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Yes, she is 83 and has been in the post for 52 years, right after succeeding her father, King Frederik IX. Yes, she’s been a mainstay since, a tectonic part of the Danish self-image inside the oldest monarchy in Europe, going back 1,000 years, but also the calcification of a more laid-back affair sometimes dubbed the 鈥渂icycling monarchy鈥� (so-called because of her past penchant for cycling around Copenhagen). But, no, the vastly popular聽head of state 鈥� who has dabbled as an illustrator, a set designer and a linguist, among other things 鈥� had never before entertained the idea of bailing in favour of her eldest, Frederik. Not once. Nej!

One fallout of the abdication, as others have noted: that the fade-to-black of Margrethe brings the number of ruling queens in Europe to a big, round zero. In fact, she was the last remaining female monarch in the entire world (following the death, of course, of Queen Elizabeth II, whose own reign stretched 70 years and 214 days!). All 10 European monarchies are headed today by men, although there is a whiff of girl power in the distance 鈥� in Spain, in Belgium, in Sweden and in Norway, where a quartet of rather young women sit on the bench as next-in-lines.

Checking in with my friend Carolyn Harris, a Toronto-based royal historian, she offered some important context about this end of an era. The abdication in Denmark sees the passing of a time 鈥渨hen there were numerous reigning female monarchs whose lives were shaped by the circumstances of the Second World War,鈥� she reminded.

Elizabeth II famously served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service as a young thing, 鈥渨hile Margrethe II of Denmark and the former Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands were young children in the early 1940s, but their early years were shaped by the war. The future Queen Margrethe II was born just one week after Nazi Germany invaded Denmark in 1940, during the reign of her grandfather, King Christian X, and she was widely viewed as a symbol of hope for Danish people. The former Queen Beatrix fled to Britain and then Canada as a young child with her mother 鈥� as reigning monarchs, all three queens were role models for women in public life.

In Denmark, in particular, the succession laws were changed to allow for Margrethe’s accession as the Danish royal succession was restricted to male members of the family at that time, despite the success of Queen Margrethe I, her namesake, in uniting Denmark, Sweden and Norway for a brief time in the later Middle Ages.

鈥淣ow is the right time鈥�: how the queen oh so matter-of-factly surmised in her surprise TV proclamation, making it known that she was stepping down on Jan. 14 (the anniversary of the day she took the throne). “No drama, no unnecessary pathos 鈥� an abdication that can only take place in Denmark鈥�: the way one broadsheet in the country summed up the news. Obliquely referring to the back surgery she had undergone recently, she, in that moment, also put into motion the rise of a new, fresh out-of-the-box power couple on the world stage.

Fact: 55-year-old Frederik, who will become Frederik X when he takes on the role, immediately prompted jokes on social media about his Musk-y moniker, that he shall henceforth be known as 鈥淜ing Frederik X (formerly Twitter),鈥� as one poster quipped.

Fact, too: the world was also set to get its first Tasmanian queen, courtesy of his Australian-born wife and mother of his four children, Mary, 51 鈥� the irony being that King Charles III of Britain is officially still the sovereign of her native land. (Mary, for the record, renounced her Australian and U.K. citizenships 鈥� acquired through her Scottish-born parents 鈥� when she wed into royalty at Copenhagen Cathedral in 2004, all whilst also converting from Presbyterianism to Lutheranism.)

The first ever monarch to have once completed an Ironman and notably all-around athlete, Frederik 鈥� the product of Margrethe and her late, French-born husband, Henrik 鈥� has completed marathons in New York and Paris; is a competitive sailor and master yachtsman; even once tackled the Vasaloppet, the world’s top cross-country ski race. His world: one of fast cars and boogie nights in his younger days. Something of a Party Prince.

鈥淟ike many British royals have,” as the Daily Telegraph elaborated, 鈥渉e found meaning and purpose in a military career after he graduated 鈥� he trained in all three branches of the Danish armed forces鈥� and also, in his latter years, in becoming something of a passionate environmentalist.

鈥淢odern, woke, lovers of pop music, modern art and sports.鈥� How Sebastian Olden-J酶rgensen, a historian, described Frederik and Mary this week to Associated Press.

Their own meet-cute: no secret for royal watchers. It happened in an adorably predating apps way: in a bar! A Sydney bar, during the 2000 Olympics. Mary, then an ad exec 鈥� with a commerce degree in her back pocket 鈥� had no clue that the hot Dane she was speaking to was a prince. They fell into a long-distance relationship, before Mary eventually made the leap to Copenhagen, sinking fast into Danish language instruction.

Darker clouds have cast themselves on the couple more recently, as royal watchers also know: in early November, a Spanish mag published photos of the crown prince spending a cosy eve out with Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova, a story that set off a Pandora’s box of conjecture. The royal household itself avoided commenting on an alleged affair and the Other Woman explicitly denied it, but it hasn’t stopped yet more dots-connecting. Cynical sorts think now that the queen stepped down to shore up the marriage of her son and MVP daughter-in-law, which 鈥� I dunno 鈥� makes the assumption that Margrethe is as sacrificial and as scheming as certain queens of centuries past, like Catherine de’ Medici.

A more charitable theory? That she just wanted to avoid the scenario inherited by the British Royal Family and the septuagenarian Charles; preferring her heir to inherit the kingship with many years ahead of him. Maybe?

Also facing renewed attention, undoubtedly: their own eldest son, Christian, who will be proclaimed the new crown prince. Having turned 18 this year, the heir apparent is already one of the It Boys of Europe.

So 鈥� what next? First: the actual accession of the new king, who 鈥� keeping in step with the less flashy features of this monarchy 鈥� will not have a pomp-heavy coronation, but rather an orderly proclamation by Denmark’s prime minister at Christiansborg, a centre of power, followed by some form of celebration.

All eyes will, of course, be on Frederik and Mary, as they have been since the abdication, like at the appearance they made just hours later at an annual New Year’s levee and dinner, hosted by the departing queen, where they were dressed to the nines, and the public and the media seized the opportunity to read the temperature of their relationship.

Notably, at that outing, they both wore gold chains adorned with the Order of the Elephant, a Danish chivalric order dating back to the late 17th century. Representing strength, it signifies a connection to Denmark鈥檚 rich history 鈥� and future.