Queen Margrethe of Denmark will step down from the throne this weekend after 52 years in power.
In a shock New Year’s Eve speech, Europe’s longest reigning monarch, 83, announced her abdication, the first in the country in nearly 900 years.
Her resignation means there will be a reshuffle in the line of succession, as well as a change in royal titles.
This Sunday, when the queen signs her formal abdication at a state council, her son Crown Prince Frederik will become King.
But what will be made of the rest of the royal family?
STEPPING DOWN: Queen Margrethe will step down from the throne on January 14
NEW MONARCHS: Crown Prince Frederick will become King Frederick X and his wife, Crown Princess Mary, will become Queen Consort
CROWN PRINCE FREDERIK WILL BECOME KING
Frederick, 55, formerly known as Crown Prince Frederick – is set to become His Majesty King Frederick X.
Her Majesty The Queen will continue to be known as Her Majesty and bear the title HM Queen Margrethe.
CROWN PRINCESS MARY WILL BECOME QUEEN
Meanwhile, his wife Crown Princess Mary – who is very popular with the Danish public due to her dedication to royal duty and commitment to learning the language – will become Queen Consort.
She is also set to become the nation’s first Australian-born queen.
The couple, who met in a bar in 2000 during the Olympics in Sydney, share four children, who each occupy the next spaces in the line of succession.
PRINCE CHRISTIAN WILL BECOME CROWN PRINCE
Their son Prince Christian will become the next in line to the Danish throne at just 18.
His title will change to Crown Prince Christian as he will be the heir apparent.
He may have to act as head of state when his father is out of the country.
Princess Mary, Frederik’s brother Joachim, and Princess Benedikte are able to take over as head of state should Christian be too busy – however he will certainly be required to take on more official duties.
Christian is often referred to as the ‘most eligible bachelor in Europe’ and his new title will only elevate that status even more.
FIRST IN LINE: Prince Christian will become Crown Prince Christian and is the heir apparent
SECOND: Christian’s younger sister, 16-year-old Princess Isabella will become second in lin
Christian’s younger sister, 16-year-old Princess Isabella will become second in line to the throne at her father’s ascension.
She has already taken on some duties alongside her parents, such as visits to Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
In third and fourth place are twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, both 13.
The twins were born in 2011 and, as Vincent is 26 minutes older than his sister, it means he sits before her in the line of succession.
The Danish primogeniture law changed in 2009 as previously Vincent would have also appeared before his elder sister Isabella.
The law had previously meant that male children were preferred to succeed the throne but the rule has been changed to only consider age and not gender.
After the children, Christian’s younger brother Prince Joachim is then fifth in line to the throne – however it is unlikely he will ever become monarch.
Last year an enormous rift broke out when Queen Margrethe stripped Joachim’s children of their royal titles, reportedly with the intention to let them live normal lives.
They are now Counts and Countess and referred to as Their Excellencies – and in January the Danish Royal Family updated their website to show their new status.
THIRD AND FOURTH: Twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine take the next spots in the ranking (pictured with Prince Christian and Queen Margrethe last April)
L to R: Felix (SEVENTH), Marie, Prince Joachim (FIFTH), Athena (NINTH), Henrik (EIGHTH) and Nikolai (SIXTH) in September
TENTH: Queen Margrethe’s sister Princess Benedikte, herself 79, takes the final spot in the line of succession
Despite no longer being considered official members of the Danish royal family, they have maintained their positions in the line of succession.
Joachim’s son, Count Nikolai, 24, is sixth in line to the throne even though he is no longer a working royal.
Nikolai is a model with a large Instagram following.
His siblings, Felix, 21, Henrik, 14, and Athena, 11, hold the seventh, eighth and ninth places in the succession line respectively.
Queen Margrethe’s sister Princess Benedikte, herself 79, takes the tenth spot in the line of succession.
When she married, the Council of State said her children – Alexandra, Nathalie and Gustav – would need to be raised in Denmark during their years of formal education to be in the line of succession.
As she did not do this, they cannot inherit the crown.
Queen Margrethe’s other sister, Anne-Marie renounced her right to the throne – and that of her descendants – when she married King Constantine of Greece in 1964.
Anne Marie was the Queen Consort of Greece until the abolition of the monarch in 1973.
Although monarchs in several European countries have abdicated to allow younger royalty to take over, there is no such tradition in Denmark.
Margrethe herself insisted for years that she would not quit in her role but her health in recent years has forced her to change that.
The Danish head of state shocked the nation and many royal watchers around the world when she used her annual New Year’s Eve speech to announce live on television that she was stepping down as Queen after 52 years.
In her address the 83-year-old said she had taken stock after undergoing back surgery last year and had decided it was it was time ‘to leave the responsibility to the next generation’ – namely her eldest son Crown Prince Frederik.
The Danish Royal Family has been rocked by rumours in recent weeks – after photographs emerged of Crown Prince Frederik enjoying a night out with a Mexican socialite in Madrid in October.
However despite the swirling rumours, Frederik and Mary have put on several loved-up displays in public.
