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Why Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark won't have a coronation like King Charles

By Natalie Oliveri|

In a New Year's Eve televised address, Denmark's Queen Margrethe II announced that she plans to abdicate after 52 years and hand over the throne to her son, Crown Prince Frederik.

The move means that our beloved Crown Princess Mary will become Australia's first ever monarch as she takes on the position of Queen Consort alongside her husband.

Queen Margarethe II announced that she will abdicate on January 14, meaning that in just over a week, Princess Mary will become Queen of Denmark.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the Danish royal family?

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary on their way to Christiansborg Palace in 2018. (Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images)

But unlike King Charles and Camilla, the future King Frederik and Queen Mary will not have a coronation.

Instead, The Royal House has announced its plans for a proclamation.

"The schedule for the change of throne will be published today on Sunday the 14th. January"

READ MORE: Mary to become Queen of Denmark after Margrethe's shock abdication

The day will start at 2pm with a State Council at Christiansborg Castle.

At 3pm: Proclamation of His Majesty King Frederick X from the balcony at Christiansborg Castle."

And at At 5pm: Transfer of the royal banners from Christian IX's Palace to Frederik VIII's Palace, Amalienborg."

?Things are done a little differently in Denmark, even though it, like Britain, is a constitutional monarchy จC meaning that while the Sovereign is Head of State, the ability to make and pass legislation resides with an elected Parliament.

It's unclear whether Crown Princess Mary will be at the coronation of King Charles in May. (Getty)

The House of Windsor and the House of Glจนcksburg are close, with Queen Margrethe a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

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Why this photo of Princess Mary is being talked about now

Margrethe's great-great-grandfather was Christian IX. His daughter, Alexandra, married Edward VII, King Charles III's great-great-grandfather.

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Queen Margrethe II of Denmark on the balcony of Amalienborg Palace after being proclaimed monarch in 1972. Her sons Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim are pictured too. (Bettmann Archive)

When Margrethe, who will be 83 in April, acceded the throne upon the death of her father there was little fanfare.

Instead of a coronation, there was a proclamation.

When her father King Frederik IX died on January 14, 1972, she immediately became Queen of Denmark and the head of the House of Glจนcksborg จC the family that has occupied the Danish throne for nearly 160 years.

The dynasty itself has been in power for more than 1000 years, making it Europe's oldest royal family.

On January 15, the day after her father's death, Margrethe was proclaimed Queen of Denmark.

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark presides over her first State Council meeting as monarch, January 15, 1972. (Getty/Danish Royal Household)

She stepped out onto the balcony of Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen in front of thousands of people gathered below.

Margrethe was accompanied by then Prime Minister Jens Otto Krag who ?turned three directions individually and proclaimed three times: "King Frederik IX is dead. Long live Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II."?

The crowd responded with a nine-hurrah salute.?

The Queen, then 31, then gave a speech where she asked God to help her with her new duties and expressed her sadness at the loss of her father.

"My beloved father, our King, is dead, and a great sorrow has befallen us all. But the greatest grief is for my mother".??

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Queen Margrethe with Prince Henrik on her proclamation as monarch at Christiansborg Palace. (YouTube)

Queen Margrethe had also chosen her royal motto which she read out on the balcony: "God's help, the love of The People, Denmark's strength".

She was then joined on the balcony by her husband Prince Henrik จC who was never crowned alongside his wife (his gripe at never being made 'equal' to his wife meant he refused to be buried with the other royals in Roskilde Cathedral, instead choosing the gardens of Fredensborg Palace).

Queen Margarethe's proclamation was a sombre occasion with her dressed head to toe in black mourning.?

Queen Margrethe of Denmark's most eye-catching royal jewels

That same day, she presided over her first State Council meeting as monarch.

The Queen and Prince Henrik then returned to Amalienborg Palace, their official residence in the capital, where they made a second balcony appearance and were joined by their two sons Crown Prince Frederik, then three, and Prince Joachim, two.?

?Overall the day was a solemn one.

READ MORE: Denmark's Queen Margrethe II to step down from throne

Queen Margrethe with her daughter-in-law on April 30, 2022 at Fredensborg Palace. (Getty)

The Danish royal family scrapped its elaborate coronations in the 1800s in favour of a simple proclamation.

In essence, the act is simply one monarch accepting their new duties while also mourning the loss of the previous sovereign.

While Prince Frederik and Princess Mary's ascension to the throne will not be such a sombre occasion, it is still expected to be a similar process in terms of fanfare.

For the occasion, ?Prince Frederik and Princess Mary will be joined by Denmark's Prime Minister at Christiansborg, a building that has an 800 year-long history as Denmark's centre of power.

It is used by the monarch for official events such as gala banquets and public audiences.?

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary are unlikely to have a coronation when the time comes. (Hasse Nielsen)

The new King and Queen are then likely to face their subjects from the balcony of Amalienborg, just like Margrethe did, with their four children: Crown Prince Christian, Princess Isabella and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine.

Some form of celebration will likely follow จC such as a gala banquet or ball จC as the Danes love the pomp and ceremony that comes with their royal family.

Mary's down-to-earth nature has endeared ?her to the Danes ever since she married the country's Crown Prince in 2004.

Queen Mary of Denmark's best jewellery moments

In 2022, to mark her 50th birthday, Crown Princess Mary's long-time dressmaker Jesper H?vring told 9Honey: "I think they love that she really is an ordinary girl, she's not born royal. She just transcends this kindness, she has a beautiful, smiley, kind nature".

Crown Princess Mary remains hugely popular in her adopted homeland as does the monarchy as a whole.

READ MORE: A look inside one of Europe's oldest monarchies, Denmark's royal family

Coronations don't happen in Denmark, rather they are a proclamation announcing the new monarch. (Photonews via Getty Images)

A 2020 Gallup poll found 84 per cent of the country supports the monarchy and more recently, snap polls published in local media show love for the Queen and the royal family is strong even in the face of its recent title scandal.

In September, 2022, Queen Margrethe stripped four of her eight grandchildren of their prince and princess titles, a decision she said was done as "a necessary safeguard for the future of the monarchy".

The four children of Prince Joachim are now styled as His Excellency Count of Monpezat or Her Excellency Countess of Monpezat, losing their His/Her Royal Highness privileges.

The Crown Prince family inside their home, Frederik VIII's Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen in 2022. (Hasse Nielsen)

Crown Princess Mary was the first senior royal to publicly support the move, showing her allegiance with the Crown.

"Change can be difficult and can really hurt," she said.

"But this does not mean that the decision is not the right one," adding that she and Crown Prince Frederik would "look at our own children's titles when the time comes".?

Although Queen Margrethe later issued an apology for causing her family any distress, admitting she "underestimated" how much they would "feel affected", she remained committed to her decision.

READ MORE: A closer look at Prince Joachim, Princess Mary's brother-in-law

Camilla, Queen Consort and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark attend a reception to raise awareness of violence against women and girls as part of the UN 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, in Buckingham Palace.
Camilla, Queen Consort and Crown Princess Mary at a reception inside Buckingham Palace in November. (Kin Cheung - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The drama ruffled a few feathers in Denmark's small aristocratic circles but largely, support for the royals remained firm.

"What the Queen is doing is very popular," Ulla Terkelsen, chief international correspondent of TV2 Denmark, said as reported in The Times.

"She is keeping the aura and the magic of the royal family จC the big parties and the horses and all that จC but she is also saying that she understands the spirit of the time and the need to get rid of unnecessary titles."

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