Danish Queen Margrethe II announced on Sunday during her traditional New Year's address that she would abdicate on January 14 after 52 years of rule.
“On January 14, 2024, 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father, I will step down as Queen of Denmark. “I will leave the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik,” she said on the occasion of his televised congratulations.
The unifying and popular ruler, who has been widowed since 2018, underwent serious back surgery in February that prevented her from appearing in public until April.
“The operation (…) gave rise to reflections about the future, about the question of whether it was time to transfer responsibility to the next generation,” admitted the 83-year-old queen.
The polyglot intellectual, who has been on the throne since her father's death in 1972, contributed to the gradual modernization of the monarchy.
Since the death of her distant cousin Elizabeth II, Margrethe is the last queen to rule in Europe. More than 80% of Danes identify as monarchists and turned out in their thousands last year to celebrate his 50th anniversary in power.
“Many of us have never known another monarch. Queen Margrethe is the embodiment of Denmark and over the years has shown with words and feelings who we are as a people and as a nation,” responded Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a press release.
published December 31 at 8:12 p.m., AFP
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