“I decided it was the right time…“. It’s a speech of December 31 that the Danes will not soon forget. This Sunday, for her traditional end-of-year speech, Queen Margrethe II made a sensational announcement creating surprise. “THE January 14, 202452 years after succeeding my beloved father, I will step down as Queen of Denmark. I will leave the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik“, she announced during her televised greetings where she appeared in a sumptuous purple set adorned with a silver daisy brooch with matching earrings.
Widowed since 2018, the 83-year-old sovereign had suffered a heavy intervention on the back in February 2023. From this date, she did not appear in public for several months. leaving room for a long convalescence. “The operation (…) gave rise to reflections on the future, on the question of whether it was time to transfer responsibilities to the next generation” the queen explained.
During this speech filled with emotion, Margrethe II did not stop smiling broadly. also wishing to thank his people as well as his close collaborators : “This evening above all I want to say thank you. thank you for the overwhelming warmth and support I have received over the years“.
A queen much appreciated by the Danes
Ascension to the throne on January 14, 1972on the death of her father Frederik IX, Margrethe II was then the first woman to ascend the Danish throne and quickly became extremely popular. Proof of this is, according to a recent survey, 80% of Danes say they are monarchists and they came in large numbers last year to attend his jubilee of 50 years of reign. It must be said that Margrethe II had the ambition, throughout her reign, to modernize the monarchy. “Many of us have never known another monarch. Queen Margrethe is the very embodiment of Denmark and, over the years, she has put words and feelings to who we are as a people and as a nation.”declared Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a press release.
Since the death of her distant cousin Elizabeth II, Margrethe II was the last queen to reign in Europe. We do not know, for the moment, the terms of his abdication and the handover with his son Frederik, 55 years old, mired for several weeks in suspicions of infidelity.
Photo credits: Dana Press / Bestimage