Denmark's Queen Margrethe II has been rushed to hospital for the third time this year due to a new blood clot in the hip region and mild dehydration. The 86-year-old, who abdicated two years ago, was admitted to Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet on September 6, where she is expected to remain over the coming days for treatment and observation. A statement released by the Danish Royal House confirmed that Margrethe is in 'good spirits and, given the circumstances, is doing well'. Her sudden hospitalisation means that she will be unable to attend the funeral of King Harald V of Norway on Wednesday, as was previously announced. Margrethe, a heavy smoker for much of her life, remains popular among Danes for having subtly modernised the monarchy – but has faced multiple health problems in recent years. In May, she was hospitalised after doctors discovered a 'significant accumulation of blood in the hip area following a fall'. It came just two weeks after the Danish royal underwent an angioplasty, a medical procedure that opens up closed or narrowed blood vessels, after suffering chest pains.

Margrethe stepped down from the throne in January 2024 due to a major back operation, passing the crown to her son, King Frederik X. But she still plays a significant role in public life in Denmark. Earlier this year, she chided current monarch Queen Mary after she crouched down to stroke a dog at a royal event. In the family's first outing following the death of Mary's father, John Dalgleish Donaldson, a Scottish-Australian academic, the 54-year-old joined Margrethe's 86th birthday celebrations at Fredensborg Palace.

The mother-of-four, dressed in a smart, navy suit, stood alongside her husband, King Frederik, Margrethe and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Margrethe's sister, as they waved to well-wishers gathered outside the palace. It was at this point that Margrethe's dog, Tilia, appeared and sat down in front of the royal party. Noticing her, Mary bent down to stroke the dachshund. According to a translation from Hello, however, it was met with disapproval from Margrethe, who shook her head and said: 'I don't think this is the right time for that.' Her comment led Mary to stop abruptly. It was reminiscent of the late Queen Elizabeth II, Margrethe's distant cousin, scolding Prince William in 2016 on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour. The late monarch was seen tapping William on the arm and gesturing him to stand up as he crouched down to tend to a boisterous Prince George. Close examination of the moment appeared to show Queen Elizabeth saying: 'Stand up William.' William rose to his feet, looking rather sheepish over the public telling off from his then 90-year-old grandmother. At the time of her abdication, Queen Margrethe was the longest-serving monarch in Europe following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.

'The surgery naturally gave rise to thinking about the future – whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation,' she said in her speech. 'I have decided that now is the right time. On January 14, 2024, 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father, I will step down as Queen of Denmark. 'I leave the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik.' Born in 1940, Margrethe has, throughout her life, enjoyed broad support from Danes, who are fond of her tactful yet creative personality. In 2022, the monarch hit the headlines when she removed royal titles from the four children of her younger son Prince Joachim in an effort to downsize and modernise the Danish royal family, as well as to give her grandchildren the chance to shape their own lives free from royal duties. 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 over 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 – beside her native Danish, she spoke four other languages – and as a theatre and film set and costume designer. She ascended the throne on January 15, 1972, after the death of her father, King Frederik IX. The eldest of three daughters, she was not destined to become heir presumptive until she entered her teens, when, in 1953, 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 married French diplomat Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat, later styled as Prince Henrik, in 1967, with whom she had two sons, Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim. Six years older than her, he died eight years ago at the age 83.