@varna And I was just about to add "And Prince Frederik's wife is Australian!!" if you hadn't already beaten me to it!  As an Aussie (and naturalised Brit), I wish them all the best, and the same to retiring Queen Margrethe, of course. 

I couldn't help replying to your lovely post, when the magazines & newspapers in Australia are so happy for the former Mary Donaldson. People that I wouldn't have expected to take much notice of her, especially if living in Tasmania, seem to be over the moon. I understand that the Scottish like to claim ownership of "Our very own Crown Princess Mary" on heritage grounds, but both her parents migrated to Tasmania in 1963. She will be the very first Aussie Queen of anywhere, we are told.

But Tasmania is where her own family call home, now, as she showed, when she visited them with her two younger children at Christmas. That is something that might be increasingly hard for her to do, after tomorrow's events. I see in the news that the Danish people are out and about, rehearsing for tomorrow's procession, already. I learned in today's newspapers that Etta Donaldson, Mary's own mother, passed away in 1997, & that her father is now too frail to travel over to Denmark, which is sad for him, and also for her, I would imagine. People here, as well as I, seem very proud of the future Queen of Denmark, an Australian by birth, whatever citizenships, either of UK or Australia, that she had to give up by marrying Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark in 2004.  

It seems that, due to WW2 & the march of history, Crown Prince Leka of Albania, who also married an Australian citizen, Susan Cullen-Ward, in 1975, and whom I heard much about when young, never got to succeed his father, King Zog 1 of Albania as King, finally passing away in 2011 The otherwise King Leka 1's titular Queen Susan, also passed away in July of 2004. I hope that the future Queen Mary of Denmark will have much better luck than the former "Queen Susan".  

I was able to watch most of the Danish royal news on the day. There were small events on the hour from 2 p.m. till 6 p.m., and most of them were covered on Norwegian TV.

The first event was an extra government meeting at 2 p.m., where the Queen signed her abdication papers. There were 3 or 4 pages, and when she signed the last one, would be the moment when she stopped being Queen and her son became King (and his eldest son, Christian, became Crown Prince - he will actually be Regent for a few days soon, when his father is abroad).

She wrote the last signature, then rose from her chair, and the others present rose as well. She signalled to her son to take over her chair, and he sat down in it. She reached for her walking stick, and Crown Prince Christian gave it to her. Then she said "God save the King", and left the room.

(Crown Prince Christian, King Frederik, Queen Margrethe, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (in blue) )

At 3 p.m. there was the official proclamation of the new King from the balcony of one of the royal palaces in Copenhagen, where the Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, proclaimed three times in different directions that 'Queen Margrethe II has abdicated. Long live King Frederik X'. Then the King gave a short speech, and then there was jubilations from the thousands of people outside the palace. Queen Mary and the children also came out, and there was more jubilation - even more so when the King and Queen kissed  

The next events were less spectacular from a TV point of view, but the last event, at 6 p.m., was about ten minutes of magnificent fireworks from Tivoli in Copenhagen.

Queen Margrethe will retain the title of 'Queen', but 'the Queen' is from now on Queen Mary (and only she will be allowed to wear the Crown Jewels).

I'm glad that Margrethe II gets to retain her title as Queen. Especially, when it is also apparent that she is not in the best health as she walked away, in the picture, you posted. Our late Queen Elizabeth, when she promised lifelong service on her Coronation Day, 2nd June 1953, whether her life be short or long, surely never thought just how long that promise would take her, to 2022. 

I didn't get to see any of the broadcast, when there was so much else going on here, even as early as on 14th January, in the lead-up to a tumultuous Australia Day, a day of fireworks, of protests on one side or the other, with Aboriginal heroes, like Pemulwuy, who fought against these new settlers, back in 1788, depicted on the sails of the Opera House. There was a Ferrython with all the ferries that ply Sydney Harbour racing against each other. I tried to link to one of the pictures of it. Some councils had decided not to have citizenship ceremonies that day, in sympathy with past Aboriginal grievances over "colonialism", they said, whilst enjoying the public holiday, anyway. But other councils who did hold these ceremonies, said they had record attendances, and that their new citizens had specifically asked to receive their naturalisation certificates on Australia Day. 

The outgoing Governor-General, David Hurley, concluded by saying: "Whatever our challenges and what divides, we're a good people, a kind people, united and bound together." 

