Maybe I need to learn Swedish and immerse myself in all things SRF. Are they generally messy or boring?
Depends on how you define things. I would say they're boring 95% of the time, but then when there's a scandal, it's a scandal
Here are a few highlights:
In 1914, Gustaf V gave a speech to the people in which he opposed the government's politics & called for stronger Armed Forces (side note but it's a well-known fact that Gustaf was very worried about the growing tensions "on the continent" & I mean, the dude was right to be concerned). This led to a political crisis & the last political influence the monarch had was stripped. It's unclear who actually wrote the speech; some speculate it was Victoria since it was very well known that she was unhappy about the fact that she, as Queen, didn't have any real power.
In 1936, a woman named Anna wanted to file for divorce from her husband, Kurt. The reason? Her motivation was that her husband had cheated on her with King Gustaf V. This was during a time when homosexuality was illegal & divorce papers were open to the public, so even the hint that the monarch himself might engage in "homosexual acts"? Unthinkable! Long story short, the Court tried to come to an agreement with Anna & Kurt, but the couple continued to blackmail the Court for more & more money. In 1947, Kurt published a book about the "injustices" he had faced, but the majority of the copies of the book were bought by police. In 1951, after Gustaf V had died, Kurt wrote to the Chancellor of Justice to complain, upon which the Chancellor started an investigation. The investigation found that Kurt's "accusations were largely unfounded, but it was also clear that the Royal Court paid out large sums and took other measures with the apparent aim of silencing him." One year later, the Prosecutor-General charged Kurt & he was sentenced to 8 years in prison for extortion of the Royal Court. The whole thing is now nicknamed The Haijby Affair (after Kurt & Anna's last name) & has even been made into a movie.
In 1945, Prince Carl Johan asked for permission to marry the divorced journalist Kerstin Wijkman. They had met in 1939 & the prince fell head-over-heels for Kerstin, who couldn't give a sh*t about him at first. Gustaf V denied his grandson's request & the Royal Court tried to prevent the wedding from taking place by revoking Wijkmark's passport. When that didn't work, they started pressuring the US embassy, which meant that Carl Johan's cousin Folke Bernadotte was dragged into the whole thing. In the end, the two got married in 1946 & that meant that the Prince from then on was known as Carl Johan Bernadotte.
In the late 1950s, Princess Birgitta did something as controversial (for Swedish royal standards) as continuing her education with upper secondary studies. She studied at the School of Sport and Health Sciences for two years, where she met hockey & football player Sven Tumba. They denied it then, but rumours of a romance between the two swirled. However, decades later, they both wrote about the romance (which lasted for about a year) in their memoirs & Princess Birgitta was interviewed in a documentary about Tumba. Among other things, she reminisced about one time when the tabloids rang the doorbell & she had to hide in the wardrobe for about 10 minutes before Tumba had managed to chase them away.
We have Carl Gustaf's younger years... That man loved & still loves to party. This caused concern during his time as Crown Prince & then at the beginning of his time as monarch. He was seen by many as an immature womanizer of a party prince who, therefore, was unfit to rule. The Social Democrat-led government famously threatened with "We're one penstroke away from a Republic!" (which, if you ask me, was more PR than an actual threat, but then again, this was like 10-20 years before I was born, so...)
Speaking of Carl Gustaf, in 1989, he made the Norwegians angry by criticising their PM & the fact that they allowed seal hunting. He commented: "If Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland cannot take care of the seal problem, how will she be able to take care of the Norwegian people?"
Then there was the praising of Sultan Hassanal Bolikiah in 2004 during a state visit to Brunei (which to be fair, he just did his job & repeated what the Foreign Office told him to say).
In 2008, he caused a national outcry because not only did Prince Carl Philip shoot an elk during the annual royal hunt, but the monarch also decided to voice his opinion on the very sensitive topic of wolf hunting (no, seriously, it's an incredibly sensitive topic & not one to bring up during family dinners). Apart from getting in trouble with the public, Carl Gustaf also got in trouble with his patronage, WWF.
Do I even need to bring up 2010 & "Have you ever visited a strip or sex club?" which caused him to hit a record low in popularity. At least it gave us this iconic meme.
Honourary mention goes to when Prince Daniel (then only Daniel Westling) needed kidney surgery, so Crown Princess Victoria called her "brothers", Crown Prince Haakon & Crown Prince Frederik & was like "Hey, can you guys help me with a thing? Oh yeah, nothing big, just tricking all of the Nordic press so my fiancée can get surgery in peace." So, to cause a distraction, the three went on a trip to the Arctic while Daniel was admitted to the hospital. However... he was spotted by someone; a journalist called up the Court & was like, "I know, I will publish this; just give me a comment." Their ruse was up, so instead of pretending everything was fine & distracting the press so they couldn't publish about what was happening in Stockholm, Victoria spoke about how difficult it was & that she (obviously) was worried but that Haakon & Frederik were very supportive of her & a big help during that trip.
