Frederick X will assume the throne of Denmark with the challenge of maintaining the popular pull of the monarchy

The Kingdom of Denmark, the Scandinavian country of almost 6 million inhabitants that includes the Faroe Islands and Greenland, in the Atlantic, inaugurates a new monarchical era. After 52 years on the throne, Queen Margaret II hands over the crown this Sunday to her eldest son, who will be proclaimed Frederick X in Copenhagen. The announcement of the abdication of the 83-year-old monarch on December 31 caused great surprise in all sectors of the nation. Her own family found out a few days before. The queen is very popular, and she has managed to maintain a personality of her own without disappearing behind the position she has held for half a century. The new monarch, 55 years old, faces the challenge of maintaining the ease that characterizes him without compromising the dignity of the monarchy.

“Federico likes sports and pop music, and has had more freedom to pursue his hobbies. The question is whether all of this is enough and worthy for a king,” explains Sebastian Olden-Jørgensen, historian and expert on the Royal House, from the University of Copenhagen, by phone. The queen has greater intellectual concerns than her son, “and until now they were a good combination of closeness and seriousness.” “Now he will have to rise to the occasion himself, because as king people expect something more than a strategy of closeness and normality.”

Prince Frederick André Henrik Christian followed primary education in Copenhagen and was interned in France, the native country of his father, the late Prince Henry. He studied Political Science at the Danish University of Aarhus, and spent a year at Harvard, in the United States. During that stay, he worked in the Danish delegation to the UN in 1994, where he was also able to take advantage of his knowledge of French, English and German. In 1998, he served as first secretary at the Embassy of his country in France. He has gone through all three Army academies (land, sea and air) and has run in the Copenhagen, Paris and New York marathons. His great love for the sport has led him to the social field and, in 2018, on the occasion of his 50th birthday, he launched the Royal Race: a competition that brings together more than 80,000 annual participants. His former fondness for parties and his relative ease in speaking to the public are well known. Today he assures that he feels comfortable with his destiny. And Princess Mary, Frederick's wife and queen consort in a matter of hours? She “she is also very popular. And if there were frictions in the past between her and Margarita II, it has not influenced her functions. “Both are great professionals,” says the historian.

Having barely overcome the surprise of the abdication, both the Royal Family and the Government of the Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen have made a real sprint to prepare in 14 days the proclamation of Frederick X. It is not a coronation like in the United Kingdom . It is closer to the enthronement of King William of the Netherlands, who succeeded his mother, now Princess Beatrice, in 2013. “For the past 150 years, Danish kings have simply been proclaimed from the balcony of Parliament after an oath – or signing – of the Constitution. A short and sober ceremony,” recalls the same expert. “The last coronation was in 1648 in the medieval European style, similar to what we saw in London with Charles III.” According to him, the British tradition is reasonable because it has not been broken over time. “Even if you don't identify with it, monarchs have been crowned like this in the United Kingdom, with pomp and circumstance, without interruption.” In Denmark, on the other hand, “it would mean reintroducing a medieval ritual, and that makes no sense in a modern society.”

Discussion

The Crown's accounts, a potentially thorny issue even in Denmark, where polls show only 15% of Republican sentiment, are a recurring source of discussion. This year, the queen and the Royal Family (Princes Frederick and his brother Joachim, and Princesses Mary and Benedicta) have received a total of 121 million Danish crowns: about 16 million euros. The Royal House knows that there is talk of the cost of the monarchy, so in the future only Prince Christian (18 years old), Frederick's eldest son, will receive a stipend. Not so his three siblings, Isabella (16) and the twins Vincent and Josephine (13). Although they will continue to be princes, they will have to look for a professional outlet. Prince Joachim resides in the United States with his family and is a Defense Industry attaché at the Danish Embassy. He remains to see if he keeps his share of the official sum he now receives. It is a calculation that must be reviewed by Parliament along with the rest of the official funds allocated to the Crown. He will attend the proclamation, while his wife, Marie, will remain in Washington with her children.

Margaret II is the eldest daughter of Frederick IX of Denmark and Ingrid of Sweden. Since she does not have male siblings, it took a referendum and the approval of a constitutional amendment to allow women to reign. Frederick comes to the throne with much less institutional upheaval. The monarchy was popular when his mother was proclaimed on January 14, 1972, upon the death of her mother. Over time, her mother, who will retain the title of queen after her abdication, has increased her pull. She has managed to be “not just the queen, but herself,” says Olden-Jørgensen. And that is something that other monarchs have not achieved to the same extent. “Think of the British Queen Elizabeth II. She completely identified with her task, which she executed to perfection, and almost disappeared as a person.”

The historian attributes part of the monarchical good health to luck. “In the Danish royal family there have been no tragedies like that of Diana of Wales, or disasters like that of Meghan Markle, the wife of Prince Henry of England,” he indicates. Yes, a crisis has broken out, which is still ongoing, due to the withdrawal of princely titles from the four sons of Prince Joaquín. The explanation given is that these grandchildren, Nicolás (24 years old), Felix (21), Henrik (14), and Athena (11), had to be free to shape their lives. The system has not convinced this part of the family, which has been hurt.

The current Danish dynasty belongs to the House of Glücksburg, which is a branch of the Royal House of Oldenburg, both originating from Germany. Its members have occupied the throne since 1863. A year later, Denmark lost the so-called War of the Duchies that pitted it against the Austrian Empire and Prussia. The Danes had to give up Schleswig, Holstein and Saxony Lauenburg, annexed by the other two powers, and this marked what the monarchy would be from then on.

“Of course it is much older. But the recent history of the monarchy and of Denmark as a State begins with the disastrous war of 1864,” explains Olden-Jørgensen. In his opinion, the current one is the expression of that recent past and not of an imperial memory, despite the fact that there were Danish colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and India. “After 1864, Denmark was a small power and there is no monarchical political agenda; “That is her strength,” he continues. “The monarchies that have been successful in Europe, those that have remained, are those that have distanced themselves from daily politics. With some exceptions, such as Spain, where it has occasionally played a more political role,” he assures. In Denmark, she “is liberated to act in the cultural and social sphere.”

Follow all the international information on Facebook and xor in our weekly newsletter.

_