Baghdad-INA
Queen Margaret II of Denmark announced in her traditional New Year’s speech that she will step down from the throne on January 14 after ruling the country for 52 years.
In her televised speech in which she extended her best wishes for the New Year, the Queen said, “On January 14, 2024, after 52 years of assuming the throne to succeed my beloved father, I will step down so that my two sons, Crown Prince Frederick, may ascend to it.”
The queen, whose husband died in 2018 and is very popular, underwent major back surgery in February, which made her unable to appear in public until April.
Margheriti II, 83 years old, said, “The surgery (…) raised questions about the future and the question of whether the time has come to transfer responsibilities to the next generation.”
Margaret II, who has been on the throne since her father’s death in 1972, contributed to modernizing the image of the monarchy.
Since the death of her relative Elizabeth II, Margaret has become the only queen to rule a European country. More than 80% of Danes are pro-monarchy. During the past year, thousands of them participated in the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of her accession to the throne.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement, “A large number of us have never lived through another king. Queen Margrethe is a true embodiment of Denmark, and over the years she has expressed our identity as a people and a nation through her statements and feelings.”
Until 1953, the Danish constitution prohibited a woman from assuming the throne in the country, but it was amended following a referendum held under pressure from Danish governments keen on modernity.
With his wife, Princess Mary, an Australian lawyer, “they gradually assumed power over the past few years, but very slowly and depending on the queen’s declining vitality,” says historian Sebastian Olden Jørgensen.