In 2013, just like in 2023, he got into trouble for "not wanting Victoria as heir". During an interview, the reporter asked if he was still upset about the constitutional change, to which he answered: "Of course. I think it's simple. A constitutional law that works retrospectively, that's weird."
In 2014, Princess Madeleine's apartment was renovated. What was supposed to cost 2.5 million SEK ended up costing 6.8 million SEK. Then, in 2018-2019 renovation works started again, which ended up costing around 5 million SEK. A wall between Madeleine's apartment & the apartment next door was going to be taken down & the family wanted a walk-in closet, a new bedroom, a bathroom & a wardrobe (different one from the named walk-in closet, so two wardrobes were on the wishlist). This ended up creating an argument between the National Property Board & the Royal Court, where the former thought Madeleine had "too high standards". The Royal Family didn't end up paying from their own pockets & this story has now become known as the time the Swedish taxpayers paid for Madeleine's walk-in closet.
If you're still reading, thank you & I hope you enjoyed all of this tea!
40 notes
·
View notes
CONFIRMED ATTENDEES TO THE CORONATION OF
♚♛ KING CHARLES III & QUEEN CAMILLA ♛♚
───────────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────────────
♔ ┆ Foreign Royalty
King Felipe & Queen Letizia 🇪🇸
King Philippe & Queen Mathilde and Princess Elisabeth, The Duchess of Brabant 🇧🇪
King Jigme Khesar & Queen Jetsun Pema 🇧🇹
Yang di-Pertuan Agong Abdullah & Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku 🇲🇾
Kīngi Tūheitia & Makau Ariki Te Atawhai of the Māori
Grand Duke Henri & Grand Duchess Maria Teresa 🇱🇺
King Carl Gustaf and Crown Princess Victoria 🇸🇪
King Willem-Alexander & Queen Maxima, Princess Beatrix and Crown Princess Catharina-Amalia, The Princess of Orange 🇳🇱
Crown Prince Haakon & Crown Princess Mette-Marit 🇳🇴
Crown Prince Fumihito & Crown Princess Kiko 🇯🇵
Crown Prince Frederick & Crown Princess Mary 🇩🇰
Prince Albert & Princess Charlene 🇲🇨
King Vajiralongkorn & Queen Suthida 🇹🇭
King Abdullah II & Queen Rania 🇯🇴
King Tupou & Queen Nanasipau’u 🇹🇴
Hereditary Prince Alois & Hereditary Princess Sophie 🇱🇮
King Mswati III & Queen Sibonelo LaMbikiza 🇸🇿
Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah 🇰🇼
Crown Prince Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said 🇴🇲
Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani 🇶🇦
Princess Lalla Meryem 🇲🇦
Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd Minister of State 🇸🇦
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed 🇦🇪
King Letsie III & Queen Masenate 🇱🇸
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah 🇧🇳
King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa 🇧🇭
Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II & Lady Julia of the Ashanti
♔ ┆ Deposed Royalty & Distant Family Relations
Queen Anne-Marie, Crown Prince Pavlos & Crown Princess Mary Chantal 🇬🇷
Margrave Bernhard & Margravine Stephanie of Baden
Landgrave Donatus of Hesse
Prince Philipp & Princess Saskia of Hohenlohe - Langenburg
Margareta (Custodian of the Crown) and Prince Radu 🇷🇴
Crown Prince Alexander & Crown Princess Katherine 🇷🇸
Tsar Simeon & Tsaritsa Margarita 🇧🇬
Annoying Ginger from Montecito
♔ ┆ Governor-Generals of Commonwealth Realms
Governor-General David Hurley & Linda Hurley 🇦🇺
Governor-General Sir Rodney Williams & Lady Williams 🇦🇬
Governor-General Sir Cornelius A. Smith & Lady Smith 🇧🇸
Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro & Richard Davies 🇳🇿
Governor-General Mary Simon & Whit Fraser 🇨🇦
Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen & Lady Allen 🇯🇲
Governor-General Dame Froyla Tzalam 🇧🇿
Governor-General Dame Cécile La Grenade 🇬🇩
King's Representative Sir Tom Marsters & Lady Tuaine Marsters 🇨🇰
Governor-General Sir David Vunagi & Lady Vunagi 🇸🇧
Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae 🇵🇬
Governor-General Dame Marcella Liburd 🇰🇳
Deputy Governor-General Hyleta Liburd of Nevis
