Denmark's King Frederik X, Queen Mary to embark on first state visits in May

Denmark’s King Frederik X (L) and Queen Mary (R) kiss on the balcony after the proclamation of the accession to the throne at Christiansborg Palace Square in Copenhagen in January. Their son, Crown Prince Christian, 18, may again act as Denmark’s leader during his parents state visits which start in May by Bo Amstrup/UPI

Feb. 9 (UPI) — The royal palace in Copenhagen announced Friday that Denmark’s new king and queen will tour their realm and neighboring countries in their first official state visits to the two other nations as Denmark’s new heads of state.

King Frederik X and Queen Mary will first visit Sweden, Norway, then Greenland and the Faroe Islands which are also two territories of the Danish kingdom.

“The first state visits will provide the occasion for the new king and queen to meet with the sovereigns in Sweden and Norway, and they will thus mark the close relations between the Nordic monarchies.

The royal couple will travel aboard the Royal Yacht Dannebrog which will serve as their primary residence for the duration of the trip through Sweden from May 6-7, Norway May 14-15, and their “tentative” visit to the Faroe Islands June 11-14 and then Greenland June 29-July 8.

King Charles III (L) speaks to then-Crown Princess Mary and then-Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark at Buckingham Palace while attending Charles’ May 2023 coronation in London, England. Charles and Frederik are cousins by blood along with multiple other European royal houses such as Spain, Belgium, Sweden and Norway. Photo by The Royal Family/UPI The Royal Family/UPI

Frederik took the throne in January after his mother the former Queen Margarethe II’s surprise announcement that she would step down from the throne after gaining the distinction of being Denmark’s second longest-serving monarch when she took the throne from her father — the late King Christian X — in 1972.

Following the 2022 death of Britain’s late Queen Elizabeth II and the assumption of the throne by now King Charles III — also cousins to the royal families of Denmark, Sweden and Norway — Margarethe’s abdication in Denmark followed a series of royal recusals in recent years after Japan’s now ex-Emperor Akihito in 2019 and Spain’s former King Juan Carlos in 2014.

While the former queen Margrethe continues to be addressed as “Her Majesty” and is able to step in for King Frederik X to act as the country’s regent, or acting head of state, the new king’s son — Crown Prince Christian — is likely to act as the country’s leader in his father’s place during his parents trip which will start at the beginning of May.