Europe’s longest-reigning monarch Queen Margrethe II rode across Denmark’s capital in her last public appearance yesterday, ahead of her abdication this month.
Thousands braved Copenhagen’s freezing temperatures and snow to see her go by, pulled by six white horses.
The 19th-century Gold Coach she used, gilded with 24-carat gold leaf, takes the monarch from Amalienborg Palace to Christiansborg Palace during the traditional New Year fete.
Margrethe, 83, will step down on January 14 after 52 years, handing the throne to her oldest son, Crown Prince Frederik, 55.
He and his Australian-born wife Mary, 51, will become king and queen.
It will be the first such resignation in Europe’s oldest ruling monarchy in nearly 900 years.
In a TV address on December 31, Margrethe told how back surgery in early 2023 meant she had “decided now is the right time” to abdicate.
