Denmark's queen takes last ride in golden carriage before abdication
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Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Denmark's Queen Margrethe made her last public appearance Thursday before her abdication set for Jan. 14. It was a ride in a golden royal carriage to a New Year's reception at Christiansborg Palace.
The 83-year-old queen said she would abdicate in a surprise announcement Dec. 31. She's ruled for more than half a century.
The throne will pass to her oldest son Crown Prince Frederik.
Her last days on the throne have been filled with the usual royal ostentatious displays of wealth, pomp and ceremony that included a New Year's banquet at Amalienborg Palace on Monday as well as the Christiansborg Palace reception.
"This will be the last time that I am your host," the queen said at the reception event. "I wish you all a good year, even though there are dark clouds over many parts of the world."
According to the Daily Mail, Queen Margrethe passed through Copenhagen in the gold carriage wearing a fur coat escorted by a military regiment as thousands of people watched in freezing temperatures and strong winds.
The Danish royal family Thursday released a brief schedule of official events to mark the succession on Jan. 14 and said in a statement that additional details on those events will be released later.
In September 2022, the royal family of Denmark announced that four grandchildren of the queen would be stripped of their prince and princess titles to be able to shape their own lives without the royal affiliation duties.
