Frederik X: A visual biography of Denmark’s next king

The Danish royal family is setting a new model for a modern monarchy, as 83-year-old Queen Margrethe II abdicates, ceding the throne to her 55-year-old son Frederik.

Born in 1968 in Copenhagen, Frederik was named in the tradition of Danish male heirs being called either Frederik or Christian. This Frederik will be the 10th King Frederik to sit on the Danish throne, making him Frederik X. His Australian-born wife, Crown Princess Mary, will become queen.

Frederik is very different from his mother. And he articulated those differences at his mother’s 2022 Golden Jubilee celebrations: “You paint, I exercise. You dig for buried objects from the past, I buried my head in order not to be recognized during my time in the armed forces. You are a master of words. I am sometimes at a loss for them.”

Frederik developed a reputation as something of a “party prince” and a reluctant royal, who wasn’t ready for the obligations of court. Jakob Steen Olsen, a commentator for Denmark’s Berlingske newspaper, said perceptions started to change in the early 1990s, when Frederik ran the Danish marathon. Frederik has stressed the importance of being “myself, a human being.”

He has remained a dedicated sportsman, embarking on dog-sledding expeditions across Greenland and establishing the “Royal Run,” an annual nationwide running event where he seems to be in his element, talking to ordinary Danes, high-fiving fellow runners.

He has extensive military experience, including serving in the Frogman Corps, Denmark’s elite Navy unit, roughly equivalent to the U.S. Navy Seals.

Frederik met his future wife, Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, at the Slip Inn bar in Sydney. He was in the city for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Mary, an Australian marketing executive, said she had no idea who he was when they met. The couple married in a glittering ceremony attended by 800 guests in 2004.

The couple have four children: Christian, Isabella, and twins Vincent and Josephine.

The Danish royals are far cheaper for the public purse than their British counterparts; they are more popular, too. But anti-monarchy groups hope that the abdication of Queen Margrethe can help to revive support for their cause.

Mary has drawn comparisons to Britain’s Catherine, the Princess of Wales. In addition to their looks, they are both outsiders who joined stiff institutions and take their roles seriously.

A recent opinion poll found that 82 percent of people in Denmark thought Frederik would make a good or very good king, and 86 percent of people thought Mary, who speaks fluent Danish, would make a good or very good queen.

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