The abdication of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark leaves Europe without a female monarch, but not for long — a young generation of princesses born in the 21st century are to ascend to thrones across the continent in the coming years.
Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, born in 2001; Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands (2003); Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway (2004); Leonor of Spain (2005); and Estelle of Sweden (2012) — half of the hereditary monarchies on the continent are likely to be led by a queen before too long.
Many are to be the first to take the throne after the introduction of female succession laws, a privilege previously reserved for male heirs.
Photo: Various sources, via AFP
Previous queens, such as Elizabeth II of Britain, who died in 2022, had no brothers to inherit the throne.
“Sweden was the first country in the world to adopt a gender-neutral order of succession, in 1980, when Princess Victoria bumped her younger brother down and she became crown princess” retroactively, Swedish royals expert Roger Lundgren said.
Several experts said gender was unlikely to have much of an impact as the future queens embrace their new roles.
Lundgren said that unlike earlier generations of queens, many in the upcoming generation has done some form of military service in their country.
In December last year, Spain’s Hola! magazine showed Crown Princess Leonor in combat camouflage taking part in ski drills with her unit on slopes in the Pyrenees.
Other princesses have studied in elite schools at home or abroad — both Leonor and Elisabeth studied at Atlantic College in Wales — exposing them more to global affairs and concerns such as feminist causes or the risks from climate change.
“A clearer, firmer footing in the everyday life of the people, in combination with the pomp, castles, jewels and the fairy tale, is the winning concept to keep the monarchy,” said Ebba Kleberg von Sydow, a Swedish influencer and royals expert.
She said the future queens were likely to prove more media-savvy as well, if only to show that monarchies remain grounded and relevant in modern society.
Lundgren said that while Margrethe “doesn’t even own a smartphone, and is proud of it,” Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Crown Prince Haakon of Norway have their own WhatsApp group.
“You need to be on more platforms, have your message reach people in a completely different way, now that traditional media channels that previous generations of royals used no longer reach everyone,” Von Sydow said.
In many ways, Europe’s future queens are to be wrestling with new iterations of the question that has often confronted their ancestors.
“Each new generation of monarchs has had to face one main challenge, and not the least: the questioning of what is the use of a monarchy,” said Lisa Castro, a royals historian at the University of Toulouse.
In this regard, she said, being tuned in on issues like women’s and LGBTQ causes or environmental concerns is to be a tool for ensuring the public’s backing.
“It’s inevitable that modern times will have an influence on the institution of the monarchy,” Spanish journalist Pilar Eyre said, mentioning the polished image management by Prince William of Britain and his wife, Kate.
Meanwhile, his brother, Prince Harry has moved to California with his American-born wife, Meghan, previously an actress — the latest of several examples of modern royals tying the knot with commoners.
There is already a precedent for embracing more contemporary causes — Queen Letizia of Spain, who was a journalist when she met her future husband, King Felipe, recently visited an aid association for female prostitutes — “which would have been unheard-of for preceding generations,” Eyre said.
In 2021, then-Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said that if she wanted, Catharina-Amalia could marry a woman under the country’s same-sex marriage laws and still ascend to the throne.
“It’s with these types of gestures that you earn the affection and respect of citizens — not with grand ceremonies and magnificent outfits,” Eyre said.
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