Is the Danish queen causing a domino effect?
With the abdication of Queen Margrethe, exactly a week ago, the Danish monarch broke with the centuries-long tradition of remaining on the throne until death. This is also common in neighboring countries Norway and Sweden. But now that Margrethe’s historic resignation shows that things can be done differently, the question remains: will King Carl Gustaf and King Harald follow?
Aged monarch
While in the Netherlands we are now used to our monarchs abdicating, this is not done in many other countries. In many places, abdication has taken on a somewhat negative edge – from Albert II and Juan Carlos I who said goodbye to the Belgian and Spanish thrones respectively amid all kinds of scandals, to the British King Edward VIII who passed the crown to his brother to deal with to marry a divorced woman.
In many other places it is ‘just’ tradition to remain on the throne for life. Anyway: when you, as a person over 80, can no longer perform your royal duties because your health does not allow it, people often start to question how suitable you are for your role. Margrethe also hinted in her New Year’s speech that the serious back surgery she had to undergo was a factor in her decision.
But what about Sweden and Norway? Would their eyes also have been opened by the special decision of their neighbor and good friend? Carl Gustaf is now 77 years old, and Harald is already 86.
No pension
Over the years, both monarchs have been regularly questioned about a possible abdication. Swedish royalty watcher Anders Pihlblad told the BBC: “Not because Swedish people think he is not doing well, but because his daughter, Crown Princess Victoria, is very, very popular.”
Yet Carl Gustaf has always maintained that he did not want to think about resigning. He once stated in an interview in 2014: “Pension? No, we don’t know that word in our family. At least not historically. It is an old tradition that we do not resign.”
King Harald has always expressed a similar opinion. For example, the best man believes that he is a prince ‘for life’. “It’s that simple for me. We will do this to the bitter end,” said the Norwegian king.
Norwegian royal expert Kristie Marie Skrede explains: “The Norwegians will support Harald [als hij aftreedt]but they are very impressed that he is still on the throne despite all his health problems.”
Pioneer
Yet royalty experts do not rule out that Margrethe’s decision may have made a difference among other monarchs. After all, Marge herself maintained for a long time that she would never resign, and even stated in 2012: “I will remain on the throne until I fall.”
When BBC expert Robert Lundgren asks how he assesses it, he says: “If you had asked me this question six months ago, I would have said they will never, ever resign. But the situation in Denmark has shown that anything is possible.”
Maybe Margrethe can convince her fellow royals with endless snapshots of her creative retirement hobbies? Who knows!
Source: BBC | Image: NL Image
