Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, the longest-serving monarch in Europe, unexpectedly declared that she would abdicate her throne after greater than a half-century, saying in her New 12 months’s speech on Sunday that her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederik, would succeed her.
In her speech, Margrethe, 83, mentioned that her age and well being had been elements in her resolution after greater than 50 years as queen. “Such a very long time doesn’t cross unnoticed for anybody — not even me,” she mentioned. “Time wears, and illnesses improve.”
Particularly, she mentioned, a again surgical procedure she underwent this yr was a think about making her “take into consideration the longer term — whether or not it was time at hand over duty to the subsequent technology.”
“I’ve determined that now could be the appropriate time,” she mentioned in her speech. “Fifty-two years after I succeeded my beloved father, I’ll step down as queen of Denmark.”
She mentioned she would step down on Jan. 14. The crown prince, Frederik, is 55.
Margrethe, the eldest of three daughters of King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid, acceded to the throne after her father’s death in 1972 — and after Denmark made a constitutional change to permit feminine succession, permitting the king to cross over his brother for Margrethe, his eldest little one.
Denmark’s royal household, like its British counterpart, holds a largely ceremonial position below a parliamentary authorities. However Margrethe has been credited with modernizing the Danish monarchy and restoring its reputation.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen thanked her in a press release.
“Though the obligation and position of the sovereign have been inherited for over 1,000 years, it’s nonetheless tough to grasp that the time has come for a change of throne,” Ms. Frederiksen mentioned. “Many people have by no means identified one other monarch. Queen Margrethe is the epitome of Denmark, and, all through the years, has articulated the phrases and feelings that outline us as a folks and a nation.”
In her speech, Margrethe thanked the Danish folks for his or her assist, in addition to “the successive governments, with whom it has at all times been rewarding to work, and to the Danish Parliament, which has at all times trusted me.”
A lot of the queen’s reputation has been tied to her persona and creative streak. Even after she entered the road of succession at 13, she pursued her curiosity in artwork, earning a diploma in prehistoric archaeology on the College of Cambridge and learning at Aarhus College in Denmark, the Sorbonne and the London College of Economics.
She additionally produced her personal paintings, together with work proven in museums, decoupages — a sort of cut-and-paste paintings — and drawings. (Her illustrations had been tailored for a “Lord of the Ring” e book below a pseudonym, Ingahild Grathmer; the e book’s writer approached her after she despatched copies to J.R.R. Tolkien as fan mail in 1970.)
Extra not too long ago, she served as the costume and production designer for “Ehrengard: The Artwork of Seduction,” a Netflix movie adapting a fairy story, that features wardrobes and units based mostly on her drawings and different artworks. “I work once I can discover the time,” she instructed The New York Times this previous yr, “and I appear normally to have the ability to discover the time.”
Although Margrethe has largely averted the tabloid controversies which have plagued different royals round Europe, her relations have drawn headlines previously. Her husband, Prince Henrik, had lengthy complained about not being known as king or king consort, and about counting on Margrethe for funds. He ultimately acquired a wage, however in 2017, he announced at 83 years previous that he now not wished to be buried alongside the queen.
He died six months later and was reportedly cremated, with half of his ashes unfold over Danish waters and the opposite buried within the non-public gardens of a fort north of Copenhagen.
The queen additionally drew complaints from relations in 2022, after she stripped 4 of her grandchildren of their royal titles.
Maya Tekeli contributed reporting.