It’s not that Denmark’s monarchs lack the necessary regalia. 

At the royal treasury under Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen, tourists can go and marvel at the country’s crown jewels, which include the sword of Christian III, which was once used in coronations.

The Crown of Christian V, the official crown of Denmark’s monarchs, is also held at the site, but it will not be brought out for Frederik’s coronation. 

When Denmark shifted from an elected to a hereditary monarchy way back in 1660, it did away with the coronation ceremony, as Frederik III felt that this symbolised the nobility giving the king his power. 

“Danish kings had the viewpoint that they did not want to let a person from the nobility set the crown on their heads,” the historian Lars Hovbakke Sørensen told The Local. “You became king by inheritance instead of being elected by the nobility and therefore, as a symbol of this change, the kings denied the nobility the right to put the crown on their heads.” 

Then when Denmark shifted to a constitutional monarchy in 1849, it ended the use of the orb and sceptre which had been made for Frederik III in 1648, as well as the tradition of the king or queen literally sitting on a throne. 

“When we ended absolutism, the use of the throne was stopped as well,” Sørensen said. “We don’t use a physical throne anymore.”   

So what will happen on January 14th? 

The first step will be when Margrethe II visits the Prime Minister and her 22 ministers to formally inform the government of her abdication. As soon as she has made this announcement, Crown Prince Frederik will become Frederik X. 

“He will be king from the moment where Queen Margrethe gives the message to the government that she has resigned,” Sørensen said. 

A few hours later, the new king will visit the Throne Room, or Tronsalen, at Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen, alongside Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. 

They will then appear on the balcony outside the room, at which point the prime minister will shout out three cheers to the new king. 

“The ceremony on the balcony is an old tradition in order to inform the ordinary people, so to speak, the broad population, that we now have a new king,” Sørensen said. 

Normally, this is a subdued ceremony which takes place on the death of the old ruler. Margrethe herself was wearing black to mourn her father when she appeared on the balcony in 1972. 

Will there be a procession? 

The Danish Royal Court has so far given no details of what will happen on January 14th, and as this is the first abdication in the country since 1523, it’s unclear exactly how it will be celebrated. 

“We don’t know yet because usually it’s a very sad day because the reason why we have the ceremonies is that a person has died,” Sørensen noted. “This is not the case this time, so we don’t know if the government or the royal house will arrange a new ceremony with a more positive tone.”

“We don’t know yet whether there will be some sort of procession or anything like this.” 

It’s also uncertain whether Margrethe II will take part in the day’s events after abdicating or whether she will leave that all to her son. 

“It’s possible that she will also show up on the balcony after the new king and the prime minister so that the people can say thank you to her for her long reigning period,” Sørensen said. “It could also be that she decides, ‘now I’m not the person the focus should be on, Now it’s my son who should be in focus and therefore I will not show up’.”