Queen of Denmark Margrethe II announces her abdication

 

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announced on Sunday that she intends to abdicate the throne to make way for her son, Crown Prince Frederik. The queen’s announcement came during her speech on the occasion of the new year that she intends to relinquish the throne on January 14 next year, which coincides with the fifty-second anniversary of her accession to the throne at the age of thirty-one after the death of her father King Frederick IX

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen confirmed the decision in a press statement in which she praised the queen (83 years old) and offered “sincere thanks to Her Majesty the Queen for her dedication throughout her life and her tireless efforts for the kingdom

Margrethe, a heavy smoker who is one meter and eighty-two centimeters tall, has always been one of the most popular figures among the masses. She often walked the streets of Copenhagen with almost no escorts and won the admiration of the Danes with her kindness and warmth to others and her talents as a linguist and a fashion designer as well

Margrethe was also an enthusiastic skier and a member of the Danish Air Force Women’s Unit as a princess, and joined judo training courses and underwent endurance tests in the snow, and Margrethe remained steadfast even as she aged

In 2011, when she was seventy, she visited the Danish forces in Afghanistan wearing a one-piece military uniform

As the queen, she used to travel across the country and visit Greenland and the Faroe Islands archipelago - both of which belong to the Kingdom of Denmark and enjoy semi-autonomous rule - regularly, where she found joyful crowds waiting for her everywhere