The Queen on board the royal ship Dannebrog on July 15, 2023. Photo: Keld Navntoft, Kongehuset©
Queen Margrethe II is stepping down
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Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II is stepping down.
She announced this in her annual New Year’s speech on Sunday evening.
It was her health and a major back operation earlier in the year that prompted the Queen’s reflections.
In her speech, she said:
“I have decided that now is the right time. On January 14, 2024 – 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father – I will step down as the Queen of Denmark. I pass on the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik.”
She then expressed gratitude for the support throughout her years as Queen:
“Tonight, I would like to foremost say thank you. Thank you for the overwhelming warmth and support that I have received throughout all these years. Thanks to the successive governments, with whom it has always been rewarding to work, and to the Parliament, which has always greeted me with trust.”
She became the Queen of Denmark in 1972 after the death of her father, King Frederik IX.
Upon the Queen’s abdication, her son, Crown Prince Frederik, will become the King of Denmark.
The Queen will abdicate on January 14, 2024.