Queen Margrethe II: Danish monarch's 52-year reign in pictures

Denmark's Queen Margrethe II announced her surprise abdication in a new year TV address on Sunday evening.

The 83-year-old is the longest-serving living monarch in Europe, having taken the throne after the death of her father King Frederik IX in 1972.

Here's a look at her half-century reign in pictures.

The then-princess with her father, King Frederik IX, on her way from Denmark back to North Foreland Lodge: a private boarding school for girls in Hampshire, England, in January 1956. Margrethe became queen after her father's death in 1972

Queen Margrethe II, in mourning for her father, presides at her first State Council meeting in Copenhagen in 1972

Queen Margrethe II with Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa, during his state visit to Denmark in March 1999

Queen Margrethe II with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle in February 2000. The two queens celebrated jubilees in 2022 - and Queen Margrethe went on to attend Elizabeth's funeral later that same year

With her husband, Prince Henrik of Denmark, on a holiday in France in 2007. The French-born prince died in 2018

Queen Margrethe II pictured earlier this year with her son and heir, Crown Prince Frederik, 55

Queen Margrethe II announced her surprise abdication in a new year TV address on Sunday. She will formally step down on 14 January 2024, 52 years to the day since she became queen

Pictures subject to copyright.