The New Danish King

Many of you saw the headline on New Year's Eve about how Denmark's beloved queen, Queen Margrethe II, essentially gave her two-week notice during her annual New Year's speech to the country. I think there was kind of a delay as shock set in and like myself, a lot of people were kind of like, "Did she just say what we think she said?"

She did.

Queen Margrethe II abdicated the throne today, Sunday, 14 January, 2024, making her son, Crown Prince Frederik, the new Danish king, King Frederik X. There's a lovely article in The Guardian about it.

Queen Margrethe II after her announcement on NYE (pressdemocrat.com)

There is not as much pomp and circumstance around this as there would be in England, and no one has to sit on a throne or wear a heavy crown or anything like that, but that didn't make it any less exciting. Queen Margrethe II was queen of Denmark for 52 years, and since Frederik is only 55 years old, he could be the king for decades.

One reason this was so historic is that no Danish royalty has abdicated for maybe 900 years. Queen Margrethe II had a lot of support from the people though. I mentioned in a previous post, I think, that the big players in the Danish royal family, including Queen Margrethe II and her son, have a very favorable rating with the public.

I wasn't going to miss being a part of this, but there was no way I was going to go into Copenhagen today, so I just planned to watch it all live on DRTV. I didn't really prep anything special for the occasion, though. I knew we would have Carlsberg in the fridge so that I could raise a proper glass to The Queen as she departed, and another glass to The King as he gave his speech. I also had my tiara ready and waiting (because it seemed like the proper attire), but that was it.

Then, the amazing canteen at ALK came through for me on Friday!

Conscription cake (chocolate base, pear compote, Sarah Bernhardt, marzipan and chocolate)

It's so pretty!!

The sign on the cake table said the cake would keep until Sunday if you put it in the fridge, and it was only 60 DKK. I scooped it up so fast. I got the last one on the table, but hopefully they had more, because it was only like 15 minutes into the lunch period and I bet there were fewer than 100 people who had gone through the canteen to see them at that point.

Harrison didn't want to wait, so we ate half of it last night (Saturday) and put the rest in the fridge for today.

At about 1:15 p.m., I turned on DRTV so I wouldn't miss anything. One of my goals this weekend was to practice my Danish (beyond the Duolingo I do a little every day), so I turned on the Danish captions and watched intently, trying to follow along with the newscasters.

There was an official schedule posted, so I knew when to expect exciting things to happen:

13:35 - The Crown Prince Couple and Prince Christian ride from Frederik VIII's Palace at Amalienborg (where they currently live and will continue to live) in a car to Christiansborg Palace.

13:37 - Her Majesty the Queen rides in a carriage from Christian IX's Palace, Amalienborg (where she currently lives and will continue to live) to Christiansborg Palace.

(There are four palaces at Amalienborg situated around a central courtyard. The Queen lives in one, Crown Prince Frederik lives with his family in another, and the other two are sometimes open to tour.)

14:00 - The Queen, The Crown Prince, and Prince Christian participate in the Council of the State meeting. This is where The Queen will sign her declaration of abdication, immediately making Frederik king of Denmark.

14:15 - Her Majesty Queen Margrethe leaves Christiansborg Palace in a car back to her home at Amalienborg.

14:30 - Their Majesties The King and Queen (Frederik and Mary) have a little thing with some special people at Christiansborg Palace.

15:00 - His Majesty King Frederik X steps out on the balcony of Christansborg Palace. The Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, proclaims his accession to the throne, and then The King gives a smalls speech and ends it with his new motto.

(All kings and queens adopt a royal motto when they take the throne.)

15:10 - There's a cannon salute from the Sixtus Battery on Holmes, Copenhagen. (3 x 27 shots)

15:30 - The King and Queen ride in a carriage home from Christiansborg Palace

17:00 - Transfer of the royal colors from Christian IX's Palace at Amalienborg (where The Queen lives) to Frederik VIII's Palace at Amalienborg (where the new king and queen live).

Even though the media folks clearly had clearances that others did not, they still struggled to get clear shots of the events as they unfolded - there were SO many people in Copenhagen. Just watch some of the aerial footage. It was a horrifying crowd crush waiting to happen.

I was able to sip my Carlsberg in my tiara and watch the guard on their lovely horses trotting ahead of the carriage through the main streets between the palaces. Every now and then, when the light was right, it was possible to see The Queen waving from her carriage. I waved back at her.

I saw The Crown Prince waving from the backseat of his car, too. It was fun to see the ceremonial uniforms and the interesting hats of the coachmen on the royal carriage. It was nice to see that the entire crowd stayed where they were supposed to even though I saw ZERO barricades or ropes or bars showing them where they could and could not stand. Danes apparently know how to celebrate in orderly fashion, and I appreciate that.

