When the Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen appears on the balcony of Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen on Sunday afternoon to announce the new monarch, she is expected to be met by a sea of cheering faces.
But one figure in the crowd who will not be showing support for new king Frederik X as he takes the reins from his mother, Queen Margrethe II, who is abdicating after 52 years, is Mads Rundstrøm.
Instead, the 27-year-old plans to unfurl anti-royalist banners in the square outside the Danish parliament, where he will be joined by protesters from Denmark and Sweden, with messages calling for democracy.
Inspired by protests in Britain during last year’s coronation of King Charles, Rundstrøm is hoping to spur a surge of generation Z republicanism in a nation where the monarchy still has wide support.
Although the ceremony will be very modest in comparison to Britain’s recent coronation, the new chair of anti-monarchy group Republik Nu (Republic Now) believes it will be an opportune time to start a conversation about the future of the Danish monarchy.
“This is the perfect time for us as a nation to take a break and say, ‘Hey, is this what we really want?’ To reflect on what direction we want the country to go in,” he said. “The proclamation of a new king is a perfect way to shine a spotlight. Just like they did in the UK with [the chants] ‘Not my king’.”
Republik Nu has seen a surge in membership since the queen announced her surprise abdication, and Rundstrøm has been making regular media appearances.
Politicians who would usually be anti-monarchy, he believes, are “being very quiet” because of polls showing high support for the royals among voters. The increase in the group’s membership, he said, “shows that as long as we are visible, the members will come in”.
Rundstrøm, who used to chair the former youth branch of the organisation and describes his politics as centrist but not currently affiliated with any party, said: “I’ve always regarded myself as a republican.”
Support for the monarchy in Denmark was the result of a lack of knowledge about the constitution, he said, which “even surprised me when I was reading it recently”.
He is positive about his organisation’s chances of ultimately achieving a referendum on the issue. “I feel hopeful and I feel like, in an unspecified number of years – soon hopefully – we can get a referendum on this point. Because what we need is an elected head of state.”
Yet experts do not believe a revolution is by any means imminent. Frederik Waage, a public law professor at the University of Southern Denmark, said it would be difficult to remove the royals because the constitution would have to be changed.
To do this, a referendum would have to be held, and this had not happened since 1953, when the rules were changed to allow the outgoing queen to become crown princess. If anything, he said, political support for the royals was increasing, particularly on the left.
after newsletter promotion
Indeed, in her New Year’s Eve speech Frederiksen declared that Queen Margrethe had turned her into a royalist. The Social Democrat said: “I was not born a royalist. I became a royalist thanks to our queen.”
And in recent days, the party has made a significant U-turn on receiving knighthoods and other honours from the new king. Traditionally, the Social Democrats have not accepted such titles.
There have been some calls for changes to the constitutional monarchy – including from Zenia Stampe, of the Danish Social Liberal party, who has suggested Denmark adopt the “Swedish model”, which would remove any of the monarch’s remaining powers.
“In Sweden, the royals are only allowed ceremonial power,” said Waage. “De facto, they are only ceremonial in Denmark, but you have to have the signature of the king or queen on all acts of parliament.”
There were no signs of a groundswell of support for republicanism, said Waage. “It’s certainly not diminished support of the monarchy, what happened with the abdication, and the minister of finance has now said that more money will be allocated to the royals.”
In a student cafe in Copenhagen, a group of humanities students said they did not support the monarchy, but for them taking action on more urgent issues, such as the climate crisis, took precedence.
“None of my friends are actively fighting against the monarchy,” said Sigga Slente, 23, who is studying at Roskilde University. “There’s so many things to speak out about before protesting about the queen. But maybe we should.”
