Danish abdication: How the day will unfold for Crown Prince Frederik as he ascends the throne following the shock abdication of his mother Queen Margrethe

This Sunday, Denmark will welcome a new king and queen as Crown Prince Frederik and his wife Crown Princess Mary.

The historic event, which follows Queen Margrethe’s shocking abdication on New Year’s Eve, will certainly be an exciting event for the nation, but will be a much more stripped-down transfer of power compared to King Charles’s ornate coronation in May.

The day starts around 1.35pm, with Frederik, 55, and Mary, 51, leaving in a car from Amalienborg to Christiansborg Palace, together with their son HRH Prince Christian.

Shortly afterwards Margrethe will follow, leaving from the palace of Christian IX in a carriage.

Both pass Frederiksgade, Bredgade, Kongens Nytorv, Holmens Canal and Prince Jørgen’s Courtyard along the way.

At 2 p.m. there will be a Council of State at Christiansborg Palace, in which Margrethe, Frederik and Christian will participate together with the government and the secretary of the Council of State.

This is where the succession to the throne will take place, as Her Majesty The Queen will sign a declaration of her abdication.

Margrethe will then return to Amalienborg, while Frederik and Mary will hold a formal reception for specially invited guests.

The couple will appear on the balcony at Christiansborg Palace at 3 p.m. The Prime Minister will then announce the King’s accession to the throne.

After this, the newly crowned monarch will speak and conclude with the motto.

It will be followed by an honorary cannon salute from the Sixtus Battery – a heritage site in Holmen, Copenhagen – and the Royal Standard will then be lowered at the Palace of Christian IX (Margrethe’s house) and raised again at the Palace of Frederick VIII, where the new King and Queen are based.

Frederik and Mary take a carriage from Christiansborg Palace back to Amalienborg, which will be escorted by a mounted squadron.

There will also be a transfer of the royal colors at 5 p.m from the palace of Christian IX to the palace of Frederick VIII.

This is in response to messages Prince Joachim, Frederik’s younger brother, will only attend the event to support his sibling Hello!.

His wife, Princess Marie, and their two children, Count Henrik, 14, and Countess Athena of Monpezat, 11, will remain in Washington DC, where the family now lives after Joachim became Attaché for the Defense Industry at the Embassy of Denmark.

A palace spokesman said: “Prince Joachim will be there, but the children will go to school, there is no special reason,” before adding that Queen Margrethe’s youngest son will leave Denmark the next day to return to his home in the US.

Tensions first arose in the Danish royal family after the monarch decided to strip four of her grandchildren of their HRH titles in 2022. She subsequently apologized for the timing of the announcement, but stood by the measure.

Joachim had spoken out against his mother’s decision in the days that followed – claiming that his two children, Counts Nikolai, 24, and Felix, 21 – born from his first marriage to Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg – and Henrik and Athena , ‘damaged thereby’.

Months later, the sixth in line to the throne admitted there was a ‘lack of communication’ within the royal family in the run-up to the shock announcement.

Joachim told local news channel BT: ‘There is a lot to work on. Communication was what was missing. Now we have met and we are on the right track.’

Shortly after his children were stripped of his titles, Joachim claimed he was given only five days’ notice before the news was made public.

After the queen’s announcement, Joachim spoke to Danish publication Ekstra Bladet outside the Danish embassy in Paris, where he lived with his French-born wife Princess Marie and his two youngest children, and said his four children were “hurt” by the their grandmother’s decision. .

‘I was given five days’ notice to tell them. In May I was presented with a plan that broadly stated that this would happen when the children each turned 25. Now I only had five days to tell them. Athena will turn eleven years old in January,” he clarified at the time.

Speak with BTJoachim and his second wife Marie also admitted that their relationship with Prince Frederik and Princess Mary is ‘complicated’.

Meanwhile, Joachim’s ex-wife Alexandra said her sons, Nikolai and Felix, felt they had been “left out” of the institution and the decision had come as a bolt from the blue.

The Royal House released a further statement, saying: ‘As the Queen stated yesterday, the decision has been a long time coming.

‘We understand that there are many emotions at stake at the moment, but we hope that the Queen’s wish to make the Royal House future-proof will be respected.’

These have been turbulent years for the Danish royal family. Margarethe’s resignation comes two months after photos emerged of Crown Prince Frederik having a night out with Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova in Madrid in October.

The rumors started when Prince Frederik was photographed enjoying a night out in Spain with his friend Genoveva Casanova without his wife.

The family went to Mary’s native Australia for a Christmas holiday and also visited New Zealand.

Before the family’s flight from New Zealand, Princess Mary shared a cryptic post about loneliness and the need for positive human connection ahead of Christmas.

In the letter posted on the Maria Foundation website, the future queen reflected on the past year – and said she thought it was shorter than previous years.

“And at the same time, so much has happened that it’s impossible to put it all into words,” she continued.

A clip shared on the Danish Royal House’s official Instagram speculated that the princess was using her foundation to point out the rumors about the affair.

‘We need each other if we want to succeed.’ And that applies not only to the working world and to those of us working to combat social isolation,” it said.

‘This applies to all of us. People need people.’

The post and powerful words were pictured alongside a beautiful photo of the royal family in the snow.

She wore a purple jacket under a warm woolen shawl and smiled softly at the camera.

‘The Danish royal family is lucky to have you. I hope your husband realizes that he has embarrassed you and his children beyond measure. You will make a good queen,” one fan commented.

Another wrote: ‘I think this is a sad year for Mary, her husband’s (alleged) betrayal and it’s public. What a courageous woman, she can handle anything. I adore her.’

Some came to the defense of the royal family and called on people to stop talking about the alleged affair.

There is speculation that Queen Margrethe’s abdication may have been intended to save her son and Princess Mary’s marriage in the aftermath of the alleged ‘affair’.

Ms Casanova has denied allegations of any relationship with Frederik.

Royal commentator Phil Dampier said The Telegraph: ‘It is possible that the Queen took this action because she would have been terrified of the breakdown of the marriage and the loss of Mary at the hands of the Royal Family. It would have caused major problems.

‘The Queen has always seen Mary as a huge asset.’

The prince and his Australian princess have been rocked by rumors of infidelity since November, putting their ‘fairytale romance’ under scrutiny.