Today, the last day of 2023, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark made a shock announcement during her evening New Year address. The 83-year old monarch announced that on January 14th, 52 years after becoming Queen, she will abdicate in favor of her son Crown Prince Frederick.
Yes. Margrethe came from her father’s deathbed to be proclaimed from the Palace balcony, and that was it. At least Frederik can look cheerful, rather than grief stricken,; but no razzmatazz
You are right. Looks like they don’t do coronations. But they do seem to do more tiara events than the Brits, and there will undoubtedly be trips and hosting events as the new king and queen.
Evening events with formal dress and tiara please! Also, aren't the Danish New Year's diplomatic receptions coming up soon? The Scandinavian monarchies do such a good job allowing photographic access throughout their formal events.
The Danish tiara collection is one of my favorites (along with the Swedish,) so I can't wait for Mary to have even more opportunities to showcase the jewels!
For once, I’m not sure I agree with you. HM has had serious health issues recently, with restricted mobility and back pain. I’m sure that is a big part of the decision. The demoting of Joachim’s children was possibly the first step towards this, well before the story of the affair.
The low profile in Australia was also possibly them preparing for the huge change in their lives.
I’m not sure whether you’re right or not—Jane’s theory was also my initial reaction—however I do feel like the points you’re making are super solid and highly possible, esp regarding the demotion of Joachim’s children.
I absolutely agree with you. I just love how so many seemto view male and female relationships the way, of all people, Mike Pence does. Something must have happened because he’s a man & so it must be cheating? Everyone taking the word of a Spanish tabloid that a dinner was “intimate.” 0 proof of anything untoward.
They trip down under - nearly every year - was not low profile and their trip to New Zealand was big news there.
Finally, the idea that she would abdicate NOW when the marriage is allegedly shaky? Preposterous. Patricia Treble said it perfectly:
“That Margrethe trusts her heir enough to give him the throne should end recent tabloid speculation that Frederik had an affair. She’s too professional a monarch to be seen rewarding his infidelity. “
I also agree that she made the decision with Joachim so that Frederick didn’t have to do it. She has been preparing for a year.
I think her health problems in addition to seeing the queen of the UK hang on for dear life, unable to travel and fulfill a lot of her duties, and then an elderly tired looking Prince Charles becoming King at 73… I think she doesn’t want that for Frederik either.
When people said this is a job for life, no one was seeing people living to 100 like they do now.
It will be interesting to see what happens. I am never of the mind that adding stress helps a rocky marriage (e.g., a new baby after infidelity). However, marriage therapists do often recommend learning something new together to heal or to keep the spark. Perhaps the Queen is thinking the latter rather than the former.
Thank you, Jane. I appreciate your analysis on F and M. I adore this family and follow them closely. I was devastated to learn about the assumed affair. I agree with you that it is hard to deny the pictures and the well-documented timeline of events. The pictures of Mary arriving in Australia early with the twins were heartbreaking and telling. M and F had such a romantic wedding. He cried as she walked down the aisle and throughout the wedding. They always seemed so in love- even recently. I guess you never really know what is going on behind the doors of a palace. Very surprising news this morning for sure.
I wonder if there is more to the queens health problems she is a life long chain smoker and she clearly still struggles at times with her back issues I think it’s also worth noting the timing of this follows Christian coming of age and able to take up position of heir apparent I agree the changes to status of Joachim children may have been positioning to save Frederick having to be the bad guy time will tell I think we can all agree Frederick is very lucky to have Mary as his consort
I agree, I was thinking the same thing. Remember how after QE II died it came out that she had diagnosed serious health problems which weren't (and shouldn't have been, in my opinion) shared with the public. It's possible that Frederik had only a platonic or emotional affair, but given he's supposedly relatively smart (spent time at Harvard), I'm surprised he didn't anticipate the salacious coverage by the press. Reminiscent somewhat of Prince Philip and Penny Romsey, but without the age difference. Perhaps one more time out in the world like a normal person before that is no longer possible.
I appreciate you talking about this, Jane. I was shocked when I heard the news. I don’t know what to think personally. I don’t want Queen Margrethe II to have been informed of any worse medical issues that would require her to step down. But I also don’t want to assume she would step down to save her son’s marriage. That doesn’t feel quite right either. I think Queen Elizabeth II’s death last year may have made her think about this more seriously. But that’s just my two cents.
