Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II revealed her intention to resign after 52 years and give over the kingdom to her son, Crown Prince Frederik, on Sunday.
The queen, Europe’s longest-reigning living monarch, declared during her New Year’s speech that she will abdicate on January 14, the anniversary of her ascension to the throne at the age of 31, after the death of her father, King Frederik IX.
Margrethe is the “epitome of Denmark.” Frederiksen’s statement read, “Throughout the years, we have put words and feelings into who we are as a people and as a nation.”
Margrethe, who stands 6-foot-tall (1.82-meters-tall), is a famous public figure in Denmark, where the monarch’s function is mostly ceremonial. She roamed the streets of Copenhagen almost alone and garnered Danes’ appreciation for her friendly demeanor and talents as a linguist and designer.
As monarch, she traversed the country and made frequent visits to Greenland and the Faeroe Islands, two semi-independent areas that are part of the Danish Realm, where she was greeted by enthusiastic crowds.
Denmark boasts the world’s oldest monarchy, dating back to the Viking king Gorm the Old, who died in 958. Although Magrethe is the head of state, the Danish Constitution prohibits her from participating in party politics.
Margrethe began learning French and English at a young age, and her mother taught her Swedish. She studied philosophy, political science, and economics at universities in Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Cambridge, as well as the London School of Economics and the Sorbonne in Paris, in addition to archaeology.
Frederik André Henrik Christian has been the heir to the Danish monarchy since his birth on May 26, 1968.
Since the age of 18, he has served as regent whenever his mother was outside the kingdom and carried out official duties, shaking hands with thousands and receiving foreign dignitaries.
She did, however, express gratitude to her country’s people for “the warmth and hospitality I meet with everywhere in Denmark.”
“In the new year, Crown Prince Frederik will be proclaimed king. Crown Princess Mary will become queen. The kingdom will have a new regent and a new royal couple,” he said in his statement. “We can look forward to all of this in the knowledge that they are ready for the responsibility and the task.”