COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik will become king on Sunday following the unprecedented resignation of his mother Queen Margrethe, with over 100,000 Danes expected to pour into Copenhagen’s roads and streets for the historic event.
The 55-year-old future king is very popular in Denmark, with 82 percent of the citizens saying in a recent poll they think he will make a good monarch.
Cecilie Nielsen, royal correspondent for Danish public broadcaster DR said that the future king loves sports and a nice person. Queen Margrethe’s surprise abdication — announced in a tv New Year’s Eve address following 52 years on the throne — stunned the citizens of Denmark, following she had repeatedly insisted that she would never quit.
Denmark Set to Warmly Welcome New King Following Historic Abandonment
Historian Bo Lidegaard added Margrethe’s decision demonstrated she was a modern queen able to familiarize to the times. Bo Lidegaard maintained the outgoing queen knows that she is getting weaker and her son is ready to take the responsibility.
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Queen Margrethe II is Europe’s longest-serving queen and last reigning monarch after the death of Britain’s Elizabeth II. The queen acceded to the throne at the age of 31 in 1972, on the death of her father.
The queen said major surgery she underwent in 2023 “gave cause to thoughts” regarding stepping down.
She will remain known as Queen Margrethe following her abdication. When she took office of the monarch, she took the name Margrethe II in acknowledgement of Margrethe I, who ruled the country from 1375 to 1412 but never officially held the title of queen.