Christina from Denmark here. QM has always, as QE, stated that it is a life long commitment. But. She has had some health scares, is past 80 and just underwent a major operation as still not "fully operational" and might never be.
Not agreeing on the save the marriage theory, as we still all want to know, wtf he did in Madrid.
But Danish experts and the generel opinion is, that now is a good time and she doesn't want to see her son keep on living in her shadow without any purpose and just wait. And again; she has become more and more frail. But most of us did not expect that. The whole country went quiet. And then we cheered. For her and for our new King.
As I've thought about this announcement, and the timing of it, I also wonder if the timing has anything to do with Prince Christian turning 18 this fall. If she had stepped down earlier then he would have become the Crown Prince before even reaching 18, but now that he is 18, the timing might have made a bit more sense.
As long as she keeps designing her wonderful clothes and theatrical productions! I'm being facetious, but she could have had a career doing those things had she not been born royal. In some previous posts commenters have said they are here only for Kate's clothes, so for those who aren't familiar with Margarethe's design work, check out her clothes (and magnificent jewels!) on various royalty websites. Jane, I am very glad you are not limiting yourself here to just the British royalty
True. Her contemporary female sovereigns were/are Elizabeth II and the now Princess (formerly Queen) of the Netherlands, who stepped down in favor of her son over ten years ago in favor of her son. But that is the custom in the Netherlands.
I've been very impressed with Queen Margrethe's active role in managing her family, unlike Queen Elizabeth's and Prince Charles's tendency toward the ostrich approach. QM was willing to take the hit herself last year, stripping the titles from the children of her youngest son, rather than leaving it to her heir to have to deal with that one day. And she also clarified (just before covid I think?) the only her grandson the heir would receive a royal annuity as an adult. Perhaps it was the combination of her health situation plus being able to give Frederik and Mary a boost, and perhaps her own sudden accession after the unexpected death of her father played a role. I think there's something very jarring to modern sensibilities, in the modern world where retirement is the norm, for royal families to have intertwined the very saddest occasion (and one which for non-royals is allowed to remain private) --the death of the old monarch --with the very happiest -- the crowning of the new monarch.
My general feeling on this is that it's more likely Queen M's health; I think she looks so uncomfortable, but I also think she's been considering this for a while, as shown by the Joachim children situation. I also think that the decision may not be so much to help the F&M marriage, but to shake Fred up and give him purpose in life, which he apparently has had trouble with. The fallout of that would help the marriage, hopefully. And of course Christian coming of age and the upcoming anniversary of her accession makes for lovely timing.
Gosh you commenters and Jane are doing such a great job! You’ve all made great points about how Marguerite has been moving the pieces around for a while now. Was F’s behavior in Madrid the last straw? It totally seems plausible.
I’m irrationally sad about it because Mary was visiting my home town of Raleigh, NC on the day Fred was in Madrid. We NEVER get important people here and now it’s tainted!
Jane, I think you’re on the right track. It’s the first thing I and many others thought when she dropped this bombshell. I hope it heals the hurt Frederick’s behavior has caused, and Denmark can look forward to more happy years with their new King
It seems like I am the only one, but I have been kind of expecting this since the change of Joachim children’s title, hence long before the rumours.
I know QM said abdicating is not the Danish way, but things change. I expect by the next generation abdication will be the norm in all 10 European monarchies - including the UK.
Abdication in Spain and Belgium might have been forced by scandal, but it also cannot be denied that both countries as well as the Netherlands have benefitted from having a younger couple on the throne. And the Netherlands have shown there is much to be said for being able to plan your reign.
As far as the rumours go, I’m not convinced. But it does seem like Fred can do with a more demanding job.
I wonder if she's ill - if she has been diagnosed with a major heath issue. She said she'd stay until she died or became too ill. I usually find this blog to be insightful, but I doubt this is about F&M's marriage.
