STOCKHOLM, January 14. /TASS/. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark will abdicate the throne on Sunday after reigning for 52 years. Crown Prince Frederik, who is now 55 years old, will become the new monarch.

A meeting of the state council will take place at 02:00 p.m. local time [11:00 a.m. GMT] in the Christianborg Palace in Copenhagen. The Queen will sign the document of her abdication and her son will become King Frederik X.

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen will proclaim the new king at 03:00 p.m. local time [noontime GMT] from a palace balcony. The King will then deliver his speech and end it with his motto.

The decision to abdicate is unprecedented in the recent history of Denmark. The 83 years old Queen announced it in her New Year speech.

The Danish queen was the first European monarch visiting the USSR in 1975. In 2003, Margrethe II gave her royal consent to reburial of remains of Empress Maria Feodorovna in Russia.