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End after 52 years: Queen Margrethe II of Denmark wants to step down

Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen / AFP

The Danish Queen Margrethe II wants to abdicate. She wants to step down as regent on January 14, 2024, the 83-year-old said completely surprisingly during her televised New Year's address on Sunday evening. The resignation coincides with her 52nd anniversary on the throne.

In her annual New Year's Eve address, which was always followed attentively by the Danes, Queen Margrethe talked about this year's back surgery. The surgery went well, but made her think about her future as queen. She will leave the throne to her son, Crown Prince Frederik. On this evening, she wanted to say thank you above all – for the warmth and support she had received all these years, said the monarch.

The world's longest-serving monarch began the speech with comments on the Gaza and Ukraine wars, then went on to address the climate crisis and also artificial intelligence. After a greeting to the people of the Faroe Islands and Greenland, which belong to the Kingdom of Denmark, the sensation followed completely unexpectedly.

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Danish media described the announcement as "absolutely historic". Among the onlookers who had gathered on the palace square in front of Amalienborg Palace, spontaneous applause broke out after the announcement. Margrethe had always emphasized that she wanted to remain on the throne until death – until she now caused the big surprise.

The monarch had inherited the throne after the death of her father Frederik IX on January 14, 1972. The regent, who is always radiant and often smokes, is popular with the people, and her New Year's Eve speeches have cult status, like "Dinner for One" in Germany. She is extremely creative and interested in art, is considered pragmatic and sometimes a bit unconventional.

Since the death of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, of whom she was a third cousin, Margrethe was considered the longest-serving regent on earth.

ele/dpa