I think their marriage is fine. Patricia Treble said it perfectly:
“That Margrethe trusts her heir enough to give him the throne should end recent tabloid speculation that Frederik had an affair. She’s too professional a monarch to be seen rewarding his infidelity. “
My first reaction on hearing this news was that it was an emergency action because of the marriage. So Jane I think your sense that it’s primarily about the marriage is the right one and the preponderance of expert royal analysis is assuming the same. This assumed infidelity is a catastrophe for the Danish royals. This is exactly the move one could expect from the very canny Danish Queen. She has already shown in the last year that she will take difficult decisions that cut across her own and her children’s positions. Her personal preference and pain in some of these decisions clearly have taken a back seat to the Crown. And we know in these families that the Crown and it’s modern survival must take precedence or it may go by the wayside.
Sorry, it’s absolutely absurd and backwards to think this has anything to do with Fred and Mary’s marriage, which as far as I know is fine.
They are popular, the monarchy is in 0 danger; the Danes believe they have a right to privacy. It’s the foreign press who are looking for drama and creating an issue where it doesn’t exist.
Here in DK a rather solid theory has begun to circulate: is, that CP Frederik met with spanish Cassanova as a cover up to actually meeting with King Felipe to talk about hand over and such.
That she was used as a "middle man" (if that is even a word in English).
It does not give more answers as such, seems somewhat plausible but if any at the court thought we would stop asking questions, they were mistaken.
It would explain why they took so little trouble to hide their meeting. However I stuggle to imagine what Fred and Felipe would have to discuss that is so private and also can’t be done over the phone.
I've never followed the Danish royals so my impressions are superficial at best. I have noted that people either seem to really love Mary or really dislike her. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground with her. I couldn't say. My main impression of her is that she looks like Kate's older sister. I've seen some people say that Frederik needs to grow up but the man is 55 years old. I'd say if he hasn't grown up by now it's probably not going to happen. Whether he slept with the Mexican socialite or not we really can't know but it was at best a colossal display of poor judgment, given his position. Situations like this display the problems inherent in hereditary monarchies where the heir isn't perhaps best suited for the role.
Interestingly, People Magazine has basically copied this story!! And I have to say that no one knows the truth of what goes on in anyone else's marriage.
My understanding is that the Danes do not have “coronations”.
Yes. Margrethe came from her father’s deathbed to be proclaimed from the Palace balcony, and that was it. At least Frederik can look cheerful, rather than grief stricken,; but no razzmatazz
Good point. Much less shock and emotional trauma doing it this way rather than having grief and accession occur simultaneously.
You are right. Looks like they don’t do coronations. But they do seem to do more tiara events than the Brits, and there will undoubtedly be trips and hosting events as the new king and queen.
I hope so
Evening events with formal dress and tiara please! Also, aren't the Danish New Year's diplomatic receptions coming up soon? The Scandinavian monarchies do such a good job allowing photographic access throughout their formal events.
The Danish tiara collection is one of my favorites (along with the Swedish,) so I can't wait for Mary to have even more opportunities to showcase the jewels!
For once, I’m not sure I agree with you. HM has had serious health issues recently, with restricted mobility and back pain. I’m sure that is a big part of the decision. The demoting of Joachim’s children was possibly the first step towards this, well before the story of the affair.
The low profile in Australia was also possibly them preparing for the huge change in their lives.
I’m not sure whether you’re right or not—Jane’s theory was also my initial reaction—however I do feel like the points you’re making are super solid and highly possible, esp regarding the demotion of Joachim’s children.
I absolutely agree with you. I just love how so many seemto view male and female relationships the way, of all people, Mike Pence does. Something must have happened because he’s a man & so it must be cheating? Everyone taking the word of a Spanish tabloid that a dinner was “intimate.” 0 proof of anything untoward.
They trip down under - nearly every year - was not low profile and their trip to New Zealand was big news there.
Finally, the idea that she would abdicate NOW when the marriage is allegedly shaky? Preposterous. Patricia Treble said it perfectly:
“That Margrethe trusts her heir enough to give him the throne should end recent tabloid speculation that Frederik had an affair. She’s too professional a monarch to be seen rewarding his infidelity. “
I also agree that she made the decision with Joachim so that Frederick didn’t have to do it. She has been preparing for a year.
I think her health problems in addition to seeing the queen of the UK hang on for dear life, unable to travel and fulfill a lot of her duties, and then an elderly tired looking Prince Charles becoming King at 73… I think she doesn’t want that for Frederik either.
