Denmark's Queen Margrethe II, 86, discharged after hip blood-clot surgery; second hospitalization in a fortnight

Denmark's former monarch, Queen Margrethe II, 86, was discharged on 30 May 2026 from Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet after surgery to treat a large blood clot in her hip, the second hospitalization within roughly a fortnight for the queen who abdicated in January 2024 after 52 years on the throne. She had been re-admitted on 25 May 2026 after a CT scan revealed a significant accumulation of blood around the hip area resulting from a previous fall; surgeons removed the clot and sealed the affected blood vessel. The episode followed an earlier admission on 14 May 2026 with angina (chest pain), for which she underwent a balloon dilation (angioplasty) of a coronary artery before being discharged around 19 May to recuperate at Fredensborg Palace.

The Danish Royal House said she was 'doing well under the circumstances' and 'in good spirits,' and her daughter-in-law, the reigning Queen Mary, confirmed during her participation in the Royal Run that the care plan involving surgery had been completed. Margrethe is continuing her recovery at Fredensborg, with future appearances to be assessed on an ongoing basis; the palace indicated no immediate changes to already-announced engagements. The succession of cardiac and orthopaedic incidents in a single month underscores the fragility of the elder statesperson of European royalty and the Danish court's transition under King Frederik X, who succeeded his mother in 2024.

She is the mother of the current King Frederik X.