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Good evening, we begin with breaking news and Denmark's Queen Margareta has made the surprise announcement in her new year address that she will abdicate.
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She will step down on January 14th and be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederick.
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The 83-year-old queen took over the throne in 1972 and is the longest-serving monarch in Europe following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
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Now, Jesper Steinmetz, European correspondent for TV 2 in Denmark joins me now.
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Thank you very much for being with us.
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And I just wonder first, did this come as a surprise to the country?
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It's a complete shocker.
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It's a total surprise.
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There was no indication in advance that she was going to announce this.
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So, the nation is in shock.
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So why do you think she's made the decision?
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Well, she's 83 years old.
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She said in her speech tonight that she had a major back surgery earlier this year.
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She recuperated well, and she's doing fine, but she says that, you know, when you are 83 of age, you know, you are not able to do the same things as you were when you were younger.
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And so I think she just found that the time was right.
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That's what she said in her New Year's speech, that she thought the time was right to pass on the baton to her oldest son, Crown Prince Frederick, who's 55 years of age.
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So also, and that's the speculation in Denmark.
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Maybe also to give him the chance to become King, to be become sovereign because he's too old.
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Maybe that has also played into her decision.
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So what will the country, what will Denmark make of it, do you think?
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I mean, there has been a fair bit of, well, you know, I suppose it goes with all royal families but a fair bit of drama.
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Well, it's unheard of that you abdicate in Denmark.
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She's often been asked, the queen has often been asked this question increasingly as she got older, and especially after the Queen of the Netherlands abdicated several years ago.
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But Queen Margaret has always said that tradition in Denmark is that you stay until you're not able to do your duties anymore because that is the family tradition.
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And I think we have to go back to, I think the 1400s in Danish history to find a similar situation.
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So it's just unheard of. You stay on.
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But she's also very aware that, you know, you need to keep the monarchy modern, you need to keep in line with the modern times.
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So I think that has also played into a consideration that it would maybe also be unworthy of her to stay on until she's 85 or 90 even though she was able to.
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So the immediate reaction in Denmark is that it's actually a very wise decision even though it's a huge surprise.
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Right.
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And how prepared do you think the Crown Prince is?
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Well, he's prepared.
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He's been preparing since he turned 18, and his own son who will now become the new Crown Prince. His name is Christian.
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He turned 18 earlier this year, and from the age of 18, you basically start preparing taken over the throne.
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So he's been an apprentice for over 30 years now, and he's well-prepared.
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His personality is very different to his mother's.
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He's a sports guy.
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He doesn't have the same artistic interest as she has.
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He's not as eloquent as she is.
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So there are huge expectations, and also a little bit of, you know, people are almost praying that he will do well because he does not have the same God-given talent as his mother has had.
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Right, is he popular? Jesper.
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He is very popular and I mean, he's almost my age and he's very popular among the young people.
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He's done something extremely clever.
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A couple of years ago, he created this sporting event called Royal Run where he basically encourages people from all over Denmark to take part in a run.
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You can run a mile, you can run less, you can run more.
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But basically, just to encourage people to exercise and use their talents on the streets or in the sporting field.
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And that has become a huge popular success.
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So in that respect, he's already shown that his trademark is going to be different from his mother's.
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Right, and just finally, Jesper, but how do the Danish people view their royal family?
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Am I right in saying it's sort of a relatively modern royal family?
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It's fairly modern even though they keep their distance and that's the balance that every royal family has to take that, you know, they need to keep their distance while also kind of acting and being like the rest of us.
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But the royal family, it's hugely popular.
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There was a poll made just a few days ago that showed both the Queen and the Crown Prince, now to be the king.
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They are all very popular, which is kind of absurd in a country like Denmark where we pride ourselves of not having a hierarchy.
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We think we are all the same.
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So, it is kind of absurd that the royal family has that status.
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But that is very much thanks to the Queen who is now abdicating.
