The Queen Margaret II of Denmark83 years old and the longest living monarch on the throne, has announced that will abdicate next January 14 in favor of Crown Prince Frederick, a decision she makes after 52 years as head of state.

In its traditional televised speech New Year’s Eve, Margarita II, the only woman at the head of a monarchy, explained that the back operation she underwent last February made her think about the future and “whether the time had not come to leave responsibility to the next generation.”

“I have decided that now is the right time. On January 14, 2024, 52 years after succeeding my beloved father, I will cease to be Queen of Denmark,” explained Margaret II, who alluded to the “wear and tear” of time since “one can no longer handle what one I could before.”

Both in Denmark and in the other Nordic monarchies there is no tradition of abdicatingand the It is common for monarchs to exhaust their mandate until death.

Margarita had always reiterated in public that she had no plans to abandon the throne and that the status of queen was “a lifelong duty.”

But with this decision made, the first-born, 55 years old, will assume the throne on the same day of the abdication, after a Council of State, with the name of Frederick X. The monarch has asked for the same “trust and affection” that he says having received these years for the future king and his wife, Princess Mary.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen thanked the queen in a statement for her “lifelong dedication and tireless work for Denmark.”