On Sunday 14 January, there will be a new king and queen of Denmark after the current ruler, Queen Margrethe of Denmark, steps down.
On New Year’s Eve, Queen Margrethe II announced she was abdicating the throne and her son Crown Prince Frederik would become King Frederik X, while his wife Crown Princess Mary, his queen consort, will be known as Queen Mary.
Unlike King Charles III’s coronation, the Danish royal household will be opting for a simple ceremony. Instead of having a formal coronation, there will be a proclamation ceremony at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen on 14 January, exactly 52 years after Margrethe’s coronation.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will announce the royal couple at the palace, and the pair will appear on the balcony in front of the public.
A special cannon salute will celebrate the occasion, and the national flag is lowered and raised again at the royal palaces.
Prior to the unveiling of the new monarchy on the balcony, the new king and queen, in addition to Queen Margrethe, will join the Danish Government, Council of State Secretary in the Council of State for the formal transfer of power and the queen will sign an official declaration of her abdication.
The royal family will also participate in a special session of parliament on 15 January, as well as a celebratory church service at Aarhus Cathedral on Sunday 21 January.
Royal festivities will kick off midday in Denmark on 14 January, around 7.30am ET. There will be no television broadcast of the events, but many news outlets will be reporting live throughout the day.
The newly appointed King Frederik is also expected to make a speech to the public, after which the king and queen will hold an event with a small number of guests.
Another person in attendance will be Frederik’s brother Prince Joachim of Denmark, who is set to attend his mother’s abdication without his wife and children, nearly two years after his wife and children were stripped of their royal titles.
“Prince Joachim will be there, but the children go to school, there is no special reason,” a palace spokesperson told Hello Magazine.
Last year, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie relocated to the United States, just nine months after the monarch stripped the prince’s four children, Nikolai, Felix, Henrik and Athena, of their “His/Her Highness” royal titles.
Queen Margrethe’s second son shares Count Henrik and Countess Athena with Marie, and his older sons Count Felix and Count Nikolai with his first wife, Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg.
At the time, Queen Margrethe apologised to the members of her family who were left “saddened” by her decision.
“In recent days, there have been strong reactions to my decision about the future use of titles for Prince Joachim’s four children. That affects me, of course,” she wrote.
“My decision has been a long time coming. With my 50 years on the throne, it is natural both to look back and to look ahead. It is my duty and my desire as Queen to ensure that the monarchy always shapes itself in keeping with the times.”
She continued: “Sometimes, this means that difficult decisions must be made, and it will always be difficult to find the right moment.”