I found a press release from the Danish government, at 31.12.23, stating that she will keep the title Her Majesty Queen Margrethe. So no need to call her ex-Queen, perhaps what you say was some of the reasoning why they let her keep the title.

She also gets the office of "Riksforstander", which I have seen translated as "Superintendent". A Superintendent may function as regent if the King is not present in the country.

In Norway, only the Crown Prince is allowed to be regent, and there is no office as Superintendent.

Denmark is different. They currently have 5 Superintendents. The Crown Prince is one of them, and the one who normally is regent when the King is abroad. But if the King and the Crown Prince both are abroad, any of the others may be appointed as regent. I heard that Crown Prince Christian will be regent fairly soon, when his father will be out of the country.

The other superintendents are Queen Mary, Queen Margrethe, the King's brother Prince Joachim, and Queen Margrethe's sister Princess Benedikte.

At the abdication and the proclamation of the new King, there were no foreign royal guests, as this was seen as a national, not an international, event. It's possible that a royal funeral might have been different, but now there was no need even for a period of mourning. (That's one argument for allowing royals to retire, like the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain, have done over the last years.)

So no royal guests as such - but King Frederik's brother and Queen Mary's sister were present at the event. I think it was a nice move to invite them.

Crown Prince Christian had his 18th birtday in October last year. He is still in his final year of secondary school. They say that he, like the Norwegian Crown Prince in his youth, won't be given any regular royal duties yet, he will be allowed to concentrate on his education.

Norway's current Crown Prince (now aged 50) was about 18 too when he got his title. He has told in interviews that it was a weird situation - one day he was regent of Norway and presided over the weekly government meeting, and the next working day he was back at school and might be told off by his teachers for not having done his homework properly.

Sweden is different again - the King does not preside over or even participate in government meetings, so there is presumably no need for a regent.

@varna in England the late Queen's mother retained her title of Queen after her husband died, and was known as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (partly to distinguish her from her daughter who was now Queen Regnant, and had the same Christian name).

@Varnafinde: She also gets the office of "Riksforstander", which I have seen translated as "Superintendent". A Superintendent may function as regent if the King is not present in the country.

There is something similar in UK to these "Riksforstanders." Currently, six blood relatives closest to the crown, as well as the Queen Consort, are called Counsellors of State, who fill in for the Monarch, when the Monarch is abroad or ill. As Counsellors of State, King Charles and Prince William filled in for Queen Elizabeth II in May of 2022 for the opening of Parliament that year. In 2022 the King's other two siblings, Princess Anne & Prince Edward, now Duke of Edinburgh, were appointed to that Council, when Prince Andrew had been stood down and when Prince Harry lives in California.

The Wikipedia article I linked to, said that in 1952, Queen Elizabeth, as the King's consort, lost her position as Counsellor of State, when her husband, King George VI passed away, and yes, Coracle is right. She was called the Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with Queen Elizabeth II.

That was a much different situation to Queen Margrethe, or Queen Mary of Denmark. If something happened to King Frederick, God forbid, then Queen Mary would also lose her position, I would imagine, when she is the King's consort, not a monarch in her own right. 

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

That was a much different situation to Queen Margrethe, or Queen Mary of Denmark. If something happened to King Frederick, God forbid, then Queen Mary would also lose her position, I would imagine, when she is the King's consort, not a monarch in her own right. 

Not necessarily, although it probably varies between countries. Queen Mary, grandmother of the late Queen Elizabeth II, still kept her title of Queen (as in Queen Consort) after her husband, King George V, died. I think she was known as the Queen Dowager. She was still alive when Elizabeth II became the reigning monarch, so for a short time there were three people with the title of Queen in the British Royal Family — the Queen Dowager, the Queen Mother, and The Queen! (The Queen Mother could also have taken the title Dowager, which is more traditional for the widow of a deceased king, but apparently she thought it sounded too old fashioned.)

@Courtenay: I think she was known as the Queen Dowager

I don't think so, though I agree that "Queen Dowager" was the correct term. Mary of Teck, the Queen Consort of George V and Empress of India, liked to stand on her dignity, and, after George V's death & during the abdication, then the wartime reign of George VI, she continued to have considerable influence. Up to her death in March 1953, three months before Elizabeth II was crowned, Queen Mary was the name she continued to be known as, according to what I heard as a child, from my elders.