When people said this is a job for life, no one was seeing people living to 100 like they do now.
It will be interesting to see what happens. I am never of the mind that adding stress helps a rocky marriage (e.g., a new baby after infidelity). However, marriage therapists do often recommend learning something new together to heal or to keep the spark. Perhaps the Queen is thinking the latter rather than the former.
Thank you, Jane. I appreciate your analysis on F and M. I adore this family and follow them closely. I was devastated to learn about the assumed affair. I agree with you that it is hard to deny the pictures and the well-documented timeline of events. The pictures of Mary arriving in Australia early with the twins were heartbreaking and telling. M and F had such a romantic wedding. He cried as she walked down the aisle and throughout the wedding. They always seemed so in love- even recently. I guess you never really know what is going on behind the doors of a palace. Very surprising news this morning for sure.
Different school schedules so Fred arrived later with the other 2 children. The jump to conclusions on everyone’s part keeps surprising me.
What pictures and timeline? What does it say? You believe the sleezy suggestions of the Spanish National enquirer?
I wonder if there is more to the queens health problems she is a life long chain smoker and she clearly still struggles at times with her back issues I think it’s also worth noting the timing of this follows Christian coming of age and able to take up position of heir apparent I agree the changes to status of Joachim children may have been positioning to save Frederick having to be the bad guy time will tell I think we can all agree Frederick is very lucky to have Mary as his consort
I agree, I was thinking the same thing. Remember how after QE II died it came out that she had diagnosed serious health problems which weren't (and shouldn't have been, in my opinion) shared with the public. It's possible that Frederik had only a platonic or emotional affair, but given he's supposedly relatively smart (spent time at Harvard), I'm surprised he didn't anticipate the salacious coverage by the press. Reminiscent somewhat of Prince Philip and Penny Romsey, but without the age difference. Perhaps one more time out in the world like a normal person before that is no longer possible.
I appreciate you talking about this, Jane. I was shocked when I heard the news. I don’t know what to think personally. I don’t want Queen Margrethe II to have been informed of any worse medical issues that would require her to step down. But I also don’t want to assume she would step down to save her son’s marriage. That doesn’t feel quite right either. I think Queen Elizabeth II’s death last year may have made her think about this more seriously. But that’s just my two cents.
-Jeni in Kansas
This.
Christina from Denmark here. QM has always, as QE, stated that it is a life long commitment. But. She has had some health scares, is past 80 and just underwent a major operation as still not "fully operational" and might never be.
Not agreeing on the save the marriage theory, as we still all want to know, wtf he did in Madrid.
But Danish experts and the generel opinion is, that now is a good time and she doesn't want to see her son keep on living in her shadow without any purpose and just wait. And again; she has become more and more frail. But most of us did not expect that. The whole country went quiet. And then we cheered. For her and for our new King.
As I've thought about this announcement, and the timing of it, I also wonder if the timing has anything to do with Prince Christian turning 18 this fall. If she had stepped down earlier then he would have become the Crown Prince before even reaching 18, but now that he is 18, the timing might have made a bit more sense.
As long as she keeps designing her wonderful clothes and theatrical productions! I'm being facetious, but she could have had a career doing those things had she not been born royal. In some previous posts commenters have said they are here only for Kate's clothes, so for those who aren't familiar with Margarethe's design work, check out her clothes (and magnificent jewels!) on various royalty websites. Jane, I am very glad you are not limiting yourself here to just the British royalty
True. Her contemporary female sovereigns were/are Elizabeth II and the now Princess (formerly Queen) of the Netherlands, who stepped down in favor of her son over ten years ago in favor of her son. But that is the custom in the Netherlands.
I've been very impressed with Queen Margrethe's active role in managing her family, unlike Queen Elizabeth's and Prince Charles's tendency toward the ostrich approach. QM was willing to take the hit herself last year, stripping the titles from the children of her youngest son, rather than leaving it to her heir to have to deal with that one day. And she also clarified (just before covid I think?) the only her grandson the heir would receive a royal annuity as an adult. Perhaps it was the combination of her health situation plus being able to give Frederik and Mary a boost, and perhaps her own sudden accession after the unexpected death of her father played a role. I think there's something very jarring to modern sensibilities, in the modern world where retirement is the norm, for royal families to have intertwined the very saddest occasion (and one which for non-royals is allowed to remain private) --the death of the old monarch --with the very happiest -- the crowning of the new monarch.
