During her New Year's Eve address on 31 December 2023, Margrethe II announced that she would step down as Queen of Denmark, being the first voluntary abdication of a Danish monarch since that of Eric III in 1146.
On 14 January 2024, the 52nd anniversary of her accession, Margrethe signed a declaration her of abdication during a meeting of the Council of State, whereafter her elder son Crown Prince Frederik succeeded to the Danish throne as King Frederik X. Per Danish state custom, the prime minister of Denmark then proclaimed the change of monarch from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace.