Crown Prince Frederik becomes King of Denmark
Victoria and Haakon are also in the starting blocks
Victoria becomes Queen of Sweden and Haakon becomes King of Norway.
© imago/PPE
Crown Prince Frederik becomes King of Denmark. That leaves Victoria and Haakon from the next generation of heirs to the throne. When will they take over?
When Queen Margrethe II of Denmark (83) abdicates on January 14th after 52 years, her son will become Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (55) and his wife Mary of Denmark (51) will follow to the throne. This means that there are only two Scandinavian throne changes left in this generation: Crown Princess Victoria (46) will succeed her father, King Carl XVI. Gustaf (77), succeed to the Swedish throne. And Crown Prince Haakon (50) his, King Harald V (86), on the Norwegian throne. But when will the time come for them?
Two kings of the old school
When Victoria and Haakon will have to accept their inheritance at the latest is of course still in the stars, because in extreme cases it is the anniversary of their fathers’ death. And at least in Sweden everything seems to continue to lead to this classic and certainly very painful change of throne for Victoria. The 77-year-old most recently commented on this in his speech on the occasion of his 50th anniversary to the throne in the summer of 2023. “It is my hope that I can continue to serve our Sweden now and in the years to come. Both in highs and lows. In good times, but also in times of great challenges,” he said at the time.
However, the Swedish king’s latest statement on the abdication in Denmark is formulated in a diplomatically neutral manner. “The King has great respect and understanding for Queen Margrethe’s decision to hand over the throne to Crown Prince Frederik,” says the palace’s statement, which was published on the Danish TV channel “TV2”..
King Harald’s statement is still pending. As with Queen Margrethe, Haakon has been stepping in for his father more and more often. Most recently mainly because of the 86-year-old monarch’s poor health. It is not known whether he is now thinking about abdicating. Basically, he is also a king of the old school, who lives according to the motto of his grandfather King Haakon VII (1872-1957), as historian Ole-Jørgen Schulzrud-Hansen once explained, according to “Bunte”.. “A king is either healthy or he is dead,” was said to have been the late regent’s motto.
Two queens and two kings chose abdication
The early handover of royal official duties has become quite popular. The former Queen Beatrix (85) made the start on January 28, 2013 and has since supported her son, King Willem-Alexander (56), as Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands.
On July 3, 2013, King Albert II (89) announced his abdication on July 21, 2013, the Belgian national holiday. His eldest son Philippe (63) became the new king that day.
A year later the time had come in Spain: King Juan Carlos I of Spain (85) gave thanks in favor of his son, King Felipe VI, as a result of several scandals. (55), on June 18, 2014.
On January 14th, Queen Margrethe will abdicate.
Things then remain exciting with what is probably Europe’s most important monarchy, Great Britain. Because Prince William (41) is actually one of the next heirs to the throne. But since his father Charles (75) only became King Charles III when he was well into his 70s due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022). It will probably be a while before he gives up the throne prematurely…