It is one of the oldest monarchies in the world. Denmark, a kingdom since the Viking era and the reign of Gorm the Old (died around 958), is preparing to experience a major event in its history, this Sunday, January 14 in Copenhagen. The Danish monarchy will change its face after the abdication of Queen Margrethe II in favor of her son, Crown Prince Frederik.
The announcement by Margrethe II of her withdrawal, during her televised vows on the evening of December 31, had the effect of a bomb in the country: the 83-year-old queen, the only female monarch in Europe since the death of the Queen Elizabeth II, had sworn to stay on the throne until she fell from it. This news had “shocked the nation”, wrote the liberal Danish daily Jyllands-Posten.
This is the second time that a Danish sovereign has abdicated, the previous one dating back 900 years ago, recalls to AFP the royal correspondent of public television DR, Cecilie Nielsen. “The rituals as we know them are linked to the fact that the former monarch dies,” she notes. Margrethe II, who will keep her title of queen, will still be able to represent the royal house during official ceremonies.
A king without a coronation
Police expect a human tide this Sunday in Copenhagen, the capital of the Scandinavian kingdom of 5.9 million inhabitants. The day’s protocol broadly reflects Denmark’s tradition of succession. At 3 p.m., Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will proclaim the accession of Frederik by carriage. Previously, Margrethe II will have officially renounced the throne, exactly 52 years after ascending it upon the death of her father, Frederik IX, by signing the act of abdication.
Frederik X, 55, will not wear the crown of Denmark, displayed at Rosenborg Castle. The coronation was in fact abolished in the 17th century when the monarchy became hereditary but an anointing ceremony replaced it until 1840. Unlike the tradition of other European monarchies, the Danish sovereign does not take an oath and he there is no ceremony bringing together heads of state and foreign crowned heads.
The metamorphosis of a king
Prince Frederik, passionate about the climate cause, has discreetly established himself in the shadow of his mother, making himself the tireless representative of Denmark and its ecological solutions, in contrast to the fleeing young man whom it could have been.
“He was not strictly speaking a rebel, but as a child and young man he was very uncomfortable with the media attention and the knowledge that he was going to be king. He gained confidence in the midst of in my twenties”, Gitte Redder, specialist in the Danish royal family, tells AFP. A lonely and tormented teenager, who blamed his parents for neglecting him to fulfill their obligations, Frederik, passionate about sports, beautiful cars, speed and nightclubs, was considered a spoiled prince in the early 1990s.
Perfect French-speaking through his father, the French diplomat Henri de Monpezat who became Prince Consort Henrik, this political science graduate from the University of Aarhus also speaks English and German. It was his military training in the three Danish defense corps that earned him the esteem of his subjects and the maturity that seemed to be lacking in him.
The embodiment of a relaxed monarchy
The prince was notably part of the elite corps of combat swimmers, under the name “Pingo” (Penguin), succeeding in 1995 in ranking among the four candidates who successfully passed all the tests out of some 300 registered. He also distinguished himself by participating in a four-month, 3,500 km ski expedition in Greenland in 2000. Daredevil – he had short stays in hospital due to sledding and scooter accidents – in 2018 he created the Royal Run, a running race with multiple editions across Denmark, which contributed to strengthen its popularity.
Gitte Redder notes that “he is a sportsman. He attends concerts, football matches, which makes him even more accessible than his mother”. Frederik therefore embodies the ideal of a relaxed monarchy. “When the time comes, I will lead the ship,” he assured during the celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of his mother’s throne, in 2022. “I will follow you, as you followed your father, and as Christian will follow me.” “I do not want to lock myself in a fortress, I want to be myself, a human being,” the crown prince also declared, affirming his desire to be faithful to this principle, even on the throne.
With his wife, an Australian commoner and lawyer by training met in a bar in Sydney during the 2000 Olympics, they “gradually took over over the last few years, but very slowly and in line with the Queen’s declining vitality” , notes historian Sebastian Olden-Jørgensen to AFP. “Modern, ‘woke’, lover of pop music, modern art and sports”, the couple “does not represent a potential revolution compared to the queen who is conservative” but a cautious adaptation to changes in society modern, according to him.
With Princess Mary, they wanted a normal school career for their four children, currently aged 11 to 18, mainly educated in the public system. The eldest, Prince Christian, 18 years old since October, is the first of the heirs to the crown to have gone to nursery.
Massive support for the monarchy
Frederik subtly cultivates the family heritage and his wife regularly wears the jewelry of Queen Ingrid, his grandmother by marriage. “Like his mother, I think he will be very unifying because he, like the rest of the royal family, is above the dissensions in society,” historian Bo Lidegaard told AFP. “Paradoxically, they are not citizens, are outside the political debate, but are the mirror of Denmark,” he adds.
In Denmark, the role of the monarch, head of state, is mainly representative and ceremonial. However, he signs the laws and formally presides over the constitution of the government which he meets at regular intervals.
Margrethe II and Frederik When she ascended the throne in 1972, only 45% of Danes still supported the monarchy, the others believing that the oldest surviving European royal dynasty was unsuitable for a modern democracy. Today, the proportion of defenders of the monarchy peaks at more than 80% and more than 80% of Danes also believe that Margrethe II made the right decision by abdicating. Some four out of five residents believe that the new sovereign will be a good king.