Queen Margrethe II's abdication means there will no longer be any women at the head of a monarchy

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark is currently the world’s only reigning Queen, but as of January 14, 2024, that’s all about to change.

It’s hard to imagine a world without a Queen in power after having Queen Elizabeth II reign over the commonwealth for more than 70 years, but following Margrethe’s abdication – that’s exactly what will happen.

Following Queen Elizabeth’s death, her son Charles took the throne alongside his wife Camilla, and although Camilla does have the title of Queen alongside her name, technically she is Queen Consort.

Queen Camilla is a Queen Consort – a title given to the spouse of a monarch – meaning she has no constitutional power despite her title of Queen.

Consort is the title given to the spouse of a monarch, meaning that Queen Consort is a noble rank rather than a reigning monarch.

A royal consort has no constitutional power, rather their role is to support their spouse in his or her duties as sovereign.

Following Queen Margrethe’s abdication on January 14, the world will be left with only men reigning over the world’s monarchies.

When will a woman next come into power?

In Europe alone there are four females next in line for the throne.

The Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, and Sweden are all set to have a Queen as their next reigning monarch, however it could be a number of decades before this happens.

Princess Catharina-Amalia is the heir to the Dutch throne, which has been predominantly female-led.

Prior to Catharina-Amalia’s father, The Netherlands saw three Queens reign in succession from 1890 to 2013.

Princess Catharina-Amalia is next in line to rule over The Netherlands.

Princess Leonor is a royal who has a large public profile, with her fashion choices often observed by the public; she is also next in line to the Spanish throne.

Princess Victoria of Sweden is next in line to become monarch, however this was not the case from birth.

Although Victoria is the firstborn child of King Carl XVI Gustaf, at the time of her birth Sweden still traditionally favoured male-preference primogeniture, meaning that the first born male would be next in line for the throne rather than the first-born child.

However in the years since, Sweden has changed their laws to reflect absolute-primogeniture, even though King Carl XVI Gustaf was against it at the time due to his sympathy toward his son being stripped of his Crown Prince title.

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium is another heir to benefit from the modernisation of primogeniture.

When Elisabeth ascends the throne, she will make history as the country’s first ever reigning Queen, after Belgium altered their laws to allow for female succession making her the first monarch to benefit.

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium will make history as the country’s first female after Belgium altered their laws to allow for female succession

Some monarchies around the world are yet to make the change to allow for female succession.

Crown Prince Akishino is next in line to become Emperor in Japan.

However, there is a push from those who support a legal amendment to Article 1 of the Imperial House Law, to allow for female lineage to ascend the throne.

What currently reads as “The Imperial Throne shall be succeeded to by a male offspring in the male line belonging to the Imperial Lineage,” would be changed to “The Imperial Throne shall be inherited by the direct descendants of the Imperial Lineage.”

This means that Princess Aiko would supersede Crown Prince Akishino as next in line to become reigning monarch.

Although Princess Aiko is the eldest child of the Emperor, she is not next in line to the throne due to Imperial House Law not allowing for female lineage to ascend the throne.

However there is currently no public intention to make the change to the Imperial House Law.

January 13 will be the last day in the near future that the we will see a woman as the head of a monarchy.

Although there are a number of woman in line as heir to their families throne, it could be a number of decades before we once again see a queen in power.