STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announced Sunday that she plans to step down from the throne to make way for her son, Crown Prince Frederik.
The queen announced during her New Year’s speech that she would abdicate on January 14, which is the 52nd anniversary of her accession to the throne at age 31 following the death of her father, King Frederick IX.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen confirmed the decision in a press release that paid tribute to the 83-year-old monarch, offering “sincere thanks to Her Majesty The Queen for her lifelong dedication and tireless efforts for the Kingdom.” .
Margrethe is the “epitome of Denmark,” Frederiksen’s statement said, and “over the years she has shaped words and feelings into who we are as a people and as a nation.”
The 6-foot-tall, chain-smoking Margrethe has been one of the most popular public figures in Denmark, where the monarch’s role is largely ceremonial. She often walked the streets of Copenhagen virtually unaccompanied and earned the admiration of the Danes for her warm manner and her talent as a linguist and designer.
A passionate skier, as a princess she was part of a female unit of the Danish air force and participated in judo courses and snow endurance tests. Margrethe remained tough even as she grew up. In 2011, at age 70, she visited Danish troops in southern Afghanistan dressed in military overalls.
As monarch, she toured the country, regularly visiting Greenland and the Faroe Islands, the two semi-independent territories that are part of the Danish Kingdom, and was greeted everywhere by cheering crowds.
Queen Margaret II of Denmark will abdicate in favor of her son. AP
Denmark has the oldest ruling monarchy in Europe, tracing its lineage to the Viking king Gorm the Elder, who died in 958. Although Magrethe is head of state, the Danish Constitution strictly rules out her involvement in partisan politics.
However, the queen clearly knew the law well and knew the content of the legislation she was required to sign.
He received training in French and English from his early years, as well as Swedish from his mother. In addition to archaeology, he studied philosophy, political science and economics at the universities of Copenhagen, Aarhus and Cambridge along with the London School of Economics and the Sorbonne in Paris.
Since his birth on May 26, 1968, Frederik André Henrik Christian has been the heir to the Danish throne.
He is the eldest son of Queen Margaret and her late French-born husband Prince Henrik, who died in February 2018. Frederik, 55, has a younger brother, Prince Joachim.
Since the age of 18, he has served as regent whenever his mother was outside the kingdom and on official duties, shaking hands with thousands and welcoming foreign dignitaries.
“In the new year, Crown Prince Frederick will be proclaimed king. Crown Princess Mary will become queen. The kingdom will have a new regent and a new royal couple. We can look forward to all this knowing that they are ready for the responsibility and the task,” the prime minister’s statement said.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn