Denmark's King Frederik X appears before huge crowds after taking the throne

People gather around a horse-drawn carriage which carries Danish Queen Margrethe on her way to Christiansborg Palace, on the day she abdicates after 52 years on the throne, and her elder son, Crown Prince Frederik, ascends the throne as King Frederik X, in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 14, 2024. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Denmark's King Frederik X ascended the throne on Sunday, succeeding his mother, Queen Margrethe II, who formally abdicated after 52 years as monarch, with large and admiring crowds gathered in the capital to witness history.

Margrethe, 83, stunned the nation on New Year's Eve when she announced she planned to become the first Danish monarch in nearly 900 years to voluntarily relinquish the throne.