Queen Margrethe was seen listening to the public sing to her in Copenhagen on the eve of her abdication. 

The royal, 83, has ruled Denmark for more than 52 years and became Europe’s longest-reigning monarch after Queen Elizabeth II passed away in September 2022. 

The monarch delivered the news during her traditional New Year’s Eve speech.

The ceremony will happen on Sunday, where she will transfer power of the throne to her 55-year-old son, Crown Prince Frederik and his Australian-born wife Mary, 51.

Danish royalists took to the streets of Copenhagen this weekend and waved red and white flags to honour their beloved Queen Margrethe. 

A video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, captured the public singing to Margrethe outside Amalienborg, Margrethe’s winter residence.

One of the windows to the palace was left wide open, so that she could hear those who came to sing to her. 

People pass an image of Queen Margrethe in Copenhagen, Denmark, ahead of of her passing on the throne to her son on Sunday

Danish royalists took to the streets of Copenhagen this weekend and waved red and white flags to honour their beloved Queen Margrethe

The Queen, known for her chain-smoking and flamboyant style – was seen on the clip walking around her home and peering out at the crowd

The Queen, known for her chain-smoking and flamboyant style – was seen on the clip walking around her home and peering out at the crowd. 

Margrethe, who in the past had said she would remain on the throne for life, did not give an exact reason for her decision to step down.

However, she said that a major back surgery she underwent in February last year had made her consider her future.

‘The surgery naturally gave rise to thinking about the future – whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation,’ she said in her speech.

‘I have decided that now is the right time. On January 14, 2024, 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father, I will step down as Queen of Denmark.

‘I leave the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik.’

Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik takes over the crown on Sunday from his mother, Queen Margrethe II

Department store windows display the Danish flag and the Danish crown in Copenhagen

A picture of Danish Queen Margrethe II with a message reading ‘Thank you, Your Majesty’

Thousands of people have flooded into Copenhagen to witness the abdication 

People look at a picture of the soon-to-be King Frederik X and his wife Queen Mary displayed in a window at a shopping street

Queen Margrethe II is breaking with centuries of Danish royal tradition and retiring after a 52-year reign

Queen Margrethe, who took to the throne in 1972, has become the first Danish monarch in nearly 900 years to relinquish the throne.

However, during an interview in 2016, she expressed a different opinion.

She said: ‘It’s always been: you stay as long as you live. That’s what my father did and my predecessors. And the way I see it too.’ 

‘It could be that she thinks Prince Frederik is prepared to take over now,’ said Lars Hovbakke Sorensen, a historian and associate professor at University College Absalon in Denmark.

‘He’s 55, and maybe the queen wanted to avoid a situation where you would have a very, very old king, as you saw with Prince Charles.’ 

The new Danish royal couple will take the throne at a time of huge public support and enthusiasm for the monarchy.

The royal, 83, has ruled Denmark for more than 52 years and become Europe’s longest reigning monarch after Queen Elizabeth II passed away in September 2022 

The Danish Queen (right) will be succeeded by her eldest son Crown Prince Frederik (centre) pictured with his Australian-born wife Crown Princess Mary

Margrethe II was the eldest of the three daughters of King Frederik IX of Denmark, and succeeded him to the throne in 1972

The most recent survey, which was done after the queen announced she would abdicate, indicated that 82 per cent of Danes expect Frederik to do well or very well in his new role, while 86 per cent said the same about Mary.

‘The royal family means everything that is Danish. It’s fairytales and traditions,’ said Anna Karina Laursen, 59, a nod to the country’s famous fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen.

At around midday on Sunday, Prince Frederik and Mary will leave the palace in a 1958 Rolls-Royce.

Margrethe will follow in a horse carriage a few minutes later to take her final ride as monarch through the streets of the capital.

Unlike in Britain, Frederik will not get a grand ceremony, but instead a simple balcony appearance from Christiansborg Palace.

Margrethe is expected to sign the declaration of her abdication at 1pm GMT. 

This will take place during a meeting of the Council of State at parliament where the government, Frederik and his oldest son Christian, 18, will participate.

Roughly one hour later, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will proclaim the new king on the balcony of the parliament.

Frederik will give a short speech before the new king and his wife ride by carriage back to the palace.

Finally, a transfer of royal colours from Christian IX’s Palace inside Amalienborg, the home of Queen Margrethe, to Frederik VIII’s Palace will occur. 

The Amalienborg complex, built in the 1750s, is located in central Copenhagen and consists of four palaces built around an octagonal courtyard. 

It is home to both the outgoing queen and the new reigning couple.

However, a royal expert said that the Danish Queen broke an ‘invisible pact’ between Scandinavian monarchs to never abdicate.

Roger Lundberg told STV that, after Denmark’s changeover, there is a chance King Harald of Norway, 86, and King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, 79, might follow suit and step down to allow their eldest children to take the throne.