Queen Margrethe of Denmark, 84, is discharged from hospital

Queen Margrethe of Denmark has reportedly been allowed to go home today, after she was hospitalised following a fall earlier this week. 

The 84-year-old queen, who made the shock decision to abdicate in January to allow her son to succeed her, suffered a fall while staying at Fredensborg Castle earlier this week.

According to Danish publication DR, an official statement from the Danish Royal Palace updating on the Queen's condition today said she had been discharged but had suffered an injury to her neck vertebrae and a fracture to her left hand during the fall. 

The statement read: 'Queen Margrethe is in good spirits and is doing well under the circumstances, but will however be on sick leave for a longer period.'

It's thought all planned public engagements have now been cancelled as the royal recovers from her accident, and that the Queen will have to wear a neck brace to help her vertebrae injury heal.    

King Frederik, 55, the eldest of Margrethe's two sons, spoke publicly on the news that his mother had been hopsitalised on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, he revealed he had spoken to his mother and was confident she was 'in good hands'.

He added: 'We take it day by day. The doctors are the ones who decide.'

The King was speaking as he arrived at the Danish capital's City Hall to attend celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir.  

Margrethe, a third cousin of Queen Elizabeth, was scheduled to participate in an event at Aarhus University today but has now pulled out. 

Her Majesty, known for her chain-smoking and love of dachshunds, was last seen on Monday as she attended the Rungstedlund Prize 2024 at the Karen Blixen Museum. 

Despite resigning in her New Year's Eve speech last year, the monarch remains active and performs royal duties alongside her son.

Fredensborg Castle, on the Dutch island of Zealand, is the royal family's country seat where they spend the summer.

Margrethe shocked the nation with the announcement of her abdication during her New Year's Eve live television segment. 

Just 14 days later, Margrethe, who ruled for 52 years, signed away the throne at a Council of State meeting and her son, Frederik, was crowned King of Denmark. 

She said one of the reasons why she chose to give up the throne was because of her health issues, adding that she underwent surgery for her back in February 2023. 

She said: 'It went well, thanks to the skilled healthcare staff who took care of me. Of course, the operation also gave rise to thinking about the future - whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation.'

She is still known as  Her Majesty Queen Margrethe and can fill in as regent if King Frederik, Queen Mary and Crown Prince Christian are abroad, ill or on holiday. 

Just one week after giving up the crown, the royal went to a special church service at Aarhus Cathedral with her son, King Frederik and his wife Queen Mary.

In Denmark, formal power resides with the elected parliament and its government. The monarch is expected to stay above partisan politics, representing the nation with traditional duties ranging from state visits to national day celebrations.

Born in 1940, Margrethe has throughout her life enjoyed broad support from Danes, who are fond of her tactful and yet creative personality, the Prime Minster has previously described her as 'the epitome of Denmark'.

The monarch hit the headlines in 2022 when she removed royal titles from the four children of her younger son Prince Joachim. 

She enjoyed a close relationship with her third cousin Queen Elizabeth II, both descendants of Queen Victoria, having bonded during several state visits to each other's countries down the decades - most recently in 2000, when Margrethe was received at Windsor.

The six-feet-tall Margrethe has been one of the most popular public figures in Denmark. She often walked the streets of Copenhagen virtually unescorted and won the admiration of Danes for her warm manners and for her talents as a linguist and designer.

A keen skier, she was a member of a Danish women's air force unit as a princess, taking part in judo courses and endurance tests in the snow.

In 2011, at age 70, she visited Danish troops in southern Afghanistan wearing a military jumpsuit.

As monarch, she crisscrossed the country and regularly visited Greenland and the Faeroe Islands, the two semi-independent territories which are part of the Danish Realm, and was met everywhere by cheering crowds.

Denmark has Europe's oldest ruling monarchy, which traces its line back to the Viking king Gorm the Old, who died in 958. Although Margrethe is head of state, the Danish Constitution strictly ruled out her involvement in party politics.

Margrethe was a week after Nazi Germany had invaded Denmark. The occupation meant that the little princess became a symbol of hope for the Danes. 

She ascended the throne on January 15, 1972, after the death of her father. 

But, although she was his eldest child, she did not become heir presumptive until 1953, when Denmark's constitution was amended to allow women to inherit the throne. 

That followed a referendum in which more than 85 per cent of participants voted to allow female succession.

She was married in 1967 to a Frenchman, Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat, later styled as Prince Henrik. They had two sons, Prince Frederick and Prince Joachim.

Despite enjoying a long marriage of 50 years, her relationship with Henrik was plagued with controversy. Henrik stunned Danes by saying he felt he had been pushed aside in his own home by his wife.

Prince Henrik died in 2018 aged 83. 

On the day she became monarch, she appeared on the balcony of Denmark's Christiansborg Palace and pledged her allegiance to the nation.