Queen Margrethe II told Denmark on Sunday that she plans to step down in two weeks, turning the largely ceremonial monarchy over to her son, Crown Prince Frederik, after 52 years on the throne. "Such an amount will leave its mark on anybody—also on me! The time takes its toll, and the number of ailments increases," the queen, 83, said in her nationally televised New Year's address, per CNN. "One cannot undertake as much as one managed in the past." Jan. 14 is the anniversary of her succession after the death of her father, King Frederik IX.
Margrethe is the longest-serving monarch in the nation's history. Frederik, 55, will not be installed in a crowning ceremony; the palace will mark the change with an announcement on Jan. 14. Like other royal families in Europe, theirs is being reduced in size. The queen stripped half of her eight grandchildren of their titles, then apologized for her handling of the situation. She remains popular among her subjects, per the BBC. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen issued a statement Sunday calling Margrethe the "epitome of Denmark," per the AP, and saying the crown prince is prepared to be king. The queen, he said, "throughout the years has put words and feelings into who we are as a people and as a nation."
After learning French, English, and Swedish early, Margrethe studied archaeology, philosophy, political science, and economics at universities in Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Cambridge, as well as at the London School of Economics and the Sorbonne in Paris. As a princess, she was a member of a women's air force unit, per the AP, participating in judo courses and endurance tests in the snow. Recognized for her talent as a designer, she often walked the streets of Copenhagen virtually unescorted. Margrethe will retain the title of majesty. In her final New Year's address, the queen also addressed the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as the need to deal with global warming. (More Denmark stories.)
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