Denmark wakes up this Sunday with Margaret II as queen and will go to sleep with Frederick X, as king. The mother will pass the baton to her son in a ceremony that will have two parts and will last just one hour. At 2 p.m., at Christianborg Palace, the current sovereign will sign the act of abdication before the Council of State, in the presence of the still crown princes, Frederick and Mary, and her eldest son, Prince Christian, and at 3 p.m. , the Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, will proclaim Frederick X from the balcony.
Margarita will leave Christiansborg after signing her abdication and will move to her residence in Amalienborg, from where she intends to follow the rest of the ceremonies on television.
Fifty-two years after coming to the throne, after the death of her father, Frederick IX, on January 14, 1972, Margaret II ceded the throne to her son and heir. A reign is ending, which has had the acceptance of the Danes, among whom she enjoys great popularity and prestige, in which she has had no more shocks than the delusions of grandeur of her husband, Enrique de Monpezat, who died. in 2018, and the estrangement with his youngest son Joaquín, who this Sunday will attend the handover ceremonies alone without his second wife, Marie Chevalier, who stays in Washington with the couple’s two children, Enrique and Athenea.
Margaret, following in the wake of Beatrice of Holland, Albert of Belgium and Juan Carlos I, gives way to a new generation and leaves the thrones of Europe without titular queens. We will have to wait for Princess Victoria of Sweden to succeed her father, King Carl Gustav, to see a woman wearing a crown again.
The announcement of Queen Margaret’s abdication occurred on December 31 in the traditional royal speech on the occasion of the New Year. In the last nine hundred years, since Eric III abandoned the throne in 1146 to retire to a monastery, Denmark had not known a voluntary renunciation of the throne. Margarita had repeatedly declared her willingness to continue as queen until the end of time, but her mobility problems (last year she had back surgery) gave her the perfect excuse to change her mind. Although she will retain the honorary title of queen, Margaret intends to disappear from the public scene to dedicate herself to her many artistic hobbies.
The proclamation ceremony of Frederick from Holland. Even that of Felipe VI, before the Cortes Generales in Congress, with a subsequent reception in the Royal Palace, had more poise.
The events will begin at 1:30 p.m. this Sunday, when the crown princes Frederick and Mary of Denmark, accompanied by their first-born, Prince Christian, will travel, by car, from the palace of Frederick VIII, one of the wings of the complex. from Amalienborg, to Christiansborg, a route of barely two kilometers. Queen Margaret will then leave by carriage from her residence in the palace of Christian IX, also within Amalienborg, on the way to Christiasnborg. On her last ride as Queen Margaret she will be escorted by the horse squadron of the Guardhussar Regiment.
At two in the afternoon, already in Christiansborg, the Council of State will meet, before whose members Margaret will sign the act of abdication and her son will be from that moment on the new King Frederick the title of queen and the treatment of Her Majesty, she will leave Christiansborg and will go, this time by car, to her residence in Amalienborg, from where she will continue the rest of the ceremonies.
Following Margaret’s departure, the new kings Frederick and Mary host a reception for the Danish authorities in Christiansborg. Present at this event will be, among others, the presidents of the autonomous territories of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
It will be at three in the afternoon, when the proclamation will take place from the balcony of the main facade of Christiansborg that overlooks a square open to the public. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will officially proclaim the change of throne and ask nine cheers for the new sovereign who, immediately afterwards, will deliver his first speech as king and make public the motto of his reign. Queen Mary and her son Christian, the new crown prince, will then come out on the balcony.
It is planned that, after the new King’s speech, salutes of honor will be fired from the Battery Sixtus fortification in Holmen (Copenhagen) and, at the same time, the royal flag will be lowered from the palace of Christian IX (Margaret’s residence) and raised in the palace of Frederick VIII (residence of the new king), both located within Amalienborg.
After the ceremonies in Christiansborg, the new kings will travel by carriage to their residence, escorted by the horse squad of the Royal Guard regiment. Once at their residence, Frederick and Mary and Crown Prince Christian, who will be joined by Princes Elizabeth, Vincent and Josephine, will go out to the main balcony of Amalienborg, to greet the people gathered there, as Queen Margaret has done so many times. occasions throughout his reign. Unlike other royal residences, the Amalienborg complex, without fences or gardens in between, surrounds a square that is publicly accessible.
The last official act of the day will be at five in the afternoon when the transfer of the royal standards from the residence of Queen Margaret to that of Frederick X takes place.
The official ceremonies will continue on Monday with the royal family attending the celebration for the change of throne that will take place in Parliament, attended by its president Søren Gade, and the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, who will give speeches. An official reception will follow.
Next Sunday, the 21st, the royal family will travel to the city of Aarhus, located on the eastern coast of the Jutland peninsula, to attend a religious service of thanksgiving in the cathedral, which is expected to be attended by authorities and representatives of the different regions. Aarhus, at whose university both Queen Margaret and her son studied, is Denmark’s second city and in its vicinity is Marselisborg Castle, where the royal family celebrates Christmas.
