Denmark’s unfolding royal saga fills the gap left by The Crown

Could the unexpected abdication of Queen Margrethe II – in favour of her handsome heir, the former ‘party prince’ Frederik, and after recent public tribulations – be the opening act of a majestic new soap opera, asks Charlotte Lytton

Scene change: Crown Prince Frederik – with his Australian wife Crown Princess Mary – will succeed his mother Queen Margrethe II to the Danish throne following her abdication (via Reuters)

Where Britain’s royals can be relied upon to keep up appearances, leave it to the European monarchs to rule with a series of telenovela-style twists. And so Queen Margrethe II, Denmark’s beloved chain-smoking royal premier, rang in 2024 – how else? – with a live abdication announcement; the first in the country for 500 years.

Her stepping down in a fortnight will not mean the end of the family’s reign, however, but simply see her headline-making heir, Crown Prince Frederik, continue what is by now an established tradition. Think The Crown meets Borgen, playing out in real time across the North Sea.

The shock of Margrethe, who is known as Daisy, relinquishing a position royal commentators believed she would “never” abdicate has been compounded by the hole she will leave. Known as the world’s “quirkiest queen”, the 83-year-old has drummed up significant support for the royal family in Denmark, near doubling those in favour within the country to over 80 per cent.