DIS faculty perspective: Denmark’s queen makes history by stepping down 

This semester, DIS Copenhagen students arrive in Denmark at a historic moment. The day after students land in their new home, The Danish queen will officially step down from the throne and tens of thousands of people will gather in front of Christiansborg Palace for the first time in over half a century to celebrate a new king.  

This event is a very sudden surprise, even for those living in Denmark. The queen shocked Denmark when she announced during her annual New Years Eve speech on live TV that she would abdicate the throne after 52 years in power.  

Now, as the country prepares for the end of its longest reign, we turn to DIS faculty Steffen Løvkjær, historian, assistant curator to the Danish Royal Collection, and teacher of the course Royalty in the Land of Equality at DIS Copenhagen, to help us understand this moment in Danish history.

DIS: First off, before we get into all the details and background, just what was your immediate response to the announcement?  

Steffen: Like, WHAT?!?! I looked to everyone in the room whom we were celebrating New Year’s Eve with. “Did you hear what I just heard?” Looking at their faces, I realized it was true! We were in absolute shock. 

DIS: As someone who teaches royal history, how does this moment feel for you?  

S: When I woke up on the 1st of January, I, in a way, felt a bit sad. It felt as if something was to be taken away from me; a life witness shan’t be there anymore. My queen is retiring.  

Apart from maybe the weather, the only thing that ties us all together as Danes is our queen. She is a constant. It’s kind of like if you have a family member who you might not see every week, and you don’t wake up every morning thinking how lucky you are that they are there, but they are this constant presence; they are a simple fact of your life. Governments come and go, relationships come and go, things change all around, but there remains our head of state. So this feels is a bit like a death in the family. You know it’s something that will come, but even yet, when it does come, you are never prepared.  

At the same time, I am pleased that we shall avoid seeing our queen weakening, and we won’t be put in a situation where we all agree that she should have done this five years ago. The wise Queen Margrethe strikes again! And then comes the uncertainty, because even though we know the crown prince couple perfectly well, we know them as what they are now, not as king and queen. Uncertainty about the future is always difficult. 

DIS: Has an abdication ever happened in Denmark before? What exactly does it mean?  

S: Erik III abdicated in 1146, nearly 900 years ago. But he left to join a monastery and die soon after, with a lot of mystery surrounding his decision. So, you might say it has never happened before, or so it feels to us. This is also surprising seen in the light of the queen’s own constant saying that she would rule “until falling off the stool.”  

Even though we have experienced abdications in other European monarchies, and it is even the tradition in the Netherlands, in the north it has never been a choice really. You invest your life in the role. On the other hand, one might also argue that the monarchical principles of continuing until death were developed so long ago that, with the advanced age we generally live to nowadays, we may be logically obliged to change that custom. 

DIS: How would you describe the role the royal family plays in Danish society today? 

 S: The royal family has this incredibly important role of being a unifying factor for the nation. Tens of thousands of Danes will gather on Sunday, January 14th and line the streets from Amalienborg to Christiansborg, no matter their political background. The monarchy is, and must be, for all of us, whether you are a social democrat, right wing, or second-generation Dane. The institution helps create a sense of community. It reminds where and what we come from. It ties us with our past and in that way helps us to understand our present in context. 

DIS: How has that role changed over time? Is this throne shift a moment where we might see a significant change in things?  

S: The role of the sovereign has changed gradually into being one of soft power. Now more than ever, the leading members of the royal family stand out as ambassadors of Denmark. They are custodians of an institution, the oldest monarchy in Europe, that has been the backbone of Denmark since before we had the written word. 

As in all companies when the CEO is changed, we will see changes here too. Luckily for the Crown Prince, he is of a different gender than his dignified mother, which is a good thing. Inevitably we will compare the new with the old, but it is much harder directly comparing mother and son, rather than father and son or mother and daughter.  

Regarding change though, the monarchy is organic. It moves and changes; it has to. So, I think we will see changes now as much as we’ve seen changes during the reign of the queen as well. 

DIS: How does this moment in history relate to your course, Royalty in the Land of Equality? Is this going to make a big change for how you teach the course this semester?  

S: The change of sovereign will not make a huge impact on how I teach, but naturally the focus the class has had on the queen will need to be adjusted. The class always pays attention to what is happening in Denmark and around the world as we study. Now, we just have a fantastic opportunity to observe this institution at a particularly special moment.  

In all honesty I cannot say exactly how this will look because, as we speak, there are changes still being announced and more decisions to come. The entire royal institution is set in a relatively immobile frame, yet, at the same time, they are also human beings. The institution is organic and so are we in our class. That of course means that, yes, things change and we must change with them… and so our syllabus must also change in accordance. 

DIS: What is a queen to do when she no longer sits on the throne? 

S: The court has announced that Margrethe will keep her title, so that she will remain Queen Margrethe when she wakes up Monday morning. We don’t have any traditionally defined role for a retired dowager queen, so the two courts (the new court of the king and queen and Margrethe’s own newly established one) will have to figure out what role she shall play. 

As it sits now, it has been decided that she may step in as regent in the absence of her son, King Frederik, and his son, Crown Prince Christian, so that she sits as a number three in the order. In that way, she will still represent the country. There is also the fact that she can, though we remain unsure if she will, act as an adviser to the new king, which is something special and rare to have. 

Besides that, no one really knows, potentially not even the queen herself, what her future days will be filled with.  

DIS: What are you expecting or looking forward to on January 14^th?  

S: The silver lining of all this is that the queen hasn’t passed. So, when we gather on Sunday, it is not with the sentiment of mourning. It is a celebration. It is very reassuring that the old queen is still around. I’m very pleased about it.  

When the queen ascended to the throne in the very same place exactly 52 years ago to the day, it was within 24 hours of the death of her father. That is a very monarchical mixture of feelings; you mourn the one who you have just lost and yet you feel joy for the new one stepping in. On Sunday, we get to separate those two feelings and focus on our celebration.  

DIS: And your thoughts on the new King Frederik X and Queen Mary? 

S: We simply do not know them yet. Of course, we do know them. It’s Fred and Mary, who have been in our lives for so long. But we know them as crown prince and princess, not as king and queen. This is a brand-new role. We need to give them time in their new shoes. Let them find themselves, feel out this new situation, and get to know one another and themselves anew. 

Want to learn more about Denmark’s royal history?
>> Find more info on Steffen’s course Royalty in the Land of Equality

Learn more about DIS Copenhagen:
>> Build Your Semester at DIS Copenhagen 
>> Read perspectives from our current Student Bloggers 
>> Discover how DIS students engage with the local community and culture