Queen Silvia of Sweden is the longest serving queen consort of Sweden. Born a commoner as Silvia Sommerlath, the former air hostess met King Carl XVI Gustav (then still crown prince) of Sweden at the Olympic Games in 1972 where she acted as a game hostess. They were married in 1976 and have three children, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl-Philip, and Princess Madeleine.
When Silvia became Queen of Sweden, she was the lone commoner among the ruling Royals, though Norway already had a commoner Crown Princess Sonja. Meanwhile she has got company of Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, too. Cuban born Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg might be considered as part of the club, though she descends from King Ferdinand I of Leon and Castile.
The outing to the Oscar Theatre in Stockholm for an evening of variety show was a family outing for the Swedish Royals together with Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel.The show included a surprise act for Queen Silvia with a singer in red robe and tiara rapping as the queen (I got the power). The reaction by the members of the Royal family and the rap can be seen on this video.
The unorthodox birthday song seems to have gone down much better with the queen than the gift she received from parliament a few days earlier. A standing in an awful modern design will look just dapper in the carefully pruned historical setting of the Royal palace. It shows that taste is not a democratic forte.
Having bad taste is one thing. Having bad manners is a completely different pair of shoes. Parliamentary speaker Per Westerberg refused to shake hands with Queen Silvia. Being a millionaire now fleecing taxpayers for not working (members of parliament in Sweden are as grossly overpaid as in any other country) is no excuse for being a lout.
Further reading
How Many Monarchies Exist in Europe?
The Elect Circle of Elected Monarchs on Europe's Thrones
Christina, Female King on Sweden's Throne
No comments:
Post a Comment