Swedish journalist Matilda Andersson at her column in Aftonbladet yesterday about Victoria at the lecture of Ban Ki-moon:
I want to see more dead tired princesses
Crown Princess Victoria made her first official mission last week - less than a month after giving birth. Most mothers are on maternity leave longer than that (but most of us have also another type of job).
Some newspapers chose to focus on the Crown Princess' golden coat while others angled a short video sequence where the Crown Princess sits in the audience and keeps on falling asleep. Aftonbladet belongs to the latter. A clip titled "Struggling - to stay awake" and three pictures of a very tired crown princess, however, got some readers very angry.
The comments on Facebook: "Poor style to show her like this," "What a mother is not tired during the day. Low". " Typically Aftonbladet, so damn low of you to publish this. Besides that she is royalty, she is human, treat her like that". The inserts got lots of like markers and reporter (read: yours truly) got the fewer.
For me the angle was clear - to show the beauty of that the Crown Princess is like any young mother: completely dead tired. That for once see something real and not just a signature hairstyle with gold-colored gown. For those of you who didn't know: it's not only really hard to be recently given birth mother while trying to glow - it's also quite unnatural.
Although royal media coverage is different from the rest - nobody is questioning the absurdity of spending hours on speculation about whether Princess Sofia will make a Kate Middleton and self showcace the newborn "absolutely brilliant fresh" - so is the idea of perfection around expectant princess mothers hand in hand with other media reporting related to pregnancy and childbirth.
Headings such as "so she lost her pregnancy kilos" and "The mother retains her six-pack, even though she is pregnant" easily win over the content that is about pelvic pain, severe mood swings, fatigue, hemorrhoids and brutal tiredness. No wonder that parts of the society believe that a pregnant woman is able to perform as usual for nine months until the D-day - and then quickly return to their usual themselves.
That was precisely why it was so liberating to see how the Crown Princess repeatedly failed to keep her eyes open. Not even she, despite the blue blood and diamonds in the ears escapes the sleep deficiency of the baby time - and that it is okay to show it.
Jag vill se fler dödströtta prinsessor _ Matilda Andersson _ Kolumnister _ Nyheter _ Aftonbladet
That is Vic for you, working right up until she gives birth and than less than a month's maternity leave before she is back.
; I think she looked fine albeit a bit serious.
I see her point and hope Victoria wasn't mortified by the photos because she made the attempt to be there even though dog tired! She really is a modern day princess.
