In Sweden, 30th April (Valborgsmässoafton / Walpurgis Night), followed by 1st May (Labour Day and a holiday), is when we officially welcome Spring in Sweden. Among the traditions are bonfires, choir singing, and also student parades.
30th April also happens to be when our present King, Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, was born. This year, he celebrated his 80th birthday with quite a lot of "pomp and circumstance". So on the national level, that kind of took over. (Ordinary local arrangements like bonfires and student parades probably just went ahead as usual, though.)
However one wanted to celebrate, we had beautiful, almost summer-like spring weather all over the country. For my own part, I'm not keen on going out in the evenings these days, so I did end up in front of the TV, following the Royal celebrations instead. A big party was held in the royal palace in Stockholm, with no efforts spared, and lots of foreign royalties and other important people invited.
Among the advantages one has as only taking part via TV is that one is free to snap as many photos as one likes of the screen with one's own phone. So I did...
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| King Carl XIV Gustaf and Queen Silvia |
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| Crown Princess Victoria, her husband Prince Daniel, and their eldest daughter, Princess Estelle |
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| Prince Carl Philip with his wife, Princess Sofia |
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| Princess Madeleine with husband Chris O'Neill |
One thing our present day royal family have in common is that they all - including the King himself - married non-royals. Prince Daniel was made prince by marrying the Crown Princess Victoria, and Princess Sofia was made princess by marrying Prince Carl Philip. Princess Madeleine's husband said "no thanks" to the royal title though, and remained Mr O'Neill. (Their children still retain the titles princess/prince, but have no official obligations.)
People giving speaches during the dinner:
Crown Princess Victoria (first), Queen Siliva (last),
Andreas Norlén - Speaker of the Parliament,
Ulf Kristersson - Prime Minister
The King listening to his daughter's speech.
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| The Queen, Princess Madeleine and Prince Carl Philip |
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| People breaking up from the tables after dinner |
The evening ended with a "Tattoo" (Swedish: "Tapto") performance in the castle yard.
(A military term for a drum beat or bugle call to signal the end of the day.)
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| King Carl XVI Gustaf |
It is so cool that it was all televised. And you got great photos, just like you were really there. Madeline is so pretty.
ReplyDeleteGinny, I recall you sometimes take photos while watching TV too :) I kind of enjoy the challenge, it's harder than one might think - not least taking photos of people while they're speaking, as their facial expressions then keep changing faster than one is able to "click"...
DeleteYour phone takes great photos! Thank you for showing this. I have Swedish ancestry on my mother's side.
ReplyDeleteRiver, no doubt there are better quality photos and reports from the event to be found online, but I enjoyed putting together my own mix... :)
DeleteAnd the current king married a non-royal and started that trend in his own family 😁
ReplyDeleteEstelle looks so much like Silvia when she was young, doesn‘t she! I was a little girl when Silvia Sommerlath, as she was then, married into the royal family. What a beautiful young lady she was, and how beautiful she still is - inside and out. Sweden could not have wished for a better queen.
Meike, I can only agree with you about Queen Silvia having fulfilled her "role" well - right from the start, and still going strong... (I also noticed today that I forgot to mention that the king started the marrying a non-royal trend himself, so inserted a few words to clarify that now.)
DeleteI deleted the previous comment as I had not finished writing it. Thank you for sharing these photos with us. Your royal family looks lovely and it is amazing that they have all married commoners. It's probably a good idea as royal interfarmily marriages often happened throughout the centuries across Europe and was not a good idea.
ReplyDeleteAddy, when our king became king, in 1973, at age 27, he choose as his motto: "För Sverige i tiden". AI tells me that the official English translation is "For Sweden, with the Times." Expressing an awareness of the necessity of adjusting the monarchy to modern times. The monarch in Sweden of today has very little official power (that lies with the parliament), but still has an important role in representing our country, not least in the relations with other countires. Opinons are divided as to whether we should keep the monarchy at all; but on the whole our royal family is rather popular, and have also so far managed to stay out of serious scandals. So my guess is we'll be keeping the present system for a while yet.
DeleteWonderful series of photos! Thanks for sharing the occasion, as well as captions as to who everyone was. I may like the "common man" approach to things, but still enjoy a good "dress-up" occasion.
ReplyDeleteThanks Barbara. It was rather special, so felt worth sharing here. And while perhaps most people know the members of the British royal family, I don't expect ours to be as widely well-known... ;)
DeleteA vivid glimpse of Walpurgis Night in Sweden, where seasonal tradition and royal pageantry—especially around Carl XVI Gustaf’s milestone celebration—gracefully intertwine.
ReplyDeleteRo, the King even managed to get perfect weather for his big day... ;)
DeleteI love that Sweden still has its royal family. What a wonderful celebration. I'm all for them marrying 'commoners'. It brings some realignment which, in most cases, is for the good, as with our own Princess of Wales, Catherine.
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