen is a “lifelong duty”.
Her firstborn, 55, will ascend to the throne on the same day as her abdication, after a Council of State, under the name Frederick X.
“Tonight, above all, I want to say thank you, thank you for the overwhelming and warmth I have received over the years,” the monarch said in her speech, asking for “the same trust and affection” for the future king and his wife, Princess Mary.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen thanked the Queen in a statement for her “lifelong dedication and tireless work for Denmark”.
Denmark’s royals have a limited role under the country’s constitution, with power vested in parliament, but they play an important ambassadorial role and g off new legislation.
As monarch, she traveled the country, regularly visiting Greenland and the Faroe Islands, the two Danish semi-independent territories.
A popular queen with artistic inclinations
Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, the Queen’s full name, enjoys great popularity and has managed to stay out of major scandals.
Margrethe II is one of the most popular public figures in Denmark. She often walks the streets of Copenhagen virtually unaccompanied, winning the iration of Danes for her warm manners and her talents as a linguist and designer.
Her artistic interests are wide-ranging, from deg sets and costumes for ballets, plays and even films, to the monograms of of the royal family, to her love of painting, and she even wore her own designs, including her “happy” raincoat.
The Danish monarch also illustrated “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien and translated into Danish “All men are mortal” by Simone de Beauvoir and the trilogy on the fall of the Roman Empire by Stig Strömholm, in addition to deg the sets and costumes for a movie on the Netflix platform.
Margrethe II has two sons, Frederik and Joachim, and eight grandchildren. EFE
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