{"id":41181,"date":"2024-01-15T10:24:50","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T10:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/?p=41181"},"modified":"2024-01-15T10:24:51","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T10:24:51","slug":"frederik-x-is-the-new-king-of-denmark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/2024\/01\/15\/frederik-x-is-the-new-king-of-denmark\/","title":{"rendered":"Frederik X is the new king of Denmark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Denmark\u2019s prime minister proclaimed\u00a0Frederik X<\/strong>\u00a0as king on Sunday after his mother Queen Margrethe II formally signed her abdication, with massive crowds turning out to rejoice in the throne passing from a beloved monarch to her popular son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Margrethe, 83, is the first Danish monarch to voluntarily relinquish the throne in nearly 900 years. Many thousands of people gathered outside the palace where the royal succession took place, the mood jubilant as the Nordic nation experienced its first royal succession in more than a half-century, and one not caused by the death of a monarch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denmark\u2019s monarchy traces its origins to 10th-century Viking king Gorm the Old, making it the oldest in Europe and one of the oldest in the world. Today the royal family\u2019s duties are largely ceremonial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Margrethe signed her abdication during a meeting with the government at the Christiansborg Palace, a vast complex in Copenhagen that has been the seat of Danish power for centuries. It now houses the Royal Reception Rooms and Royal Stables as well as the Danish Parliament, the prime minister\u2019s office and the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen next proclaimed Frederik king from the balcony of the palace before the cheering crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frederiksen read the proclamation three times, which is the tradition, as Frederik stood beside her wearing a ceremonial military uniform adorned with medals. He was then joined on the balcony by the new, Australian-born Queen Mary<\/strong> and the couple\u2019s four children, and the crowd spontaneously sang the national anthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy hope is to become a unifying king of tomorrow,\u201dFrederik said. \u201cIt is a task I have approached all my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the custom for each new sovereign to adopt a royal motto as a guiding principle for their reign, and Frederik\u2019s is: \u201cUnited, committed, for the kingdom of Denmark.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to return the trust I meet,\u201d the new king said. \u201cI need trust from my beloved wife, you and that which is greater than us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frederik kissed Mary, the queen, who wore a white dress with a sash over one shoulder, and another great cheer rose from the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They then left Christianborg Palace in a horse-drawn coach as church bells rang out, and headed to their Amalienborg residence, where they once again appeared before people cheering and waving the nation\u2019s flag of a white cross on a red background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frederik, who was visibly moved, placed both hands on his heart in a gesture of thanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The abdication document was earlier presented to Margrethe as she sat at a massive table covered in red cloth around which royals and members of the Danish government were seated. Frederik sat beside her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After signing it, Margrethe, dressed in a magenta skirt suit, rose and gestured to Frederik to take her place. \u201cGod save the king,\u201d she said as she left the room using a cane for support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The abdication leaves Denmark with two queens: Margrethe keeps her title, while Frederik\u2019s wife becomes Queen Mary<\/strong>. Frederik and Mary\u2019s eldest son Christian, 18, has become crown prince and heir to the throne. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citing health issues, Margrethe announced on New Year\u2019s Eve<\/strong> that she would step down, stunning a nation that had expected her to live out her days on the throne, as is the tradition<\/strong> in the Danish monarchy. Margrethe underwent major back surgery<\/strong> last February and didn\u2019t return to work until April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the prime minister was unaware of the queen\u2019s intentions until right before the announcement. Margrethe had informed Frederik and his younger brother Joachim just three days earlier, the Berlingske newspaper wrote, citing the royal palace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People from across Denmark gathered outside parliament, with many swarming streets decorated with red-and-white Danish flags. Several shops hung photos of Margrethe and Frederik, while city buses were adorned with small Danish flags as is customary during royal events. Many others across the kingdom of nearly 6 million people followed a live television broadcast of the historic event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was worth the four hours wait,\u201d said Anders Pejtersen, 25. He made the trip from Aalborg, in northern Denmark, to witness Frederik\u2019s proclamation. His mother, Helle Pejtersen, said \u201cit was intense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina Gregovic, 32, a Copenhagen resident, said she believed Frederik \u201cwill be fantastic. And we loved his speech.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Royals across Europe sent their congratulations including U.K. King Charles III, whose late mother Queen Elizabeth II and Margrethe were third cousins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charles said he was committed to working with them \u201con ensuring that the enduring bond between our countries, and our families, remains strong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in the day, the royal guards\u2019 music band made their daily parade through downtown Copenhagen, but wore the red jackets used to mark major events, instead of their usual black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last time a Danish monarch voluntarily resigned was in 1146, when King Erik III Lam stepped down to enter a monastery. Margrethe abdicated on the same day of January that she ascended the throne following the death of her father, King Frederik IX, on Jan. 14, 1972.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australians also turned out on the streets of Copenhagen to celebrate one of their own becoming queen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s good that she\u2019s not from royalty and has a normal Australian background. We can relate more to that, because she\u2019s from a middle-class background, and we are too,\u201d said Judy Langtree, who made the long journey from Brisbane with her daughter to witness the royal event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A survey \u2014 commissioned by Denmark\u2019s public broadcaster DR \u2014 published Friday showed that 79% of the 1,037 people polled by the Epinion polling institute said that they believed Frederik was prepared to take the reigns and 83% said they thought his wife Mary was ready to become queen. The survey margin of error was 3 percentage points, DR said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though a hereditary monarchy might seem contradictory to the egalitarian principles of modern-day Denmark, the royal family remains highly popular and the anti-monarchist movement is small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe republicans in Denmark have no future,\u201d former parliamentary Speaker Pia Kj\u00e6rsgaard said on public television.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Denmark\u2019s prime minister proclaimed\u00a0Frederik X\u00a0as king on Sunday after his mother Queen Margrethe II formally signed her abdication, with massive crowds turning out to rejoice in the throne passing from a beloved monarch to her popular son. Margrethe, 83, is the first Danish monarch to voluntarily relinquish the throne in nearly 900 years. Many thousands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":41183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[8249,6573,5673,4321,287,8927,6537,9331,8908,10507,9171,2808,7234,5347,6901,6621,6738,5455,9127,10930,3577,1445,2264,12634,12947,7874,7881,9833,5572,1249,5316,12287,5058,1993,9213,11973,1198,7267,3174,3927,8091,6575,8133,9277,10041,8840,1825,9210,5815,6348,6571,10415,36,594,10353],"class_list":["post-41181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","tag-australian","tag-black","tag-bond","tag-broadcaster","tag-children","tag-christian","tag-church","tag-city","tag-coach","tag-court","tag-crowd","tag-daughter","tag-death","tag-denmark","tag-elizabeth-ii","tag-europe","tag-families","tag-family","tag-february","tag-fredrik-x","tag-future","tag-god","tag-government","tag-health","tag-health-issues","tag-king-charles","tag-king-charles-iii","tag-meeting","tag-military","tag-monarch","tag-monarchy","tag-movement","tag-music","tag-my-life","tag-new-year","tag-one","tag-parliament","tag-pia","tag-prime-minister","tag-queen","tag-queen-margrethe","tag-republicans","tag-royal-family","tag-speaker","tag-speech","tag-strong","tag-supreme-court","tag-surgery","tag-uniform","tag-us","tag-white","tag-work","tag-world","tag-who","tag-x"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41181"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41184,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41181\/revisions\/41184"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}