One year of King Frederik X of Denmark: sunny and dark sides of the reign

With the surprising abdication of his mother Queen Margrethe II (84), a new chapter began for the then Crown Prince Frederik (56): exactly one year ago, on January 14, 2024, he was declared King Frederik X of Denmark after Margrethe during formally at a meeting of the State Council.

He was then appointed by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (47) – as has been customary for Danish monarchs since the introduction of the constitutional monarchy in 1849. His motto is “United, committed, for the Kingdom of Denmark”. It is the first motto that contains no reference to God since Frederik VII (1808-1863).

(52), on January 14, 2024 on the balcony. Then came the couple’s firstborn and new heir to the throne, Crown Prince Christian (19), along with his siblings Princess Isabella (17) and the twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine (14).

On January 15, he appeared at a ceremony marking the change of head of state. In addition to Frederik, Queen Mary and Crown Prince Christian also sat in their new roles in the gallery for the first time. The former Queen Margrethe, her sister Princess Benedikte (80) and Frederik’s brother Prince Joachim (55) were also present.

On January 21, the royal family attended a solemn service at Aarhus Cathedral, led by Bishop of Aarhus and Royal Ordinariate Chaplain Henrik Wigh-Poulsen.

His first trip abroad as monarch was . Although the Danish monarchs traditionally first travel to another Scandinavian country after ascending the throne, this trip had already been planned before Margrethe’s surprising abdication.

In February, the newly crowned royal couple announced a very special inaugural trip, most of which they undertook in May 2024: to the neighboring Scandinavian countries of Sweden and Norway.

Mary and Frederik then visited in June. As a surprise, they had their twins with them. The two have Greenlandic middle names in appreciation of this part of the country: Prince Vincent is called Minik and Princess Josephine Ivalo. The royal couple’s planned inaugural visit to the Faroe Islands was postponed to 2025 due to a strike.

Frederik is an enthusiastic skier, sailor and marathon runner. In 2000, the then Crown Prince took part in the four-month dog sled expedition “Expedition Sirius 2000” in the northern part of Greenland. He also showed himself to be extremely athletic in 1995 when he was training to become a combat swimmer in the Navy’s elite military unit, the “Froschmannkorps”.

Sport remains important to him even as a monarch. He and his family also enthusiastically took part in the annual fitness run “Royal Run”, which took place for the first time on the occasion of Frederik’s 50th birthday in May 2018, in the first year after the change of throne. Only the two family dogs were not allowed to be in the posts and they were lovingly presented instead.

Frederik’s start as king didn’t go entirely smoothly. After an evening with a Mexican woman in Madrid at the end of 2023, rumors about a possible marriage crisis began circulating. The palace vehemently denied the speculation.

And Frederik and Mary also defended themselves against the affair rumors with lots of hugs and other loving gestures. “There are no signs that this marriage is going through a crisis. As a married couple, parents and royal couple, we experience them as a harmonious unit. There have been many occasions in the last few months where the royal couple have always shown signs of affection and familiarity – in official moments, but also when they felt unobserved,” said royal expert Julia Melchior in an interview with spot on news.

When the throne changed in January, she herself asked how she should classify this scandal. “I then got the answer from the royal family: There is no such scandal in our family,” Melchior summarized.

And the beginning of the second year as king is also overshadowed: In January 2025, when the elected US President Donald Trump (78) resumed talks about the intended purchase of Greenland by the USA, the king gave a speech in which he said: Promoted unity and cooperation within the Kingdom of Denmark.

He also issued a royal decree to enlarge the symbols of Greenland and the Faroe Islands to make them more prominent. The new design “strengthens the importance of the Commonwealth in the royal coat of arms,” said a statement from the royal family on January 1, 2025.

Melchior already said last summer why this part of the country is so important to the king: “Greenland is part of his biography. Among other things, the experience on the sleigh expedition in northern Greenland helped him “to find himself and his role. Because as a young person, Frederik initially didn’t get along well with his predetermined life. Greenland was a milestone in his development,” she explains of his close personal relationship with it.

In Melchior’s film “Denmark’s Royal Children: Awakening and Legacy” (ZDF media library), Frederik appears quite likeable in the interview sequences shown. “That’s not wrong and that’s why it’s incredibly popular,” confirmed the filmmaker, adding:

“Frederik and Mary have an approval rating of around 85 percent in surveys, which is higher than approval for the monarchy in general. Although it has been very high at 70 to 80 percent for years anyway. So there are also a lot of people who don’t are for the monarchy, but still speak out for Frederik and Mary,” said the expert. Maintaining this level of approval is now the challenge…