Something is changing in the Kingdom of Denmark

[Isaac M Schneider]

Happy new year everyone!!
As you may have heard, some rather sudden news coming out of Denmark - HM Queen Margrethe II will be abbdicating the throne on January 14th, after 52 years. Her son Frederik will then immideatly become HM King Frederik X.
Exactly a year previously, on January 1st 2023, HM announced (also surprisingly) that her younger son Prince Joachim and his family would cease to use the HRH prenom and would not be considered Princes of Denmark anymore, all this to the best of my understanding. Some members here may know better.. But just for your knowledge & education, I've included the links to the official royal family site, and 2 AP articles on these two events.

Needless to say, all this news includes some heraldic inplications, like figuring out what an abdicated Danish monarch will use for arms? Apparently the last case of the sort was many hundreds of years ago. If I get a chance to research, I'll update..

https://www.kongehuset.dk/en/

https://apnews.com/article/denmark-queen-margrethe-abdicate-throne-92afd336166b4e643caf57289eaf8fbe

https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-denmark-queen-margrethe-ii-89a8ca470a0b155fd50be9ba90c22e2e

[Chris Green]

The previous Danish monarch to abdicate was KIng Erik III Lam in 1146. As far as I can make out he was never armigerous as King, so there would be no precedent there.

Looking for precedents among other European royal houses will probably not help. Each country follows, or creates, its own rules. The task will presumably fall to Ronny Skov Andersen, the National Heraldic Adviser and Royal Herald Painter. The last word on the subject should be that of the new King, though I am sure Queen Margrethe will be involved.

[Isaac M Schneider]

The previous Danish monarch to abdicate was KIng Erik III Lam in 1146. As far as I can make out he was never armigerous as King, so there would be no precedent there.
...
The last word on the subject should be that of the new King, though I am sure Queen Margrethe will be involved.

You beat me to it, Chris!
I did manage to research and discovered as much. I'm sure one of the news articles I saw mentioned a much closer date since the last abbdication, 400 years ago or something similar. Not the first time a newspaper would be making a mistake of course.. Especially in these matters.

Cadency in general is not used in Denmark. And even if it were, this would present a unique case. It will be interesting to see what Mr. Anderson and the royal family come up with as a solution!