Many Danes believe Queen Margrethe is abdicating to protect Prince Frederik

When Denmark’s Queen Margrethe suddenly announced her abdication on New Year’s Eve, many of us immediately thought about the recent troubles involving her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederik, and how he was caught carrying on with a woman who is not his wife. In the days since Margrethe’s announcement, the British media has been discussing it openly – why Margrethe is stepping down, why it’s happening now, and whether this was her scheme to “save” Frederik and Mary’s marriage. It’s clear that Margrethe had many reasons to step down, and one of those reasons is likely “to force Frederik to get his act together.” Well, Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast has Danish sources and they had some interesting tea:

Danes believe that the abdication has to do with Fred’s affair: While many Danes believe that Margrethe, 83, an immensely popular and trusted figure, decided to call time on her 52-year reign precisely for the reasons she herself gave in her speech—she said that “now is the right time” and she has recently had major back surgery—others concede that the fresh start comes at what has seemed to be a rare moment of peril for the popular Danish royals. For example, one Danish aristocrat who is acquainted with the royal family told The Daily Beast, “There had always been an assumption that she would carry on, if not forever, then certainly for many more years. So it was really a huge surprise when she announced she would stand down, and it is hard for people not to connect it with the recent trouble.”

Fred’s alleged affair with Genoveva Casanova: [The rumors began] after Spanish publication Lecturas published pictures of Frederik and Casanova out in Madrid, grabbing dinner and watching flamenco. Casanova “flatly” denied the rumors, and while the Danish royals did not comment, their camp let it be known that they claimed the stories were false. That might have been that, were it not for the fact that Mary then posted a few atypically ambiguous Instagrams. On one she said, “Sorry for not posting anything this month, I just needed time for myself and other things. I’ve just decided that I will post only the most important events of November and I then [sic] all the events of December.”

The average Dane on the street: One typical citizen, a teacher who asked not to be named, told The Daily Beast that it was simply about her “stepping down while well enough to be able to provide support for the handover” and being able “to give [Frederik] the crown while he was young enough to be useful, unlike the perception of King Charles.” Of her son’s supposed affair, the teacher said, “That’s not her way. No one cares either way.”

Practical Margrethe: That may well be the case among patriotic Danes, but in more global forums the suspicion that Margrethe was seeking to “save” Princess Mary and Frederik’s marriage is proving hard to dispel. For example, one Danish expat told The Daily Beast, “Margrethe is an immensely practical woman, and my hope is that she decided to do this just because it is clearly a sensible way of doing it. But the very sudden nature of it is undeniably a bit odd.”

[From The Daily Beast]

I hope that we can acknowledge that Frederik’s alleged affair was part of the consideration for his mother, although (as I said) I think there were several other factors too. But I’d just like to point out that, from what I’ve seen, the affair story was already dying out in the European gossip media because the Danes had effectively stonewalled every inquiry. Fred didn’t even have to make a general denial on the record. They just no-commented on the entire scandal and starved the story of oxygen. Now, with the abdication, it’s like the story has new life because everyone’s talking about Fred’s wandering sceptre and whether Mary was prepared to hire a divorce lawyer. Maybe Margrethe’s abdication was the biggest Streisand Effect for Fred’s affair after all?

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.