Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II, who stunned her country by abdicating earlier this year, has been discharged from a hospital after a fall earlier this week caused “damage around the neck vertebrae as well as a fracture of the left hand,” the palace said Friday.
The 84-year-old queen has her left hand in plaster and will wear a stiff neck collar in the months to come, the palace said.
Margrethe was admitted late Wednesday to the university hospital in Copenhagen for observation after falling in the evening at Fredensborg Castle, north of the Danish capital.
Margrethe was back at Fredensborg Castle, the palace said, adding several of her public engagements have been cancelled.
In January, Queen Margrethe became Denmark’s first monarch to abdicate in nearly 900 years when she passed the throne to her son.
She always maintained during her 52-year reign that she wouldn’t quit, but back surgery and several ailments left her unable to undertake as much as she could in the past. “Time takes its toll,” she said, when announcing her plans to abdicate in a New Year’s address that stunned the kingdom.
Queen Margrethe's Fall
Queen Margrethe of Denmark was taken to hospital in Copenhagen after suffering a fall at home
Queen Margrethe of Denmark was rushed to hospital on Wednesday after suffering a fall at Fredensborg Castle, according to local media reports. It's understood from the royal household that the 84-year-old was admitted to the university hospital in Copenhagen, where she remains under observation.
‘According to the circumstances, the Queen is doing well, but was admitted for observation for the time being,’ said the Palace's head of communications, Lene Balleby. Margrethe is said to have fallen at the royal family's country seat, which is located on the eastern shore of Lake Esrum. King Frederik, the eldest of Queen Margrethe's sons, attended an event yesterday at the Danish capital's City Hall to attend celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir, during which he told reporters that his mother was ‘in good hands… we take it day by day. The doctors are the ones who decide.’
Fredensborg Castle, the site of the fall
Fredensborg Castle, the royal family's country palace, where Margrethe's accident reportedly happened
Margrethe was due to participate in an event on Friday, marking the 75th anniversary of the Department of Archaeology at Aarhus University, but her attendance has now been cancelled. Margrethe had studied prehistoric archaeology at Copenhagen University, and has said before that, had she not been monarch, she would have become an archaeologist. The Queen, known for her chain-smoking and love of dachshunds, was last seen on Monday as she attended the Rungstedlund Prize 2024 at the Karen Blixen Museum.
Queen Margrethe's abdication
Margrethe, never one to go quite by the royal rule book, shocked the nation when she announced her abdication at the end of last year, during her New Year's Eve address to the nation. ‘I have decided that now is the right time. On 14th January, 2024 – 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father – I will step down as Queen of Denmark. I will hand over the throne to my son Crown Prince Frederik,’ she said.
The news came as a great surprise to Denmark and the rest of the world – as until that moment, the Queen had always denied the possibility of abdication. In an interview in 2016, she said: ‘In this country we haven't gone in for that way of handing over. It's always been: you stay as long as you live. That's what my father did and my predecessors. And the way I see it too.’
Queen Margrethe passed the throne to her eldest son, Frederik (pictured here with his wife, Queen Mary) earlier this year
Denmark's longest reigning monarch underwent extensive back surgery last year, and made it clear that her health was partly responsible for her abdication. At the time, she told reporters of her operation: ‘It went well, thanks to the skilled healthcare staff who took care of me. Of course, the operation also gave rise to thinking about the future – whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation.’
She handed the throne to her eldest son, Frederik, who now rules alongside his wife, Queen Mary – reportedly a close friend of the Princess of Wales. The two have four children: Christian, Isabella, Vincent and Josephine. The former Queen, however, is still known as Her Majesty Queen Margrethe and can fill in as regent if King Frederik, Queen Mary and Crown Prince Christian are abroad, ill or on holiday.
Queen Margrethe's legacy
The former monarch (pictured here at the balcony of the Royal residence, Amalienborg Palace, on the occasion of her 78th birthday in 2018) is much-loved by the Danish
Margrethe is said to have enjoyed a close relationship with her third cousin, Queen Elizabeth II, as they were both descendants of Queen Victoria. They bonded during several state visits to each other's countries over the decades – most recently in 2000, when Margrethe was received at Windsor. A keen skiier, Margrethe was a member of a Danish women's air force unit as a Princess, taking part in judo courses and endurance tests in the snow.
Across Denmark, Margrethe is much-loved figure for her down-to-earth attitude – in 2011, aged 70, she visited Danish troops in southern Afghanistan wearing a military jumpsuit, and she is said to be so ‘normal’ that she shops in the supermarket. No doubt the whole country, and the rest of the world, will be currently wishing her a speedy recovery.
