Queen To Bow Out: Denmark Awaits New King

Queen Margrethe II, Denmark’s longest reigning monarch, is due to pass the throne to her first-born son Frederik on Sunday and tens of thousands of Danes are expected to gather in the streets of Copenhagen to witness the historic succession.

Margrethe stunned the nation of nearly six million on New Year’s Eve when she announced her decision to abdicate after 52 years as queen, becoming the first Danish monarch in nearly 900 years to relinquish the throne.

People from all over Denmark are expected to crowd Copenhagen in a sign of the huge popularity the monarchy is enjoying.

“The royal family means everything that is Danish. It’s fairytales and traditions,” said Anna Karina Laursen, 59, a nod to the country’s famous fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen.

The crown prince, 55, and his  Australian-born wife Mary, 51, who will become queen, are scheduled to leave the royal palace at 1235 GMT in a 1958 Rolls-Royce. Margrethe,  83, will follow by horse carriage a few minutes later to take her final ride as monarch through the streets of the capital.

There will be no coronation as in Britain, but the succession itself will take place at around 1300 GMT, the moment Margrethe signs the declaration of her abdication.

This will take place during a meeting of the Council of State at parliament where the government, Frederik and his oldest son Christian, 18 years old and the new heir to the throne, will participate.

REUTERS