Denmark's Queen Margrethe scales down jubilee celebrations after Elizabeth II’s death

Queen Margrethe of Denmark has scaled down celebrations to mark her 50 years on Europe’s oldest throne following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the Danish royal palace announced on Friday.

Queen Margrethe, 82, lauded Britain’s late queen as “a towering figure among European monarchs and a great inspiration to us all”, and stated that “we shall miss her terribly.”

Flags on the Danish royal palace in Copenhagen were lowered at half-staff on Friday.

Palace press spokeswoman Lene Balleby said the changes to the celebrations programme were made on “the wish of the (Danish) queen."

Two events scheduled for Saturday — an appearance by Margrethe on the Amalienborg Palace balcony to greet throngs of well-wishers as well as a ride through the capital in a horse-drawn carriage — have been cancelled.

A lunch at Copenhagen City Hall has been postponed, while events including a performance at the Royal Theatre’s Old Stage, a religious service and a Sunday evening banquet will be curtailed.

Margrethe is now Europe’s longest-ruling monarch. The Danish royal was proclaimed queen on 15 January 1972, a day after her father, King Frederik IX, died following a short illness.