Danish Queen Margrethe unexpectedly announces she will abdicate after 52 years on the throne
(CNN) — Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II has announced she will abdicate her role on January 14, 2024 after a reign lasting more than five decades.
Queen Margrethe will hand over the throne to her son Crown Prince Frederik, she said in her traditional New Year’s Eve speech broadcast on Danish television.
She cited a back surgery in February 2023 as giving her thoughts about the future and decided “now is the right time” to pass the responsibility to the next generation.
“In two weeks time I have been Queen of Denmark for 52 years. Such an amount will leave its mark on anybody – also on me! The time takes its toll, and the number of “ailments” increases. One cannot undertake as much as one managed in the past,” she said in her remarks.
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