Queen of Denmark announces shock abdication after 52-year reign

Denmark's Queen Margrethe II has announced she will formally step down from the throne. After 52 years, she made the announcement in her annual New Year's Eve address. The monarch will hand over the Danish crown to her eldest son Prince Frederik on January 14. Queen Margrethe's abdication would see Australian-born Princess Mary become Denmark's new Queen, 20 years after meeting the Prince in a Sydney bar. Margrethe is the longest serving monarch in Danish history and took over from her father King Frederik IX in 1972.