COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (AP) – Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II has tested positive for the coronavirus after attending the funeral of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, the royal palace said.
In a statement, the royal household said Margrethe, 82, who has been on the throne for 50 years, cancelled her official duties after the test.
The palace said her oldest son, heir to the throne Crown Prince Frederik, and his wife, Crown Princess Mary, would take the queen’s place hosting a dinner with Danish government officials and members of Parliament.
Margrethe previously tested positive for the virus in February. At the time, the palace said she received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The queen was among the dignitaries who attended Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Monday at Westminster Abbey in London.
Margrethe’s half-century reign makes her Europe’s longest-serving monarch following the September 8 death of Elizabeth, 96, who ruled for 70 years.
Out of respect for the late British monarch, Margrethe asked her court to adjust the September 10-11 programme for her own 50-year anniversary commemorations. Among the events she cancelled at short notice was appearing on the Amalienborg Palace balcony to greet well-wishers and a ride in a horse-drawn carriage through Copenhagen.
Margrethe was proclaimed queen on January 15, 1972, a day after her father King Frederik IX died following a short illness.
