Photographer Per Morten Abrahamsen for Kongehuset

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark will formally abdicate by signing a declaration in front of her country’s Council of State.

And the Royal Household has confirmed that the moment that Her Majesty’s signature is complete on the Declaration of Abdication will be the moment that her reign ends and that of her son, Frederik begins.

The abdication will take place on January 14th 2024 at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen.

Frederik will be present, along with his wife, Mary and they will arrive as Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark and leave as their country’s King and Queen.

Their eldest child, Christian, will accompany them. From the moment his grandmother’s signature is completed on the Declaration of Abdication, he will become heir to the throne and Crown Prince of Denmark.

The Danish Royal Household explained that this brief moment will be enough to signal the end of the historic reign of Margrethe II. From the time that the signing is complete, all her functions as Denmark’s Head of State will pass to her elder son who will become, instantly, King Frederik X.

It is expected that Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, will then declare the start of the new reign from a balcony at Christiansborg Palace. The new Frederik X is likely to be at her side. However, it isn’t yet known whether his mother, who will remain known as Queen Margrethe II, will be present to see this moment of history.

The abdication of Margrethe II and the accession of Frederik X will take place exactly 52 years after the death of the queen’s father, Frederik IX, and her own accession to the throne.