Zac and Kaden had no interest in joining my watch party for this historic event, but Harrison and Khloe popped in from time to time. I translated the captions in real time as best I could for them, and I still didn't get everything (duh), but I think I did pretty well for a while.

Harrison got bored and wanted to do a mini crossword from a little New York Times crossword book we got for Christmas, but even though they were the right size for him, they were too advanced for his little knowledge base. I offered to make him one about the royal goings-on instead and he was very excited about that. It wasn't my neatest crossword, but he had fun.

He finished it with only a little help on the one Danish answer I threw in.

Check out that crowd on screen in the background! They're waiting for their new king to appear!

Listen, I'm new to Denmark. I'm not a Danish citizen. I have never been invested in the happenings of the royal family in England or anything. I didn't read Prince Harry's book or watch any publicized events when it came to William and Kate and Charles and Elizabeth and all that. But I tell you this: I feel invested in the Danish crown.

I enjoyed watching The Queen's speech on New Year's Eve. It was short and manageable, she seemed genuine and not pandering, and she was non-political. Her message was lovely, and I was touched by how down-to-earth she seemed. When I heard/read she was abdicating, I was sad that I didn't get to know her as a public figure for longer.

I was really torn up emotionally as I watched the footage of The Queen being transported to Christiansborg today. I had no one to talk to about it because I was watching alone, but I just kept thinking that this must have been such a bittersweet day for her. It is probably a relief to get some reprieve from the spotlight and live out her remaining years without worrying about her royal duties, but on the other hand, it has to be difficult. The cheers and enthusiasm for her, both on her way to Christiansborg Palace and on her way home to Amalienborg were incredibly touching. These people love her.

I don't know a lot about Frederik, other than he's educated, he cares for the environment, he started the Royal Run in Copenhagen, and he's pretty athletic. He also recently got some bad press for being spotted at a nightclub in Madrid with a Mexican soap opera star instead of his wife, and since then, he and Mary have been going out of their way to show the public they are united.

Mary is from Australia, she used to be in sales or marketing or something, and she met Frederik during the Summer Olympics in 2000 in a pub in Sydney. I don't know much more than that about her either.

I watched the two of them during their transport today, and again, I felt so overwhelmed trying to imagine how they must be feeling. They will be very much in the public eye (like they weren't already), and that must be very anxiety-inducing. It also must be very exciting, and I was just imagining them collapsing on their couch in their fancy attire when they get home and laughing and screaming, "Holy hell, we're the king and queen of freaking Denmark!" (But, like, in Danish.)

Anyway, I still know virtually nothing about them or their leadership, somehow, I fell in love with them today. I am now VERY invested in a royal family.

He came out on the balcony of Christiansborg. He looked kind of nervous. I've read that he's not super comfortable addressing a group of people, and this was probably a lot for him. He wiped little tears away from one eye once in a while as Mette Frederksen introduced him as the new king. He read his prepared speech. I got some of it (from the subtitles), and then he followed it with his new motto: Forbundet, forpligtet, for Kongerieget Danmark (United, committed, for the Kingdom of Denmark).

Mary came out onto the balcony and joined him, and tak for kaffe (goodness gracious), she looked just like Princess Leia.

What an incredible first impression, Mary. Well done. May the Force be with you.

After that, their kids came out and joined them. I recognized Prince Christian, who will succeed his father as king someday. He had an 18th birthday right after we moved here. I didn't know his slightly younger sister by name (it's Isabella), and I only surmised that the 13-year-old twins were Vincent and Josephine since their birthdays were highlighted in my Danish weekly planner last Monday. The kids waved and smiled and then they all went inside. It was all really sweet and Khloe said they look like a nice family.

Here's where I lost it: There was this moment where Frederik and Mary were standing on the balcony together, waving and smiling and being overwhelmed by the crowd's warm clapping and cheers and shouts of "Hurra! Hurra! Hurra! Hurra!" (which Harrison and I definitely joined in on), and it was like he forgot himself for a moment and just went to kiss his wife out of sheer joy. She moved in very naturally, but then they both kind of remembered where they were and that they were supposed to be some kind of professional public figures. She backed away, he turned away, they looked back out at the people and continued waving, but there was a very subtle pitch change or something in the way the crowd was cheering, kind of as if to say, "Heck yeah! Do it! You're the new king and queen!" I think they both felt the support and when they kissed, I full-on started crying happy tears.

So, um, I guess this is who I am now.

Happy coronation day, everyone!