Denmark: New church prayer for the King and the royal house

Last week I wrote about Lovtidende (Danish Legal gazette) announcements related to King Frederik's accession to the Danish throne.

I have now been informed that the king during the Council of State of 14 January 2024 also decided on the new church prayer for the king and the royal house. Circulars are apparently not announced in Lovtidende, which is why I was not made aware of it. Anyway, Cirkulære om kirkebønnen for Kongen og det kongelige hus (CIR1H no. 9009 of 14 January 2024), Circular concerning the church prayer for the King and the royal house, was published at Retsinformation.dk, the Danish legal information system, on 15 January 2024.

The circular, which was addressed to bishops, deans, priests and parochial church councils, informs that «der skal bedes for Kong Frederik den Tiende, Dronning Mary, Kronprins Christian, Dronning Margrethe og hele det kongelige hus, når navne nævnes i den anordnede kirkebøn.» («one should pray for King Frederik the Tenth, Queen Mary, Crown Prince Christian, Queen Margrethe and the whole royal house when names are to be mentioned in the ordered church prayer»).

By the said royal resolution Cirkulære om kirkebønnen for Dronningen og det kongelige hus (CIR1H no. 9067 of 15 February 2018), Circular concerning the church prayer for the Queen and the royal house, was repealed. The latter circular – «der skal bedes for Dronning Margrethe II, Kronprins Frederik, Kronprinsesse Mary og hele det kongelige hus» («one should pray for Queen Margrethe II, Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mary and the whole royal house when names are to be mentioned in the ordered church prayer») – came about when Prince Henrik had died and his name was left out of the church prayer. The circular of 2018 repealed the circular of 17 May 2004 by which the name of the then Crown Princess Mary, née Mary Donaldson, was added following her marriage to Crown Prince Frederik.

I heard new church prayer for the first time yesterday when I watched the broadcast of the celebratory church cervice at Aarhus Cathedral.

Corrected on Monday 22 February 2024 at 22:25 (link corrected).

Denmark: Lovtidende announcements

Lovtidende, the Danish Legal Gazette, will normally have announcements of acts and regulations etc. on all weekdays as well as on Saturdays, with the exception of Mondays, but today, Monday 15 January 2024, it had three announcements, all more or less related to the abdication of Queen Margrethe II and King Frederik X's accession to the throne yesterday. However, the declaration of abdication was unfortunately – and strangely enough? – not among them.

The first one, BEK. no. 44 of 14 January 2024, Bekendtgørelse om stadfæstelse af bevillinger m.m.(Announcement concerning confirmation of grants etc.)  [see also link to Retsinformation] merely states by a royal resolution that all privileges, concessions. grants or pardons given or confirmed during the reign of Queen Margrethe II do not have to be sent in for confirmation during the new reign, but are confirmed by the said resolution.

The second one, BEK no. 45 of 14 January 2024, Bekendtgørelse om det kongelige navnetræk (Announcement concerning the royal monogram)  [see also link to Retsinformation] regulates the new monogram of King Frederik X, as I mentioned in on of my blog articles of yesterday.

The third one, ÅBR no. 46 of 14 January 2024, Åbent brev om Kong Frederik den Tiendes tronbestigelse (Open letter concerning King Frederik the Tenth's accession to the throne) [see also link to Retsinformation], refers to the abdication and in which the king promises to work for (the) justice, progress and welfare of the Danish people.

Åbent brev om Kong Frederik den Tiendes tronbestigelse

VI FREDERIK DEN TIENDE, af Guds Nåde Danmarks Konge, gør vitterligt:

Vor kære mor, Dronning Margrethe den Anden, har den 14. januar 2024 frasagt sig tronen, og Vi har derefter i henhold til Danmarks Riges Grundlov og tronfølgeloven besteget tronen.

Idet Vi overtager det ansvarsfulde kald som Danmarks Konge, er det Vor faste beslutning inden for Danmarks Riges forfatning og love at virke for retfærd, fremgang og velfærd for det danske folk.

Det er Vort håb, at den tillid og hengivenhed, som det danske folk viste Dronning Margrethe den Anden, må blive overført på Os og give Os styrke i varetagelsen af den gerning, Vi nu indleder.

