| Happy new year and welcome to this week’s Royal Watch.
Recently unsealed court documents in the US have put the spotlight back on Prince Andrew’s past, causing potential embarrassment for the King.
If you’re still struggling to emerge after the Christmas break, the Danish monarchy certainly woke people up with the live announcement of Queen Margrethe’s abdication.
And as 2024 gets underway, what’s in Britain’s royal calendar? |
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| | Prince Andrew in Epstein court papers | Newly unsealed court documents related to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has meant more embarrassment for Prince Andrew, whose name appears in the files among other famous figures.
It was widely expected that he’d appear in these court papers, dating from a 2015 lawsuit, and many of the claims had previously been reported.
Prince Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing, including in a separate court settlement in 2022.
But it’s still a terrible look when this connection keeps circling the King’s brother. He was at Sandringham with the Royal Family for Christmas Day, but any return to public life seems a long way off. | | |
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How Danish royalty is renewing itself | The biggest royal new year surprise was the shock abdication of Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II, announced during her live television broadcast on New Year’s Eve. |
| | Queen Margrethe of Denmark surprised the world in her new year’s message. Credit: Keld Navntoft/Ritzau Scanpix/Reuters |
| On 14 January, 52 years to the day after acceding to the throne, she’s stepping down in favour of her son, who will become King Frederik X. |
| Or as some joked on social media, he’ll be known as King Frederik Formerly Known as Twitter. |
| | Prince Frederik and Queen Margrethe oversaw the opening of the Danish Parliament together in October. Credit: Ritzau Scanpix/Mads Claus Rasmussen/Reuters |
| This wasn’t Queen Margrethe’s first strong-minded decision about the monarchy. A couple of years ago she caused controversy by downsizing her own royal family, by removing the royal titles from four of her grandchildren, born to second son Prince Joachim.
She wants to “future proof” the monarchy and it shows an alternative, modernising approach to royal life. |
| The idea of voluntarily abdicating is very unusual in Denmark. The last time was in 1146 when King Erik entered a monastery, leading to years of civil war. Such upheaval is far from likely now, but abdications have happened recently in other countries, including the Netherlands in 2013 and Spain in 2014.
In Britain, abdication is still negatively associated with the memory of Edward VIII stepping down in 1936, so he could marry American socialite and divorcée Wallis Simpson. It’s remembered as the “abdication crisis”.
But Margrethe’s abdication at the age of 83 will mean a younger royal couple on the throne – her son is aged 55 and his Australian-born wife, Mary, is 51. |
| | Prince Frederik and his wife Mary joined Queen Margrethe for the 2023 New Year’s reception at Christianborg Palace in Copenhagen. Credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock |
| Mary meeting her prince in a bar in Sydney sounds like the script for a rom-com. She was an advertising executive at the time, so knows a thing or two about branding and public presentation. |
| And expect look-alike comparisons between the new Danish queen and Catherine, Princess of Wales. |
| | The two princesses attended Royal Ascot together in June 2016. Credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images |
| The new king, tagged as the “party prince”, is reportedly a big fan of rock band Led Zeppelin. And this is a royal couple who sent their son to a state school. |
| Unlike in Britain, there is no coronation ceremony in Denmark. Instead the new reign will begin at Copenhagen’s Christiansborg Palace, when the outgoing queen formally signs a declaration of her abdication. |
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| | | | The Danish royals: Line of succession | Here’s a little background on the royals in Denmark’s line of succession.
Queen Margrethe, full name Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, was born on 16 April 1940 and is the third cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth. She was crowned in 1972, succeeding her father Frederik IX. |
| | Princess Margrethe posing with her parents, Queen Ingrid (born Princess of Sweden) and King Frederik IX, at age 15. Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images |
| | In January 1972, Queen Margrethe was crowned in Copenhagen. Denmark's Prime Minister Jens Otto Kragh stands next to her and delivers a speech. Credit: Aage Sorensen/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP |
| After her abdication, the Queen will continue to be referred to as Majesty and hold the title HM Queen Margrethe. |
| Prince Frederik, full name Frederik André Henrik Christian, is the soon-to-be King and was born 26 May 1968. He has one younger brother, Prince Joachim. |
| | Princess Margrethe and Prince Henrik at the christening of their first son Frederik. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images |
| | In January 1972, Queen Margrethe was crowned in Copenhagen. Denmark's Prime Minister Jens Otto Kragh stands next to her and delivers a speech. Credit: Aage Sorensen/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP |
| Frederik's son Prince Christian, full name Christian Valdemar Henri John, was born on 15 October 2005 and will become Crown Prince when his father becomes King. |
| | Prince Christian at his christening ceremony with his parents. Credit: Sven Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images |
| | Prince Christian recently celebrated his 18th birthday. Credit: Mads Claus Rasmussem/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP/Getty Images |
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| | | | | What’s in store for 2024? | Like making that difficult second album, King Charles is beginning his second new year as monarch.
Expect him to focus more on his own personal causes in 2024, because this year there are no big set-piece royal occasions, no coronation or jubilee.
There’s no Prince Harry book to rattle the windows like this time last year and, as Royal Watch revealed, there’s no Meghan memoir in the pipeline. There’s not even a new series of The Crown to worry about.
Instead, expect to hear more of the themes raised in the King’s Christmas message, such as protecting the environment. | | King Charles meets members of Flipflopi, a movement which aims to end single-use plastic, during his visit to Kenya. Credit: Ben Stansall/Pool/Reuters |
| We can also expect more of the King’s projects to help struggling families. But this will be a general election year in the UK, so his words will be analysed for any political interventions. Or any ties bearing hidden messages.
Royal finances will continue to be under scrutiny and expect anti-monarchy campaigners to be increasingly vocal.
There will be overseas trips, with suggestions of a visit to Australia in the autumn. It’s likely to raise long-term questions about whether Australia will keep the monarchy or become a republic. | | Charles visited Australia as prince in 1974. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images | A possible trip to Canada in the spring has also been reported and the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France in June will be a major commemoration.
The Commonwealth heads of government are meeting in Samoa in October. And with the 2026 Commonwealth Games still without a host there will inevitably be questions about the future of the organisation.
But many of the headlines will still be about tricky family relationships. Could this be the year when Prince Harry and Meghan come back in from the cold? | |
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