A Swedish Royal Christmas (Traditions, Christmas Cards, Photo Sessions)

[Josefine]

photos between 1984 and 1990

 

[Josefine]

the year is 1991

the year is 1992

from the year 1993

 

[Josefine]

looking for photos from 1998

 

[Yennie]

Swedish Royal Family Christmas Cards

Every year the royal family sends a christmas cards to friends and family. they´ve done that since the children were little and by now there has been many lovely photographs to remember past holiday seasons...

 

[Jacqueline]

Photo From: All Over Press
1999

 

[rhea]

That has gotta be the cutest family pic ever! But what exactly are they trying to do or be???

 

[Julia]

Before I looked at the photo info I thought it was an Easter portrait because Victoria looks like she is imitating a bunny hopping! She must be the character of the family based on some of her facial expressions!

 

[cosh]

When I saw the pic...just LOL!

What the hell are they doing there? Does anybody know? I'd definitely like to know!

 

[Jacqueline]

Hi Cosh, Reah and Julia!

I have no idea what they are doing. I came across this picture completely by accident. It was sent to me through a Yahoo group that I belong to, and I thought that it was so adorable and funny that I had to post it as soon as I got the chance.

I think that they may be immitating some sort of animal Victoria seems to be the ring leader here.

It's just a fantastic photo. I especially love the way that Their Majesties are having a discussion (it seems) while the kids goof off. Priceless!

 

[cosh]

You are absolutely right! They should put it on their official website!

It's really a nice photo, thanks for posting it Jaqueline!

 

[Josefine]

more from 1999

 

[Yennie]

that "bunny" picture was taken in December 1999 right before the Millenium celebrations. Its from the traditional "Christmas Photoshot" that the Royal family gives every year...

here´s another one from that day

 

[ficciones]

If not imitating rabbits, maybe they were caught in the middle of a goofy Macarena-like dance...in any case, it's charming.

 

[Josefine]

new year 2000

 

[Yennie]

1986

1999

1987

1992

1990

 

[nouwrein]

about the 'bunny' picture - they are not imitating some bunny or animal actions, they are simply discussing and making suggestions as to where should the King and Queen place their hands or position their hands during the picture taking. Princess Victoria suggested of holding the chair - then the Prince and Princess Madeleine thought it would be funny to hold the chair like that - as they acted it. It's one of Princess Victoria's suggestions - rather than just placing their hands on their lap. And as you can see, the King and Queen were still thinking of the right comfortable position of this hands. And eventually, they settled on where the King and Queen position their hands - see the pictures. So that explains it.

 

[Yennie]

This isnt a new picture (its from 1999) but I think you definately get the "family feeling" in this one

 

[Josefine]

A Swedish Christmas

in sweden

1st of Advent - Warming up for Christmas

With the First of Advent, four weeks before Christmas, the countdown for Christmas begins. the approach of Christmas is marked by bringing out the Advent candlestick, often a small box holding four candles. Each Sunday before Christmas one more candle is lit. During Advent, many windows are decorated with an "Advent star" made of paper, straw or wood shavings. Children also take out their Advent calendars, where one flap is opened each day until Christmas Eve.

December 13 - Lucia
She is celebrated in a variety of ways but the most common is the Lucia procession consisting of a group of young girls and boys singing traditional Lucia songs.

On her head, the girl playing the part of Lucia wears a wreath of lingonberry sprigs with holders for real candles She also has a white, full-length chemise with a red ribbon round her waist. Her female attendants are dressed similarly and the "star boys" wear white pointed hats decorated with stars. Lucia processions are held in various places, ranging from kindergartens and schools to Churches and the Swedish Parliament. Lucia can be perceived as a symbol of the good forces in life and a symbol of light in the dark winter. She mostly appears early in the morning, bringing coffee and "lussekatter", a kind of saffron-flavored bun eaten around Christmas time in Sweden.

I watch Lucia on TV nowadays its a must i love the songs and with lucia it feels that christmas is very close

in sweden we celebrate christmnas december 24th - Christmas Eve
i think this day looked very different for each person and family

my family celebrate at our country house so i still wake up in the same house as mom and dad and therefor i still get a present the morning of 24 of december. As a child my sister and i got one present each in the mormomh so that we could have something to do during the day. My sister has her own family, just a few houses down the rouad and she does the same thing with her sons one present in the morning.

