Preparations for Queen Margrethe II's abdication kick off as security make checks at Christiansborg Castle and royal stables prepare horses for the day's festivities

Video captured Margrethe listening to public sing to her outside Amalienborg Queen Margrethe II abdication LIVE: Denmark prepares to proclaim Prince Frederik their new king 

Preparations for today’s festivities have kicked in Copenhagen as Denmark gets ready to make Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary their new King and Queen.

A live broadcast from regional channel DR1 shows soldiers marching up and down the streets as excited crowds have lined up, donning plastic crowds, Danish flag and various regalia to celebrate the low-key ceremony.

Photos from the event also show security making checks at the balcony of Christiansborg Castle, with only hours to go before Queen Margrethe II’s abdication – which she announced on New Year’s Eve.

Stable keepers have also been readying the horses in the royal stables of Christiansborg Palace this morning.

And earlier today, soldiers from the Danish Guard Hussar regiment appeared to be practicing for today’s events.

Preparations for today’s festivities have kicked in Copenhagen as Denmark gets ready to make Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary their new King and Queen

Elsewhere, excited royal fans in Copenhagen have been queueing to buy cakes decorated with a seal of the soon to be crowned King Frederik X, displayed in the window of the well-known confectionery shop La Glace.

And the celebrations began as early as last night as Margrethe was seen listening to the public sing to her in Copenhagen on the eve of her abdication.

The royal, 83, has ruled Denmark for more than 52 years and became Europe’s longest-reigning monarch after Queen Elizabeth II passed away in September 2022.

The monarch delivered the news during her traditional New Year’s Eve speech.

The ceremony will happen today, where she will transfer power of the throne to her 55-year-old son, Crown Prince Frederik and his Australian-born wife Mary, 51.

Danish royalists took to the streets of Copenhagen this weekend and waved red and white flags to honour their beloved Queen Margrethe – and this morning, wellwishers have already started to set up outside Christiansborg Palace Square.

A video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, captured the public singing to Margrethe outside Amalienborg, Margrethe’s winter residence last night.

One of the windows to the palace was left wide open, so that she could hear those who came to sing to her.

Stable keepers have also been readying the horses in the royal stables of Christiansborg Palace this morning

Well-wishers wearing crowns and coronation robes gathered outside Christiansborg Palace this morning

Photos from the event also show security making checks at the balcony of Christiansborg Castle, with only hours to go before Queen Margrethe II’s abdication – which she announced on New Year’s Eve

Well-wishers gather in Christiansborg Palace square today, adorned in Danish flag regalia in the early hours of the morning

Pictured: Crown Princess Mary, Crown Prince Frederik and Queen Margrethe attend the annual opening of the parliamentary session at the Danish Parliament in October 2022

The Danish Royal Horse Guard trains with a proxy carriage ahead of today’s exciting festivities in Copenhagen

Elsewhere, excited royal fans in Copenhagen have been queueing to buy cakes decorated with a seal of the soon to be crowned King Frederik X

People pass an image of Queen Margrethe in Copenhagen, Denmark, ahead of of her passing on the throne to her son on Sunday

Danish royalists took to the streets of Copenhagen this weekend and waved red and white flags to honour their beloved Queen Margrethe

The Queen, known for her chain-smoking and flamboyant style – was seen on the clip walking around her home and peering out at the crowd

The Queen, known for her chain-smoking and flamboyant style – was seen on the clip walking around her home and peering out at the crowd.

Margrethe, who in the past had said she would remain on the throne for life, did not give an exact reason for her decision to step down.

However, she said that a major back surgery she underwent in February last year had made her consider her future.

‘The surgery naturally gave rise to thinking about the future – whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation,’ she said in her speech.

‘I have decided that now is the right time. On January 14, 2024, 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father, I will step down as Queen of Denmark.

‘I leave the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik.’

Early doors! Wellwishers have already started gathering at Christiansborg Palace Square ahead of Queen Margrethe’s abdication in Copenhagen

The first crowds have started coming together outside the palace for today’s historic stripped-back event

The sun was yet to rise when the first royal fans started setting up to witness today’s abdication

Pictured: Danish flags fluttered on buildings close to Christiansborg Castle Square ahead of Queen Margrethe’s abdication

Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik takes over the crown on Sunday from his mother, Queen Margrethe II

Department store windows display the Danish flag and the Danish crown in Copenhagen

A picture of Danish Queen Margrethe II with a message reading ‘Thank you, Your Majesty’

Thousands of people have flooded into Copenhagen to witness the abdication

People look at a picture of the soon-to-be King Frederik X and his wife Queen Mary displayed in a window at a shopping street

Queen Margrethe II is breaking with centuries of Danish royal tradition and retiring after a 52-year reign

Queen Margrethe II rides through Denmark’s capital in her final engagement as monarch

In fairytale picturesque scenes, thousands, many cheering and waving flags, braved the freezing temperatures, strong winds, snow and sleet

Dressed in a fur coat, the 83-year-old uses a walking stick as she prepares to greet invited representatives of major national organisations and the royal patronage during her visit to Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen, on January 4

And today will see Denmark welcome the Crown Prince and Princess as their new King and Queen.

