Frederik X

Frederik X (born May 26, 1968, Copenhagen, Denmark) is Denmark’s king, who ascended to the throne at age 55, on January 14, 2024, following the abdication of his 83-year-old mother, Queen Margrethe II, who was the longest-serving European monarch still reigning. As a young man, Frederik gained a reputation as a fast-living “party prince,” but, after serving in all three branches of the Danish military and earning a master’s degree in political science, he began to be taken more seriously and became known for his deep concern for the dangers of climate change. Frederik and his Australian-born wife, Queen Mary, are widely expected to further modernize the Danish monarchy.

Early life and education

Frederik is the eldest of the two sons of Margrethe II—who assumed the Danish throne in 1972 upon the death of her father, King Frederik IX—and Prince Henrik, the prince consort, the former count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, a French nobleman and onetime diplomat. Frederik’s younger brother, Prince Joachim, count of Monpezat, is roughly a year Frederik’s junior. It was widely reported that, as a youth, Frederik felt neglected by his parents and resented their immersion into their royal responsibilities. He was ill at ease in the glare of the media and reticent at the prospect of becoming king, which Frederik told his biographer, Jens Andersen, made him feel awkward, insecure, and shy.

Frederik attended the Krebs’ School, a private school in Copenhagen, and also studied briefly at the École des Roches in Normandy, France, before graduating from Øregaard Gymnasium in suburban Copenhagen. After a period of military service, he matriculated at Aarhus University, from which he received a master’s degree in political science in 1995. His higher education also included a year of study at Harvard University (1992–93), during which he was enrolled under the pseudonym Frederik Henriksen, an allusion to his father, Prince Henrik. (Danish Americans subsequently established a fund in Frederik’s honor that annually provides scholarships for two Danes to study at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government).

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Military and diplomatic service

Frederik’s extensive military service began in the Queen’s Life Guard Regiment of the Danish army in 1986. Two years later he became a platoon commander in the Royal Danish Hussar Guard Regiment before entering the army reserve. In 1995 he was one of only four recruits out of a total of 300 to attain all of the requirements necessary to complete training for the Royal Danish Navy Frogman Corps. In the process, he was nicknamed “Pingo” (Penguin) when, on one occasion, his wet suit became bloated with water, forcing him to waddle like a penguin. Having been commissioned in the naval reserve, Frederik attended flight school, qualified as an air force pilot, and in 2000 entered the air force reserve. Over the years, he received a series of promotions in each of the three branches of the military in which he has served. As of January 1, 2024, he had attained the rank of major general in the army and air force, along with the rank of rear admiral in the navy. After receiving further training at the Royal Danish Defense College and serving as a staff officer at Denmark’s Defense Command, Frederik became a senior lecturer with the Institute for Strategy at the Royal Danish Defense College in 2003.

Frederik has also served his country as a diplomat. In 1994 he was a member of Denmark’s mission at the United Nations (UN). From 1998 to 1999 he served as first secretary of embassy for the Danish embassy in Paris. In addition to Danish, Frederik speaks English, French, and German.

Outdoor activities

Partly as a response to his restiveness in young adulthood, Frederik took an interest in fast cars, fast living, and daredevil pursuits. As a result, some Danes viewed him as a pampered “party prince.” Motor scooter and sledding accidents has landed him in the hospital. But he demonstrated strength and stamina by participating in a 3,500-km (2,175-mile), four-month skiing expedition across Greenland in 2000. Frederik’s growing commitment to physical fitness was reflected in the development of his interest in running, which came to involve tens of thousands of his fellow citizens when, in 2018, he introduced the annual Royal Run, which is conducted at various locations across Denmark with the participation of Frederik and other members of the royal family.

Environmental activism

Like Britain’s King Charles III, Frederik is deeply committed to protecting the environment from the detrimental effects of climate change. His passion for the issue is partly the outgrowth of an epiphany he experienced during a trip to the Arctic in 2009. Since then he has attended UN-sponsored climate summits and has been very outspoken about the urgent need to address global warming.

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Marriage and family

Frederik met his future wife, Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, an Australian who had received a degree in law and commerce, in a pub in Sydney during the 2000 Olympic Games in that city. Their courtship, branded a “fairy tale romance” in the media, culminated in their wedding at the Copenhagen Cathedral (Church of Our Lady) in May 2004. In an interview with The Guardian in December 2023, historian Sebastian Olden-Jørgensen characterized Frederik and Mary, then the crown prince and crown princess, respectively, as “modern, woke, lovers of pop music, modern art and sports” who represented not a potential revolutionary change from Queen Margrethe II but instead a careful transition. They have four children: Prince Christian (next in line to the throne), Princess Isabella, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine.