1972 - King Frederick IX of Denmark died. Shortly after he delivered his New Year's Address to the Nation at the 1971/72 turn of the year, he fell ill with flu-like symptoms. Three days later he suffered cardiac arrest and was rushed to the Copenhagen Municipal Hospital. After a brief period of what seemed to be improvement, his health took a turn for the worse and sadly he died.
On the 15th of January, the morning after the death of the King. The then Danish Prime Minister Jens Otto Krag faced three directions from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace towards a large crowd and proclaimed each time “King Frederik IX is dead. Long live Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II.” The crowd gave a nine hurrah salute, before Queen Margrethe delivered a short and emotional speech asking for God’s help in her new duties.
You can just see the now King Frederick X and Prince Joachim in this image. They are rather hidden by the balcony rails.
Re: Danish On This Day
Posted by Hollie24 on January 14, 2025, 2:36 pm, in reply to "Danish On This Day"
How Margrethe held it together I'll never know. She was so close to her father it must have been agony to say those few words.