Queen Margrethe plays down abdication talk on eve of 40th jubilee

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has played down talk of abdicating the throne in favor of her son, in an interview given at the start of celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of her coronation.

"In my eyes, it’s part of the position that you have when you inherit a monarchy: It is a task you have handed down to you, and that you 
keep as long as you live, the way my father did and my grandfather 
before him," she said at a press conference on Tuesday at the
 Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen.


Her renewed commitment came just a week after a new poll found that 40 
percent of Danes believed that Margrethe, 71, should abdicate within
10 years to make way for her son, Crown Prince Frederik, while only 31
per cent believed she should stay in place.


The poll, by Megafon, the Danish opinion research group, found that 
support for the monarchy in Denmark remained high, with more than 77 
percent of Danes supporting it, and only 16 per cent wanting the
 country to become a Republic.


On Saturday January 14, to mark the 40th anniversary of her 
coronation, Queen Margrethe plans to take a coach ride around
 Copenhagen and hold a grand reception at Copenhagen’s City Hall, after 
first travelling to the cathedral at Roskilde, Denmark’s medieval 
capital, to lay a wreath at the grave of her parents, King Frederik
 IX’s and Queen Ingrid.