The the day one may watch a movie getting reddy to go to my sisters house where we have celebrated christnas the last years

then there is some glögg and playing with the kids.
at 3 we watch donald duck (swedish tradition) one of the swedish channles always show disney favirites 3 a cloch its different christmas episoed of donald duck and other disnet figures.

then its time for food we got a smorgasbord full with different meals
pickled herring, liver pâté, smoked sausages, cabbage, meatballs, "Jansson's Temptation" (a potato gratin with pickled sprats) and the much longed-for ham - and loads more last year we had dear

the its time to get some coffe and desert and during this we give out the christmas presents. santa comes (we have small children in the family) and leave a few presents other are under the three and one of the family members read out the christmas message one present at the time not all at once everyone have to see we each and one got.

then late at night one is sitting down and just talk kids may be playing with the gifts if they are not asleep. often we get home at midnight.

december 25th we travel to meet my fathers family becouse one of them have a birthday then and we eat some christmas food, everyone takes with them leftovers from the day before......

i can just say there is a lot of food at christmas and mamas meatballs...........

 

[GrandDuchess]

Celebrating Christmas in Sweden today
from www.sweden.se - Sweden's official web portal


Christmas is the greatest festivity of the year in Sweden. In former times, it was an occasion for the whole family, when everyone finally had a chance to eat fresh food. Today, the emphasis is on the children and on Christmas presents. In Sweden, Christmas Day and Boxing Day used to be the most important part of the holiday, but nowadays most Swedes celebrate Christmas Eve, 24 December.
Advent

In anticipation of the holiday, shops begin selling Christmas articles as early as November. Streets and trees in cities and towns are decorated with festive lighting, and in many places a giant Christmas tree is put up in the main square. Officially, celebrations in Sweden begin on Advent Sunday, when stores display their Christmas shop windows and when many people decorate their own windows with electric Advent stars and candlesticks that light up the home. This is also the day on which the first of four candles is lit and children open the first window on their Advent calendars.

As a prelude to Christmas, many people bake thin ginger biscuits and saffron bread. Each Sunday in Advent, as anticipation grows, a new candle is lit and each day a new window is opened in the children's calendar. During this period, a popular beverage is glögg, a hot mulled wine spiced with nuts, raisins and cloves. It warms both body and soul in the cold, dark Swedish winter.

Lucia

Lucia Day on 13 December is celebrated in daycare centres, in schools, at workplaces and in the home with a singing, white-gowned 'Lucia' who drops in with coffe and biscuits, leading an entourage of attendants. The Lucia tradition originated in aristocratic circles in Sweden and spread through the population from the 1920s onwards. Each year, a 'national Lucia' is elected at the Skansen open-air museum in Stockholm. Lucia Day begins with an all-night vigil celebrated by young people in particular, often in combination with large quantities of alcohol. As a result, the celebrations tend to become fairly disorderly in many areas.



Christmas

After Lucia, Christmas preparations begin in earnest. People exchange Christmas cards, clean the home and shop for Christmas presents and Christmas food. Each year brings record sales in the shops. A few days before the holiday begins, a Christmas tree is brought into the home and decorated with coloured balls, tinsel and lights. Some people hang up a sheaf of grain outdoors so that birds can also join in the celebrations. Homes are decorated with red curtains and tablecloths, candles, straw figures and little gnomes. People also buy special Christmas flowers for the home, or to give away, such as hyacinths, poinsettias or amaryllises. Candles are lit and wreaths laid on family graves.

Christmas food is prepared ahead of Christmas Eve. People usually try to cook as much of it themselves as they can. The most popular kinds of food are ham, brawn, sausage, rice pudding and pickled herring, but in recent years healthier fare has found its way onto the Christmas table, including salads. Meals are accompanied by root beer or a special Christmas beer, which is slightly darker than the ordinary kind. People also like to down a shot or two of vodka with their pickled herring.

Christmas presents are handed out by Santa Claus after the Christmas lunch, but for many children - and adults - the holiday festivities really begin mid-afternoon with the screening of a Disney Hour, followed by other traditional TV programmes. In Sweden, Christmas Eve is usually celebrated at home with the family, and rarely at a pub or restaurant.

For many people, Christmas Day begins with Christmas matins - a daybreak visit to church - which is a popular tradition in Sweden. Usually, the day is then spent at home with more Christmas food and TV, and possibly a refreshing walk. Boxing Day follows the same pattern. In many divided families, children celebrate Christmas Eve on Christmas Day and/or Boxing Day as well, so as to be fair to both parents. People without families can join alternative Christmas celebrations organised by the municipal authorities, where they are given a meal and perhaps some form of entertainment. Otherwise, they have little option but to consume Christmas via television.

