COPENHAGEN: Danish Queen Margrethe II intends to abdicate on January 14, the 83-year-old said on Sunday in her televised New Year’s address.
The resignation coincides with her 52nd anniversary on the throne, reported German news agency dpa.
In her annual speech, which is always closely followed by the Danes, Margrethe referred to her back operation this year. The operation had gone well thanks to the health staff, but had made her think about her future as queen.
She will hand the throne on to her son Crown Prince Frederik, she said. Above all, she wanted to say thank you for the warmth and support she had received over the years, added the monarch.
The world’s longest-serving living monarch began her speech with comments on the Gaza and Ukraine wars, after which she addressed the climate crisis and artificial intelligence.
After greeting the people of the Faroe Islands and Greenland, which are part of the Danish kingdom, she dropped the bombshell news, which was described in the Danish media as “absolutely historic.”
The onlookers who had gathered in the square in front of Amalienborg Palace broke into spontaneous applause after the announcement.
Margrethe inherited the throne after the death of her father Frederik IX on January 14, 1972.
The always radiant - and often seen smoking - monarch is popular with the people, and her New Year’s Eve speeches have cult status.
She is extremely creative and interested in art, is considered pragmatic, and sometimes a little unconventional. Since the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, whose third cousin she was, Margrethe has been the longest-serving monarch in the world.–Bernama-dpa
