Swedish Royal Wedding Countdown – Less than 24 Hours to Go!

  June 19, 2010 at 2:16 am by

We’re in the home stretch! After a sixteen-month long engagement, there is less than 24 hours to go until Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling become husband and wife. Yesterday, June 18th, was a busy day for the couple and their guests, attending four pre-wedding events.

View the image at Expressen

First, there was a private lunch hosted by TM the King and Queen at the Sturehof Slott. All the royals who had already arrived in Stockholm were in attendance, and were taken from Riddarholm Quay to the castle by the boat Gustafsberg VII. Once the guests arrived at the castle, the heavens opened and umbrellas were passed out to prevent anyone getting too wet. As he was arriving to the castle, King Carl Gustaf was seen fiddling with his camera. Earlier that morning, Crown Princess Victoria and Queen Silvia held a final rehearsal at the Storkyrkan with the bridal children.

View the image at Daylife

Early in the afternoon, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and the Swedish government hosted a reception at the Stockholm City Hall celebrating the wedding. Around 450 guests – all representatives of Swedish municipalities, counties and the like – attended, and each shook hands with the bridal couple, the King and Queen, and the Prime Minister and his wife, Filippa. Princess Victoria was positively giddy, as described by one poster, during the event; and the King himself even cracked a smile or two! After the greeting line, the bride and groom (accompanied by the King and Queen) got a chance to view some of the wedding gifts bestowed upon them by the various municipalities and counties. The rain continued as Victoria and Daniel left the City Hall, but they were quite happy to spend a few minutes waving to the people gathered outside.

Then, at around 5:30pm, the Swedish Royal Family arrived at the government-hosted dinner at the Eric Ericson Hall. The other 260-odd guests arrived just after them, and were all greeted by the Swedish Prime Minister and First Lady. Princess Victoria was the belle of the ball in a nude-coloured asymmetrical gown (rumoured to be an Elie Saab creation), with crystal and feathery detailing. She wore a diamond Cupid’s Arrow hair ornament. Once the dinner began at 6:30pm, both the King and the Prime Minister gave speeches celebrating the bridal couple. King Carl Gustaf began his speech by talking about a day, way back in February 2009, when he told the Prime Minister of his eldest’s engagement. He also thanked the government on behalf of his and “Mr Westling’s” families, for throwing Victoria and Daniel the dinner and the following concert. The King also attempted a minor joke – “The wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and Mr Daniel Westling, that will take place … ehm … tomorrow isn’t it?” – before talking specifically about his daughter and future son-in-law, “You can feel the joy and youth and optimism in their eyes.”

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Then it was on to the Stockholm Concert Hall, for the pre-wedding concert. The concert began at just after 8:30pm, with Victoria and Daniel making their entrance after the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s rendition of the Festival Song. The bridal couple, their families, their royal guests and their closest friends were treated to a night of performances by Swedish artists. The bride and groom laughed and occasionally held hands throughout. At one point during the concert, the MC Stefan Forsberg joked that the  younger Scandinavian royals should start up their own band – “Mette-Marit, of course, would sing lead vocals, and Mary with her roots in Australia could play the didgeridoo. (Frederik the drums, Haakon the electric guitar.)”

View the image at Expressen

A ballet piece from Swan Lake was performed by two Chinese dancers, and nearing the end of the night, the band Roxette came out to perform their hit The Lake. All the guests, especially the bride-to-be!, clapped along with the beat, and multiple royals were caught singing along by the SVT camera crews (yes, we saw you, Willem-Alexander). A romantic version of Can’t Help Falling In Love was performed as the second last act by all the night’s performers. The final performance was by a class of students from Adolf Frederik’s Music School, who performed In Morr’n is the Wedding Feast. Victoria and Daniel both got up on the stage when one of the students sang directly to them, an action which brought tears to Mama Silvia’s eyes. The Swedish National Anthem, Du Gamla, Du Fria, closed the concert.

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