Queen Margarethe II of Denmark has abdicated after more than 50 years on the throne, citing the effects of old age. Salty Vixen Stories & More has the full video of her speech in this article!
The Cambridge-educated 83-year-old, a colourful and widely beloved figure, made the surprise announcement in her New Year’s speech on Sunday.
The royal - nicknamed the ‘Ashtray Queen’ given her fondness for cigarettes - is the world’s longest-serving female monarch and became Europe’s longest-serving head of state after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
Assuming the throne in 1972, Queen Margarethe underwent back surgery in February which she said paved the way for abdication.
“The surgery naturally gave rise to thinking about the future - whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation,” she said in the speech, broadcast live on Danish television.
“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.
“I leave the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik,” she said.
Queen Margrethe enjoyed such a close relationship with the late Queen that she was one of few outside her immediate family who called her Lilibet.
She was among the first foreign royals to pay tribute to Her Majesty last year and struggled to hold back tears when she saw her coffin at the funeral.
Both women were great-great granddaughters of Queen Victoria and Margrethe said in an interview with ITV News that they shared great affection for one another.
“When I was growing up, I hoped I wouldn’t be as young as that when my father died,” she said.
“It made an enormous impression on me. The fact that she was dedicating her life. I understood what that meant. This is for life. That is the whole point of my life. And I know she sees that too.”
