Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark announced that he would resign as an active member of the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday. The news came as a surprise for most of the media, and many have now reacted to the international press coverage of this news. Several non-Danish magazines and newspaper claim that a Danish abdication is in the near future.
While Crown Prince Frederik explained in the press release that he made the decision to be able to concentrate even more on his work on other important issues, including Denmark’s position as one of the world’s leading nations in the green agenda, sustainability and innovation, the Spanish magazine Vanitatis has another explanation. According to the magazine, the Crown Prince’s decision is just one of several in the Royal Family that contribute to renewed rumours that Queen Margrethe may want to abdicate.
According to Vanitatis and other magazines, this is just one of several surprising reports from the Danish Royal Family in the past year, which have led to renewed rumours that the Queen may abdicate. This is not the first time that rumours have been published saying that Queen Margrethe may want to abdicate.
Queen Margrethe has been Queen of Denmark since 1972 when she took over the throne from her father, King Frederik IX. Queen Margrethe stated to Swedish Expressen around September 2019 that she plans to remain on the throne for the rest of her life and only intends to leave it to Crown Prince Frederik if she should be affected by a severe illness. Then, Her Majesty the Queen said: “I do not feel any pressure to change my attitude. It is a duty that follows the task of following after my father. You do that as long as you live.”
The Danish and Nordic press believe the rumours about abdication are special, and many people get angry about such rumours circulating. Abdication is a tradition that does not belong to the Scandinavian kingdoms. In Northern Europe, many people perceive abdication as a sign of weakness, and it is something the monarchs have avoided over the last centuries. King Christian Frederik of Norway had to abdicate the Norwegian throne in 1814 when he lost a war against Sweden. In Sweden, the last abdication was in 1809 when Gustav IV Adolf was deposed in a coup.
