Denmark's Queen Margrethe out of hospital after heart procedure

Denmark's former monarch, 86-year-old Queen Margrethe, has been released from hospital after undergoing an angioplasty procedure last week, the palace said on Tuesday.

The queen, who abdicated in 2024 and passed the throne to her eldest son Frederik, underwent "a balloon dilation of a coronary artery" at Copenhagen's main Rigshospitalet hospital, the palace said in a statement on May 15.

"Her Majesty Queen Margrethe was discharged from Rigshospitalet today and is returning to Fredensborg Palace," it said in a new statement on Tuesday.

"In the coming period, Her Majesty will need rest," it said, adding that a planned theatre engagement on May 23 had been cancelled.

Hugely popular among Danes for subtly modernising the monarchy, Margrethe has faced multiple health problems in recent years.

She had long vowed that she would never abdicate, but major back surgery in 2023 led her to change her mind.

A chain smoker for much of her life, Margrethe is known for her significant interest in the arts.