Acting Governor-General Errol Charles 🇱🇨
Governor-General Dame Susan Dougan 🇻🇨
Governor-General Sir Tofiga Vaevalu Falani 🇹🇻
♔ ┆ Heads of Governments of Commonwealth Realms
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese & Jodie Haydon 🇦🇺
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau & Sophie Grégoire Trudeau 🇨🇦
Prime Minister Philip Davis 🇧🇸
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell 🇬🇩
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins 🇳🇿
Prime Minister Terrance Drew 🇰🇳
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves 🇻🇨
♔ ┆ Governmental Representatives of Commonwealth Realms
Margaret Beazley, Governor of New South Wales 🇦🇺
Linda Dessau, Governor of Victoria 🇦🇺
Jeannette Young, Governor of Queensland 🇦🇺
Chris Dawson, Governor of Western Australia 🇦🇺
Frances Adamson, Governor of South Australia 🇦🇺
Barbara Baker, Governor of Tasmania 🇦🇺
Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham 🇧🇸
Former Prime Minister Perry Christie 🇧🇸
Michael Pintard, Leader of the Opposition 🇧🇸
Janice Charette, Clerk to the Privy Council of Canada and Secretary to the Cabinet 🇨🇦
High Commissioner Kisha Abba Grant 🇬🇩
High Commissioner Phil Goff 🇳🇿
Christopher Luxon, Leader of the Opposition 🇳🇿
Koni Iguan, Deputy Speaker of the National Parliament 🇵🇬
Justin Tkatchenko, Minister for Foreign Affairs 🇵🇬
Rainbo Paita, Minister for Finance and National Planning 🇵🇬
Taies Sansan, Secretary for the Department of Personnel Management 🇵🇬
Gisuwat Siniwin, former Member of the National Parliament 🇵🇬
Premier Mark Brantley of Nevis
High Commissioner Moses Kouni Mose 🇸🇧
Jeremiah Manele, Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade 🇸🇧
♔ ┆ Foreign Heads of States + Governments
President Andrzej Duda & First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda 🇵🇱
President Petr Pavel and First Lady Eva Pavlová 🇨🇿
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos 🇵🇭
President Katalin Novák & First Gentleman István Attila Veres 🇭🇺
President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson and First Lady Eliza Reid 🇮🇸
President Michael D. Higgins & First Lady Sabina Higgins and Leo Varadkar, Taoiseach 🇮🇪
President Herzog & First Lady Michal Herzog 🇮🇱
President Egils Levits & First Lady Andra Levite 🇱🇻
President Ali Bongo Ondimba & First Lady Sylvia Bongo Ondimba 🇬🇦
President Mario Abdo Benítez & First Lady Silvana López Moreira 🇵🇾
O le Ao o le Malo Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II & Masiofo Faʻamausili Leinafo 🇼🇸
President Paul Kagame & First Lady Jeannette Kagame 🇷🇼
President Wavel Ramkalawan, & First Lady Linda Ramkalawan 🇸🇨
President George Vella & First Lady Miriam Vella 🇲🇹
President Julius Maada Bio & First Lady Fatima Bio 🇸🇱
Hakainde Hichilema & First Lady Mutinta Hichilema 🇿🇲
President Sergio Mattarella 🇮🇹
President Ranil Wickremesinghe 🇱🇰
President Halimah Yacob 🇸🇬
President Faure Gnassingbé 🇹🇬
President Muhammadu Buhari 🇳🇬
President Filipe Nyusi 🇲🇿
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier 🇩🇪
President Vahagn Khachaturyan 🇦🇱
President Alar Karis 🇪🇪
President Sauli Niinistö 🇫🇮
President Emmanuel Macron 🇫🇷
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 🇧🇷
President Alexander Van der Bellen 🇦🇹
President Vahagn Khachaturyan 🇦🇲
President Salome Zourabichvili 🇬🇪
President Katerina Sakellaropoulou 🇬🇷
President Abdul Latif Rashid 🇮🇶
President Vjosa Osmani 🇽🇰
President George Weah 🇱🇷
President Gitanas Nausėda 🇱🇹
President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani 🇲🇷
President Maia Sandu 🇲🇩
President Stevo Pendarovski 🇲🇰
President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera 🇲🇼
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih 🇲🇻
President William Ruto 🇰🇪
President Irfaan Ali 🇬🇾
President Wiliame Katonivere 🇫🇯
President Paul Biya 🇨🇲
President Nikos Christodoulides 🇨🇾
President Mohamed Bazoum 🇳🇪
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa 🇵🇹
President Klaus Iohannis 🇷🇴
President Macky Sall 🇸🇳
President Zuzana Čaputová 🇸🇰
President Nataša Pirc Musar 🇸🇮
