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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 16, 2002

Danish Queen Celebrates 30 Years on the Throne

Denmark's Queen Margrethe II has just celebrated 30 years on the throne of the small Scandinavian country, enjoying a popularity that was never tainted by scandal or criticism. The anniversary on Monday was celebrated by neither the court nor the government, and passed unnoticed in a country that adores its royals.


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Denmark's Queen Margrethe II has just celebrated 30 years on the throne of the small Scandinavian country, enjoying a popularity that was never tainted by scandal or criticism. The anniversary on Monday was celebrated by neither the court nor the government, and passed unnoticed in a country that adores its royals.

It was on a freezing morning -- January 14, 1972 -- that Margrethe Alexandrine Thorhildur Ingrid was proclaimed sovereign of the 1,000-year-old monarchy, the oldest in the world.More than 100,000 Danes braved the cold to stand in the square outside the Christiansborg castle to salute the tearful new queen, dressed in black, as she succeeded her father, Frederik IX, who had died the previous day.

Now 61 years old, Margrethe shows no signs of flagging in her role, alhough she did delegate authority to heir apparent Frederik last Christmas after she broke two ribs in a fall. Her son replaced her at a number of New Year ceremonies.

Margrethe's attitude never changes. "I intend to stay on the throne until I drop. It is a duty that I will never shirk until the end," she has repeated in frequent interviews in recent years. Prince Frederik, her eldest son aged 33, will have to be patient before he can take over from his mother at the head of the royal dynasty, which has counted 50 kings and two queens since it was founded by the Viking leader Gorm the Elder (900-950). "I am not complaining," Frederik told the mass circulation daily Extra Bladet last Sunday.

Under Denmark's constitutional monarchy, the monarch has no real power, even though she presides over cabinet meetings, signs bills into law and formally appoints ministers and prime ministers. She is an apolitic symbol of the Danish state, representing her country abroad.




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