King Frederik X made his first visit to Denmark’s Parliament, the day after his accession to the Scandinavian country’s throne following his mother’s abdication, the first by a Danish sovereign since the 12th century.
Like his mother Queen Margrethe II, Frederik, 55, is hugely popular, enjoying the support of more than 80 percent of Danes. But his reign should bring the Crown closer to the people. He is expected to bring a more informal style to the monarchy, which dates back to the 10th-century Viking era.
While his mother is known for her love of the arts and is an accomplished writer and artist, Frederik is an avid sportsman who champions environmental causes and who married a non-noble Australian woman. In Denmark, the monarch’s role is largely ceremonial, but the sovereign does sign legislation, formally presides over the forming of a government and meets with the cabinet regularly.
More than 100,000 Danes turned out on Sunday for Margrethe’s final horse-drawn carriage procession through the streets of Copenhagen. Later, the 83-year-old queen signed a declaration of abdication at Christiansborg Palace, the seat of parliament and government, ending her 52-year reign and automatically making her son monarch. She then left the Council of State, also attended by the government, the new king, his wife Mary, and their 18-year-old eldest son, the new Crown Prince Christian. Margrethe had tears in her eyes as she said “God bless the king.”
The new Queen Mary was born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson in Australia in 1972, the youngest of four children to Scottish parents. She met Frederik, then Crown Prince, in 2000 while attending the Olympic Games in Sydney. They married four years later in Copenhagen and have four children: Christian, Isabella, Vincent and Josephin.
In front of a sea of Danes braving the winter chill and waving red-and-white flags, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen then proclaimed Frederik the new king on the balcony of Christiansborg Palace.
