Europe's current longest-serving monarch announced in a New Year's Eve speech that she will step down on 14 January - exactly 52 years to the day of her accession to the throne in 1972.
Denmark's Queen Margrethe II, Europe's current longest-serving monarch, unexpectedly announced her abdication in a New Year's Eve speech.
She will formally step down on 14 January - exactly 52 years to the day of her accession to the throne in 1972.
The 83-year-old monarch will be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederik - who will become Frederik X.
Here, Paste BN looks back at her life and reign.
Image:King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid with Princess Margrethe, Princess Anne-Marie and Benedikte at the Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen in 1957
Image:Left to right: Princess Margrethe, King Frederik IX, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Ingrid, Princess Anne-Marie, the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Benedikte in 1957 in Copenhagen
Image:The baptism of Queen Margrethe's son Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in 1968. Left to right: Queen Ingrid, King Frederik, Princess Margrethe with the crown prince, her husband, Prince Henrik of Denmark, and his parents. Pic: AP
Image:Margrethe is proclaimed Queen by Prime Minister Jens Otte Krag at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen in 1972. Pic: AP
Image:French President Francois Mitterrand with Queen Margrethe prior to a luncheon at the Elysee Palace in 1993
Image:Queen Margrethe poses with her family to celebrate 25 years on the throne in 1997
Image:Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Margrethe at a dinner for European sovereigns at Windsor Castle in 2002
Image:Then-US president George W Bush prepares to blow out the candles on his birthday cake presented to him by Queen Margrethe II in 2005
Image:Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva standing beside Queen Margrethe during a gala dinner at the Fredensborg Palace in 2007
Image:Queen Margrethe and her husband Prince Henrik at the wedding of their son Prince Joachim in 2008
Image:Michelle and Barack Obama talk with Queen Margrethe in the Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen in 2009
Image:Queen Margrethe arrives at Westminster Abbey before the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011
Image:Vladimir Putin with Queen Margrethe in 2011
Image:The then-Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Queen Margrethe during a visit to the United Nations headquarters in New York in 2011
Image:Queen Elizabeth greeting Queen Margrethe at a reception before the Diamond Jubilee lunch at Windsor Castle in 2012
Image:Chinese President Xi Jinping smiles with Queen Margrethe in Beijing in 2014
Image:Queen Margrethe meets with Prince Harry in 2017
Image:Queen Margrethe arrives for the episcopal wedding for Greenland's new Bishop Paneeraq Siegstad Munk in 2021
Image:Then-German chancellor Angela Merkel welcomes Queen Margrethe at the Chancellery in Berlin in 2021
Image:Queen Margrethe arrives at a gala banquet to mark the 50th anniversary of her accession to the throne at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen in September 2022
Image:Queen Margrethe pays her respects to Queen Elizabeth II during her lying-in-state at Westminster Hall in September 2022
Image:Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden (left), Queen Margrethe and her son Crown Prince Frederick attending the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey
Image:Queen Margrethe greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Olena Zelenska in the Danish Parliament in August
Image:Queen Margrethe and her sister Princess Benedikte wave to the public while watching changing of the guard at Graasten Castle in July
Image:Crown Prince Frederik, Prince Christian and Queen Margrethe stand at the balcony of Frederik VIII's Palace as they celebrate Prince Christian's 18th birthday in October
Image:Queen Margrethe II announces her abdication from Christian IX's Palace on New Year's Eve
