Reactions to Margrethe's announcement

Demand on King Charles: 'Tell me when you're going to step down' 

 

Margrethe II's announcement that she is leaving the throne later in January has put pressure on Carl XVI Gustaf - but also on Charles III. In a column in The Guardian, Simon Jenkins writes that the relatively new king should also consider his resignation.  

 

The Danish queen justified her decision with the fact that "time is running out and the ailments have increased". Jenkins notes that King Charles is indeed "worthy of a significant reign" when he finally takes office. But he should not sit until he dies: 

 

"Abdication is the obvious answer. It shows that a head of state is not a wax doll, but has to work hard […] age is not negotiable”.

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The court: The king is very understanding of the announcement  

 

Denmark's Queen Margrethe spoke with her cousin King Carl Gustaf before announcing her abdication. 

 

"The King has great respect and understanding for Queen Margrethe's decision to hand over the throne to Crown Prince Frederik," writes the court's head of information Margareta Thorgren to Expressen.

 

Court experts have speculated on the possibility that Margrethe's announcement could plant a seed of thought in the king to also abdicate - something Thorgren denied yesterday.  

 

For Expressen, Thorgren quotes what the king said in his anniversary speech:  

 

"It is my hope that now, and in the coming years, I can continue to serve our Sweden. In both up and down. In good times, as well as in times of great challenge.”  

 

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Convicted in his youth - now the would-be king is popular  

 

After some stormy years in his youth with scandalous headlines as a result, Crown Prince Frederik was for a time almost condemned as future regent, according to Politiken. After studies in political science and a career in the Danish defense, he found himself. 

  

Today, Frederik has great popular support. 84 percent of Danes have a positive attitude towards him, according to a survey by DR. 

 

- He will absolutely do well, says Ebba Kleberg von Sydow, presenter of SR's podcast "The Monarchs".  

Frederik is far more popular than his mother, according to Politiken's court reporter Peter Thygesen. 

 

- He finds it easy to talk to people. Queen Margrethe has not always had that. The future king has pointed out the importance of being himself, despite his royal status. 

 

- I don't want to lock myself in a castle. I want to be myself, a human being, he has previously said.