Wellwishers with folding chairs donning Danish flags have already started to excitedly line the streets in preparation for this afternoon’s events.

The historic occasion is sure to be an exciting event for the nation – but is set to be a much more stripped down transferrence of power compared to King Charles’s ornate Coronation in May.

The day will kick off at around 1:35pm Danish time (12:3pm GMT), with Frederik, 55, and Mary, 51, setting off in a  a 1958 Rolls-Royce from Amalienborg to Christiansborg Palace, along with their son HRH Prince Christian.

Shortly after, Margrethe will follow, leaving from Christian IX’s Palace in a carriage.

Both will pass through Frederiksgade, Bredgade, Kongens Nytorv, Holmens Canal and Prince Jørgen’s Courtyard on the way.

At 2pm, there will be a Council of State at Christiansborg Palace, which Margrethe, Frederik, and Christian will take part in together with the Government and the Council of State secretary.

This is where the succession of the throne will happen, as Her Majesty The Queen will sign a declaration of her abdication.

Margrethe will then make her way back to Amalienborg, while Frederik and Mary will hold a formal reception for specially invited guests.

At 3pm, the couple will make a balcony appearance at Christiansborg Palace. The Prime Minister will then proclaim the King’s accession to the throne.

After this, the newly crowned monarch will then speak and conclude with the motto.

It will be followed by an honourary cannon salute from the Sixtus Battery – a heritage site on Holmen, Copenhagen – and the Royal Standard will then be lowered at Christian IX’s Palace (Margrethe’s home) and reraised at Frederik VIII’s Palace, where the new King and Queen are based.

Frederik and Mary will take a carriage from Christiansborg Palace back to Amalienborg, which will be escorted by a mounted squadron.

At 5pm, there will also be a transfer of the royal colours from Christian IX’s Palace to Frederik VIII’s Palace.

Queen Margrethe, who took to the throne in 1972, has become the first Danish monarch in nearly 900 years to relinquish the throne.

However, during an interview in 2016, she expressed a different opinion.

She said: ‘It’s always been: you stay as long as you live. That’s what my father did and my predecessors. And the way I see it too.’ 

‘It could be that she thinks Prince Frederik is prepared to take over now,’ said Lars Hovbakke Sorensen, a historian and associate professor at University College Absalon in Denmark.

‘He’s 55, and maybe the queen wanted to avoid a situation where you would have a very, very old king, as you saw with Prince Charles.’

The new Danish royal couple will take the throne at a time of huge public support and enthusiasm for the monarchy.

The royal, 83, has ruled Denmark for more than 52 years and become Europe’s longest reigning monarch after Queen Elizabeth II passed away in September 2022

The Danish Queen (right) will be succeeded by her eldest son Crown Prince Frederik (centre) pictured with his Australian-born wife Crown Princess Mary

Frederik and Mary will wave from the balcony. The couple are pictured on Frederik’s 50th birthday

Mary appeared optimistic as she arrived at the New Year’s reception for officers from the Armed Forces and the National Emergency Management Agency

Margrethe II was the eldest of the three daughters of King Frederik IX of Denmark, and succeeded him to the throne in 1972

The most recent survey, which was done after the queen announced she would abdicate, indicated that 82 per cent of Danes expect Frederik to do well or very well in his new role, while 86 per cent said the same about Mary.

‘The royal family means everything that is Danish. It’s fairytales and traditions,’ said Anna Karina Laursen, 59, a nod to the country’s famous fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen.

The Amalienborg complex, built in the 1750s, is located in central Copenhagen and consists of four palaces built around an octagonal courtyard.

It is home to both the outgoing queen and the new reigning couple.

However, a royal expert said that the Danish Queen broke an ‘invisible pact’ between Scandinavian monarchs to never abdicate.

Roger Lundberg told STV that, after Denmark’s changeover, there is a chance King Harald of Norway, 86, and King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, 79, might follow suit and step down to allow their eldest children to take the throne.

New Danish royal titles and line of succession

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

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

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.