Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II has announced her shock abdication in her traditional New Year’s speech.
The monarch will be succeeded by her son, Crown Prince Frederik, on 14 January - 52 years to the day since she came to the throne following the death of her father, King Frederik IX, in 1972.
The 83-year-old queen, well-known for her passion for dogs, illustration and fashion, is the current longest-serving monarch Europe.
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