Givet på Christiansborg Slot, den 14. januar 2024

Under Vor Kongelige Hånd og Segl

FREDERIK R.

/ Mette Frederiksen

Translation:

Open letter concerning King Frederik the Tenth's accession to the throne

WE FREDERIK THE TENTH, by the Grace of God King of Denmark, make it known:

Our dear mother, Queen Margrethe the Second, abdicated the throne on 14 January 2024, and We have thereafter, in accordance with the Constitution of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Succession to the Throne Act, acceeded to the throne

As We take over the responsible calling as King of Denmark, it is Our firm decision within the Constitution and acts of the Kingdom of Denmark to work for justice, progress and welfare for the Danish people.

It is Our hope that the trust and devotion that the Danish people showed to Queen Margrethe the Second may be transferred to Us and give Us strength in carrying out the work We are now embarking on.

Given at Christiansborg Palace, 14 January 2024

Under Our Royal Hand and Seal

FREDERIK R.

/ Mette Frederiksen

Retsinformation is, by the way, the Danish legal information system.

If it was the Office of the Prime Minister's intention to let the declaration of abdication be announced in Lovtidende, it would normally, due to the chronological order, be announced before BEK no. 44, so it seems to me that the declaration will not be formally announced in the said Gazette. I really hope that the text will be made available one way or another some time in the near future, and I have asked the Office of the Prime Minister for more details in this regard.

Denmark: Background on succession to the throne

When the Danish Royal Court in the early evening of 31 December 2023 announced that Queen Margrethe II had decided to abdicate on 14 January 2024, it promised that it's website www.kongehuset.dk was going to «be updated regularly with information regarding the succession of the throne». Since then four articles/press statements have been published, and I made links to three of them in my article on Queen Margrethe's abdication plans yesterday.

Today, 3 January 2024, the Danish Royal court has published an article called «Background on succession to the throne», which addresses at least one of the questions I asked yesterday:

Background on succession to the throne

Since the 1600s, the Danish monarchy has been a so-called hereditary monarchy, in which the Crown is inherited upon the death of the sovereign.

The Act on Succession to the Throne of the Kingdom of Denmark from 1953 thus stipulates that the Danish throne is inherited within the descendants of Christian 10. and Queen Alexandrine.

Until 1953, only male descendants of the king were able to inherit the throne. That was changed in 1953, when, following a referendum, it was determined that female descendants should also be able to inherit the throne, but in such a way, however, that male descendants should have precedence.

It was the amendment of the rules for succession in 1953 that prepared the way for HM The Queen to be able to assume the throne after the death of her father, Frederik 9., on 14 January 1972.

With the most recent amendment of the Act of Succession in 2009, equality in the succession to the throne was implemented. This means that the throne is now inherited by the sovereign’s oldest child – regardless of gender.

In Denmark, the tradition up to the present has been that the succession to the throne takes place upon the death of the sovereign, as was the case most recently in 1972. In these instances, the succession occurs the moment the sovereign dies.

The upcoming succession to the throne will be different. This time, the succession will first take place during the meeting of the Council of State at the moment The Queen has signed a declaration of her abdication. 

HRH The Crown Prince will thus arrive at Christiansborg Palace as a crown prince and leave it as King. Likewise, HRH The Crown Princess will arrive as a crown princess and depart as Queen. HRH Prince Christian will leave Christiansborg Palace as Crown Prince (heir to the throne). 

Upon the succession to the throne, the new sovereign takes charge of all of the functions which, according to the constitution, are incumbent on the head of state.

From this article we learn that the relevant Danish authorities believe that the abdication will come into force during the meeting of the Council of State the very second the queen has signed a declaration of her abdication. I don't know enough about Danish constitutional law to oppose this view, but it would be interesting to know more about what the view is based on, legally speaking. To me it would be more logic if the said declaration of abdication came into force the second it was announced in Lovtidende (the Danish Legal Gazette) and/or added to the Protocol. Again, as I also wrote yesterday, I hope we are going to get more details on the legal procedure before the Council of State takes place.