Margrethe has faced a row within the family,having stripped four of her grandchildren of their royal titles.
In Denmark,formal power resides with the elected parliament and its government. The monarch is expected to stay above partisan politics,representing the nation with traditional duties ranging from state visits to national day celebrations.
She ascended the throne on January 14,1972,after the death of her father. But,although she was his eldest child,she did not become heir presumptive until 1953,when Denmark’s Constitution was amended to allow women to inherit the throne.
That followed a referendum in which more than 85 per cent of participants voted to allow female succession.
Born in 1940,a week after Nazi Germany invaded Denmark,Margrethe has throughout her life enjoyed broad support from Danes,who are fond of her tactful,yet creative personality.
As well as regularly doing her own shopping,she had a flourishing career as an illustrator and designer and,until 2015,defied convention by lighting cigarettes in public.
She enjoyed a close relationship with Queen Elizabeth II,her third cousin,both descendants of Queen Victoria. They bonded during several state visits to each other’s countries through the decades.
She also studied in the UK,spending time at Cambridge’s Girton College and the London School of Economics.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen thanked the queen for her lifelong dedication to duty.
“It is still difficult to understand that the time has now come for a change of throne,” Frederiksen said in a statement,adding that many Danes had never known another monarch.
Mary,51,and Frederik,55,were seen stepping out alongside their children Prince Christian,18,Princess Isabella,16,Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine,both 12,before attending Marselisborg Palace with Margrethe on Christmas Day.
Mary had only recently returned from a holiday in Australia amid fierce media scrutiny after the prince was,in October,accused of having an affair with Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova,47.
The socialite described the rumours as “malicious” while Mary has remained silent,with her and her husband adopting a “business as normal” attitude for public appearances.
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Margrethe’s abdication is the latest in a series of European royal families passing power down the generations in recent years. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicated in 2013 in favour of her son Willem-Alexander,while King Juan Carlos of Spain stepped down the following year amid scandal.
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