President Võ Văn Thưởng 🇻🇳
Emmerson Mnangagwa 🇿🇼
Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers Borjana Krišto 🇧🇦
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 🇧🇩
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo 🇰🇷
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif 🇵🇰
President Alain Berset of the Swiss Confederation & Muriel Zeender 🇨🇭
Prime Minister Galab Donev 🇧🇬
♔ ┆ Governmental Representatives
First Lady Jill Biden & Finnegan Biden and John Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate 🇺🇸
First Lady Olena Zelenska 🇺🇦
First Lady Verónica Alcocer 🇨🇴
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar 🇮🇳
Vice President Fuat Oktay 🇹🇷
Vice President Tiémoko Meyliet Koné 🇨🇮
Vice President Han Zeng 🇨🇳
Vice President Mohammed B.S Jallow 🇬🇲
Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of the National Assembly 🇦🇿
Christophe Mboso N'Kodia Pwanga, President of the National Assembly 🇨🇩
Arnoldo André, Minister of Foreign Affairs 🇨🇷
Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation 🇿🇦
Nabil Ammar, Minister of Foreign Affairs 🇹🇳
Narayan Prakash Saud, Minister of Foreign Affairs 🇳🇵
Gustavo Manrique, Foreign Minister 🇪🇨
Ahmed Attaf, Foreign Minister 🇩🇿
Frederick Shava, Foreign Minister & Mthuli Ncube, Finance Minister 🇿🇼
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Cardinal Secretary of State 🇻🇦
Ambassador José Alberto Briz Gutiérrez 🇬🇹
♔ ┆ Representatives from International Organizations
Amina Jane Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General 🇺🇳
Ursula von der Leyen, President of EU Commission 🇪🇺
Charles Michel, EU Council President 🇪🇺
Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament 🇪🇺
238 notes
·
View notes
Foreign Royals at the Coronation of King Charles III
Even though we now know that the coronation on May 6th will not be a tiara event, I'll still keep a running list of foreign royals that have confirmed attendance. Traditionally other monarchs don't attend coronations in the United Kingdom unless they are from a Commonwealth country (Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Tonga) but they are doing away with that this time around.
Bahrain - King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
Belgium - King Philippe & Queen Mathilde
Bhutan - King Jigme Kesar & Queen Jetsun Pema
Brunei - Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah & Prince 'Abdul Mateen
Cambodia -
Denmark - Crown Prince Frederik & Crown Princess Mary
Eswatini - King Mswati III & Queen Sibonelo LaMbikiza
Japan - Crown Prince Akishino & Crown Princess Kiko
Jordan - King Abdullah II & Queen Rania
Kuwait - Crown Prince Mishal Al Ahmad
Lesotho - King Letsie III & Queen 'Masenate
Liechtenstein - Hereditary Prince Alois & Hereditary Princess Sophie
Luxembourg - Grand Duke Henri & Grand Duchess Maria Teresa
Malaysia - King Abdullah & Queen Azizah
Monaco - Prince Albert & Princess Charlene
Morocco - Princess Lalla Meryem
Netherlands - King Willem Alexander & Queen Máxima
Norway - Crown Prince Haakon & Crown Princess Mette Marit
Oman - Crown Prince Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said
Qatar - Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani
Saudi Arabia - Prince Turki bin Mohammed Al Saud
Spain - King Felipe & Queen Letizia
Sweden - King Carl XVI Gustaf & Crown Princess Victoria
Thailand - King Vajiralongkorn & Queen Suthida
Tonga - King Tupou VI & Queen Nanasipau’u
United Arab Emirates - Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Non-Reigning Royals
Ashanti - King Otumfuo Osei Tutu II & Lady Julia
Baden - Margrave Bernhard & Margravine Stephanie
Bulgaria - King Simeon & Queen Margarita
Greece - Queen Anne Marie & Crown Prince Pavlos (I've seen conflicting reports about Crown Princess Marie Chantal attending.)
Hesse - Landgrave Donatus
Hohenlohe-Langenburg - Prince Philipp & Princess Saskia
Māori - King Tuheitia & Queen Te Atawhai
Romania - Princess Margareta & Prince Radu
Serbia - Crown Prince Alexander & Crown Princess Katherine
156 notes
·
View notes