Queen Margrethe II abdicated on Sunday afternoon (early Monday AEDT), ending five decades on the Danish throne and leaving her son, King Frederik, to lead the monarchy along with Queen Mary, the first Australian-born queen.
About 2pm (1am Monday AEDT) tens of thousands of gathered wellwishers burst into cheers as the doors to Copenhagen’s Christiansborg Palace opened and Frederik emerged clad in military dress to wave at his subjects with white-gloved hands.
The beaming monarch wiped away a tear before being proclaimed by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who symbolically turned her body to indicate the country’s new direction, before a rousing rendition of the Danish equivalent of three cheers.
Then it was the moment Australian royal watchers had been waiting for: Queen Mary.
Shining in all white, the queen waved with one hand and clasped her husband’s hand with the other, before they turned to each other and embraced, a world away from her Tasmanian upbringing and the Sydney pub where they met.
The royal children, including new heir Prince Christian, quickly followed before Mary and Frederik were left alone once again.
A kiss prompted a fresh round of cheers as cannons fired over the Nyhavn River and then the new faces of the Danish monarchy were gone.
The royal couple began their short and relatively pomp-free journey under cloudy, cold Copenhagen skies in a historic day for both countries, a happier-than-usual transfer of power thanks to Denmark’s first abdication for hundreds of years.
The odd Australian flag fluttered amid crowds of excited Danes along Toldbodgade as the royal couple set out from Frederik VIII’s Palace, Amalienborg, to Christiansborg Palace just after 1.35pm (11.35pm AEDT) on Sunday.
Minutes behind, Queen Margrethe, who set this historic day in action with a New Year’s Eve speech announcing her intention to abdicate after 52 years on the throne, started her own ride to end her reign.
The outgoing royal beamed and waved a gloved hand from inside a grand black carriage accompanied by tens of thousands of wellwishers on her short journey to end her reign.
The horseback Guard Hussar Regiment and police on motorbikes accompanied the tassled coach on the queen’s kilometre-long journey from the neighbouring Christian IX’s Palace to Christiansborg.
Aussies in crowd steal the show as Princess Mary becomes queen
From there, Margrethe signed a declaration of her abdication during a Council of State meeting at Christiansborg Palace.
Mary was present with her husband for the closed-doors moment, along with their oldest son, Prince Christian, and members of the government.
Footage from inside the room later showed Margrethe and Frederik smiling as they took turns to sign the papers that made the transition official.
About 2.15pm (12.15am Monday AEDT), the crowd erupted in cheers and bells rang out as motorcyclists in bright yellow flanked the departure of Margrethe, no longer queen, through a throng of red and white flags.
The pomp was sparse compared to the extravagant ceremony surrounding the ascension to the throne and coronation of King Charles, Australia’s head of state, following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth.
Footage from inside the palace showed Margrethe sitting, smiling and calmly signing the abdication papers with a minimum of ceremony before her oldest son took her place both literally in the chair and figuratively on the throne.
But that didn’t stop huge crowds of Danes, and more than a few boisterously dressed Australians, braving 3 degrees in Copenhagen to watch history in the making.
Sweden’s King Carl sent a heartfelt message to his “dear cousin Daisy”, expressing his warm thanks for their years of cooperation.
Though Margrethe was entering a new role, their friendship would remain, the king said, thanking her for guaranteeing the closeness of the two countries and houses over the years.
After a small function for specially invited guests, the new king and queen were proclaimed from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace at 3pm (1am AEDT), followed by a short speech and a cannon salute.
Later, there will be a formal transfer of the royal colours and a reception to celebrate the accession.
Rehearsals at Christiansborg Palace took place ahead of the understated event.
They included not only the royal horse guards but a stand-in carriage for the one that will carry one monarch in and a new king and queen out.
Copenhagen’s streets feature a few hastily improvised nods to the royal shakeup.
One that has locals queuing up is at La Glace bakery, which has a 150-year history of making cakes in tribute to the royals.
After selling Queen Margrethe cakes for 52 years, they’ve had days to come up with a recipe for King Frederick.
Opinion polls show when it comes to who’s the most popular royal after Margrethe, it’s Mary.
Princess Mary’s path from Tassie girl to Queen of Denmark
The news that Frederik’s hugely popular mother, the world’s only reigning queen, would relinquish the throne, shocked Danes.
She will step aside 52 years to the day after she ascended the throne.
Only the main royal family and the Danish prime minister are likely to be in attendance.
The handover of power could hardly be more simple.
Margrethe will sign a document of abdication, and at that moment Frederick becomes King Frederick X and Mary becomes Queen.
Mary was born in Hobart, the youngest of four children of two Scottish academics.
Mary’s father, John, is a professor of applied mathematics while her late mother Henrietta worked as the executive assistant to the vice-chancellor of The University of Tasmania.
Mary worked as an estate agent before meeting Frederik.