Abdication in our age: a look at royals who have retired in recent years

Queen Margrethe II will become Denmark’s first monarch to abdicate in nearly 900 years when she hands over the throne to her son, Crown Prince Frederik

Queen Margrethe II will become Denmark's first monarch to abdicate in nearly 900 years when she hands over the throne to her son, Crown Prince Frederik, on Sunday. Margrethe always maintained during her 52-year-reign that she wouldn’t quit, but back surgery and other ailments left her unable to undertake as much as she could in the past. “Time takes its toll,” she said, announcing her plans to abdicate in a New Year's address that stunned the kingdom.

For centuries monarchs were far more likely to die from disease or violence than to hand over titles that carried real power before the democratic era of constitutional monarchies.

But as life expectancy grows ever longer, even a schedule of symbolic duties can be exhausting in a monarch's later years. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II stuck by a commitment she made as a young woman to devote her life to service — and reigned 70 years before dying on the throne at the age of 96 in 2022.

“Abdication has become more common because people are becoming older and older,” said Lars Hovbakke Sørensen, a Danish historian and lecturer. “Therefore, we have more old monarchs in Europe and (thus) older crown princes and crown princesses."

He cited as an example Britain’s King Charles III who took over after his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died when he was 74.