ROBERT HARDMAN: The moment the (scandal-prone) new king of Denmark sealed his ... trends now
Sealed with a kiss, a new era dawns for the world's oldest monarchy. Cheered on by hundreds of thousands of his shivering subjects, Frederik X of Denmark pledged to be a 'unifying' king as he made his first appearance as head of state on the balcony of Copenhagen's Christiansborg Palace.
Moments later, he was joined by his new queen, Mary, and their four children. Finally, the new king and queen gave the people what they wanted – a kiss.
Here was a scene more reminiscent of a royal wedding than an abdication, but then the queen was wearing a white gown and we were in genuinely uncharted territory.
No Danish monarch had done what the outgoing Queen Margrethe II did yesterday. It was just two weeks earlier that she announced that she was stepping aside, at the age of 83.
Previously, she had always insisted that she would never abdicate. 'You're in it for life,' she told me in 2012.
King Frederik X and Queen Mary embracing yesterday as a new area dawned for the world's oldest monarchy
Frederik X of Denmark pledged to be a 'unifying' king as he made his first appearance as head of state on the balcony of Copenhagen's Christiansborg Palace
This explains why Danes were so stunned by the regal bombshell in her annual New Year's Eve broadcast to the nation. Extensive back surgery last year, she said, had guided her decision. Yesterday, it seemed as if much of Denmark's population of six million had flocked to the capital to say both goodbye and hello, as she handed over the crown to her eldest son.
Not that there was any prospect of it being placed on his head. Denmark has not physically crowned a monarch since the introduction of a new democratic constitution in 1848. Indeed, the closest that a Danish sovereign comes to wearing the Christian V crown is at their own funeral when it is placed on the coffin.
Copenhagen had been rammed all day as crowds – 50 deep in places – sought to secure a good vantage point. There was also a particularly large media contingent from Australia where royalists are thrilled to have the world's first Aussie queen, in the form of Tasmania-born Mary.
The city was a sea of red and white with everyone apparently in possession of a Dannebrog, as Danes call their national flag.
The proceedings began with a smiling, waving Queen Margrethe travelling from the
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