COPENHAGEN: Denmark's Queen Margrethe II, Europe's longest-serving monarch, will abdicate on Jan. 14 after 52 years on the throne and will be succeeded by her eldest son Crown Prince Frederik, she announced on Sunday.
The 83-year-old queen, who ascended the throne in 1972, made the surprise announcement on live TV during her traditional New Year's Eve speech, which is viewed by many in the country of 5.9 million people.
Referring to a successful back operation she underwent in February, she said, "The surgery naturally gave rise to thinking about the future - whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation".
"I have decided that now is the right time. On 14 January 2024 – 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father – I will step down as queen of Denmark," she said.
The queen became the longest-serving monarch in Europe following the death of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. In July, she became the longest-sitting monarch in Denmark's history.
In Denmark, formal power resides with the elected parliament and its government. The monarch is expected to stay above partisan politics, representing the nation with traditional duties ranging from state visits to national day celebrations.
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen thanked the queen for her life-long dedication to duty.
"It is still difficult to understand that the time has now come for a change of throne," Frederiksen said in a statement, adding that many Danes had never known another monarch.
"Queen Margrethe is the epitome of Denmark and throughout the years has put words and feelings into who we are as a people and as a nation," she said.
Born in 1940 to Denmark's former monarch King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid, Margrethe has throughout her life enjoyed broad support from Danes, who are fond of her tactful and yet creative personality.
She is also known for her love of archaeology and has taken part in several excavations.
She became heir to her father in 1953 at the age of 31, after a constitutional amendment allowed women to inherit the throne.
In 1967, she married French diplomat Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, who served as her royal consort until his death in 2018.
The couple's two sons are Crown Prince Frederik, who will become King Frederik X, and Prince Joachim. Frederik married Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, an Australian, in 2004.
"I leave the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik," she said.
Reuters
Mon Jan 01 2024
Denmark's Queen Margrethe delivers a speech during the State Banquet at Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark, November 6, 2023. Ritzau Scanpix/Mads Claus Rasmussen via REUTERS
Lebih 800 maut akibat wabak mpox di Afrika
Sebanyak 34,297 kes direkodkan di seluruh benua itu sejak Januari lalu, termasuk 38 kes di Ghana.
AWANI Pagi: Ada apa dengan cinta ekspres?
7.30 pagi Sabtu bersama Dr. Norsafatul Aznin A.Razak, Pensyarah Kanan Jabatan Psikologi Pendidikan dan Kaunseling, Fakulti Pendidikan, Universiti Malaya dan Amni Sahira Muhammad Azam, Kaunselor Pelatih, Fakulti Pendidikan, Universiti Malaya membincangkan mengenai isu hubungan khususnya dalam soal memperjudikan hubungan dengan cinta ekspres.
Banjir Bosnia: Tiada rakyat Malaysia terkesan, Wisma Putra terus pantau rapat keadaan semasa
Setakat ini, tiada rakyat Malaysia dilaporkan terlibat atau terkesan dalam bencana alam tersebut.
19 terkorban akibat banjir, tanah runtuh di Bosnia
Sebahagian besar bandar dan kawasan pedalaman terputus hubungan akibat jalan raya yang ditenggelami air banjir.
Lelaki maut kereta terbabas langgar pokok di Manjung
Mangsa disahkan maut di lokasi oleh pihak Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia.
Durian segar Malaysia di China habis dijual tidak sampai 24 jam
Tidak sampai 24 jam, hampir 40 tan durian segar pertama Malaysia ke China yang dipasarkan pada 26 Ogos lepas di outlet peruncitan terpilih di enam wilayah negara Tembok Besar itu habis terjual.
Keldai akaun ditahan sebabkan kerugian hampir RM60,000
Polis menahan lelaki berumur 58 tahun dipercayai keldai akaun kepada sindiket penipuan yang menawarkan kerja sambilan tidak wujud secara dalam talian sehingga menyebabkan mangsa kerugian RM59,569 baru-baru ini.
Lebih 200 maut akibat taufan Helene di AS
Seramai 200 orang disahkan maut sehingga Jumaat selepas Taufan Helene melanda beberapa negeri di tenggara Amerika Syarikat (AS), menjadikannya ribut paling membahayakan kedua yang melanda AS dalam lebih setengah abad.
Taiwan laksana operasi pembersihan selepas taufan Krathon
Taiwan sedang giat membersihkan kerosakan akibat banjir dan angin kencang selepas Taufan Krathon melanda bandar pelabuhan utama, sementara penduduk di sebahagian besar kawasan lain di pulau itu kembali bekerja dan pasaran kewangan dibuka semula.
AS dakwa Rusia, Iran dan China guna AI sabotaj pilihan raya
Amerika Syarikat (AS) berdepan ancaman dari Rusia, Iran dan China, yang didakwa cuba mempengaruhi Pilihan Raya Presiden 2024 dengan menggunakan kecerdasan buatan (AI) untuk menyebarkan maklumat palsu serta mencetuskan perpecahan.