My general feeling on this is that it's more likely Queen M's health; I think she looks so uncomfortable, but I also think she's been considering this for a while, as shown by the Joachim children situation. I also think that the decision may not be so much to help the F&M marriage, but to shake Fred up and give him purpose in life, which he apparently has had trouble with. The fallout of that would help the marriage, hopefully. And of course Christian coming of age and the upcoming anniversary of her accession makes for lovely timing.
Gosh you commenters and Jane are doing such a great job! You’ve all made great points about how Marguerite has been moving the pieces around for a while now. Was F’s behavior in Madrid the last straw? It totally seems plausible.
I’m irrationally sad about it because Mary was visiting my home town of Raleigh, NC on the day Fred was in Madrid. We NEVER get important people here and now it’s tainted!
Jane, I think you’re on the right track. It’s the first thing I and many others thought when she dropped this bombshell. I hope it heals the hurt Frederick’s behavior has caused, and Denmark can look forward to more happy years with their new King
It seems like I am the only one, but I have been kind of expecting this since the change of Joachim children’s title, hence long before the rumours.
I know QM said abdicating is not the Danish way, but things change. I expect by the next generation abdication will be the norm in all 10 European monarchies - including the UK.
Abdication in Spain and Belgium might have been forced by scandal, but it also cannot be denied that both countries as well as the Netherlands have benefitted from having a younger couple on the throne. And the Netherlands have shown there is much to be said for being able to plan your reign.
As far as the rumours go, I’m not convinced. But it does seem like Fred can do with a more demanding job.
I wonder if she's ill - if she has been diagnosed with a major heath issue. She said she'd stay until she died or became too ill. I usually find this blog to be insightful, but I doubt this is about F&M's marriage.
I think their marriage is fine. Patricia Treble said it perfectly:
“That Margrethe trusts her heir enough to give him the throne should end recent tabloid speculation that Frederik had an affair. She’s too professional a monarch to be seen rewarding his infidelity. “
My first reaction on hearing this news was that it was an emergency action because of the marriage. So Jane I think your sense that it’s primarily about the marriage is the right one and the preponderance of expert royal analysis is assuming the same. This assumed infidelity is a catastrophe for the Danish royals. This is exactly the move one could expect from the very canny Danish Queen. She has already shown in the last year that she will take difficult decisions that cut across her own and her children’s positions. Her personal preference and pain in some of these decisions clearly have taken a back seat to the Crown. And we know in these families that the Crown and it’s modern survival must take precedence or it may go by the wayside.
Sorry, it’s absolutely absurd and backwards to think this has anything to do with Fred and Mary’s marriage, which as far as I know is fine.
They are popular, the monarchy is in 0 danger; the Danes believe they have a right to privacy. It’s the foreign press who are looking for drama and creating an issue where it doesn’t exist.
Here in DK a rather solid theory has begun to circulate: is, that CP Frederik met with spanish Cassanova as a cover up to actually meeting with King Felipe to talk about hand over and such.
That she was used as a "middle man" (if that is even a word in English).
It does not give more answers as such, seems somewhat plausible but if any at the court thought we would stop asking questions, they were mistaken.
It would explain why they took so little trouble to hide their meeting. However I stuggle to imagine what Fred and Felipe would have to discuss that is so private and also can’t be done over the phone.
Agree.
I've never followed the Danish royals so my impressions are superficial at best. I have noted that people either seem to really love Mary or really dislike her. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground with her. I couldn't say. My main impression of her is that she looks like Kate's older sister. I've seen some people say that Frederik needs to grow up but the man is 55 years old. I'd say if he hasn't grown up by now it's probably not going to happen. Whether he slept with the Mexican socialite or not we really can't know but it was at best a colossal display of poor judgment, given his position. Situations like this display the problems inherent in hereditary monarchies where the heir isn't perhaps best suited for the role.
Interestingly, People Magazine has basically copied this story!! And I have to say that no one knows the truth of what goes on in anyone else's marriage.