Between Christmas and the New Year, shops and stores hold their Christmas sales. For most, this interim period provides a much-needed rest from work, a time when you can visit relatives, be with your family or prepare yourself for the coming year.

http://www.sweden.se/upload/Sweden_se/english/articles/SI/images/lucia_ishotellet_helspalt.jpg

New Year

The New Year holiday is celebrated, as it always has been, mostly by young people, but also of course by adults, who organise their own parties or go out to restaurants or discotheques. Traditionally, people dress up in their finest clothes and eat fine dishes - salmon, crab or lobster. New Year's Eve is an important TV event with programmes that are screened every year. On the stroke of midnight, people toast each other in champagne and wish each other a Happy New Year, while the bells chime on radio or TV - or outside in the town. People also make New Year resolutions, usually promising to become a better person. In some towns and cities, there are public firework displays to welcome in the New Year, bringing people out onto the streets to celebrate. Or families fire off rockets from their own backyards or gardens. New Year celebrations are not so much for children as for older teenagers and adults.

On New Year's Day, many people prefer to stay at home and listen to the traditional New Year concert from Vienna on TV. Often, families eat a good dinner together or perhaps visit friends and relatives to wish them luck in the new year. As a rule, the New Year is not considered the end of the holiday period in Sweden. This lasts through the Epiphany (Twelfth Night) weekend, after which school begins. The festive season officially ends on Knut's Day, 13 January, when Christmas trees - which have usually turned from green to a dry, brittle brown - are finally thrown out, the children having played and danced round them for one last time.

Christmas, originally intended to mark the birth of Christ, is nowadays more of a commercial family festivity, offering people in modern Sweden a welcome break from the toils of everyday life.

 

[Emily]

This was really interesting. As an American, I am interested in the seeming simplicity and beauty of many of the European Christmas traditions. We also have some beautiful traditions but it seems more and more we have to look hard for them amidst the blatant advertising/materialism that goes along with an American tradition.

 

[Josefine]

today is Lucia in Sweden and children dress upp to sing about her

this is from swedish televison 44 minutes video
this year they did a 1800 centary Lucia what i understand
http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?ramfile=lucia2004.ram&wmfile=&filepath=/content/1/c6/30/14/65/&d=13697&dep=2180&art=301465&isbroad=false&isclipinfo=false&playertitle=svt.se&smallplayer=true

 

[Josefine]

and a few photos with royal connection

 

[hrhcp]

in sweden

1st of Advent - Warming up for Christmas

Children also take out their Advent calendars, where one flap is opened each day until Christmas Eve.

The same in households where the German tradition is maintained.

The thing with the candles ... when I grew up ..... was on a green wreath made of cut evergreen branches.

And a shoe in the window between Saturday night to wake up on Sunday morning.

in sweden we celebrate christmnas december 24th

That's what I have grown up with. In the past I would take half the day off, if it was work day ... now I take the whole day off.

My sister's family has it the best .... Christmas presents from the German side of the family on Christmas Eve, and then presents from the Scottish side of the family on the morning of Christmas Day.

then its time for food we got a smorgasbord full with different meals
pickled herring, liver pâté, smoked sausages, cabbage, meatballs, "Jansson's Temptation" (a potato gratin with pickled sprats) and the much longed-for ham - and loads more last year we had dear

Certainly a tradition I have grown up with, is a smorgasbord halfway through the "business end" of the evening of Christmas Eve. No cabbage though, although there is a version of herring salad.

 

[Yennie]

this year they did a 1800 centary Lucia what i understand

this is what Aftonbladet wrote:
Lucia was dressed as a Lucia from 1860´s Dalarna (a swedish county) and they had the province dress on. There was no traditional songs either.
Many people reacted and complained to the TV company. They wanted a traditional Lucia with her white gown.

Självaste lucian var istället klädd som en lucia från 1860-talets Dalarna, med sockendräkt och en krona gjord av lingonris. Hennes tärnor, eller ”luciakranskullor” som de kallades, var klädda i praktfulla folkdräkter, röda förkläden och utsmyckade folkinspirerade skrudar på huvudet.
När de tågade in i var det heller inte till tonerna av ”Natten går tunga fjät”. 2004 års lussekoncept var ett helt annat.
Musiken från sångerna som sjöngs var folkliga varianter på lucia- och julvisor framförda av viskursen vid Malungs folkhögskola.

http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/nyheter/story/0,2789,574828,00.html

 

[HMQueenElizabethII]

Thanks for post these informations.Does Queen Silvia attend any activities for celebrating Christmas or only Princess Victoria?

 

[Yennie]

I cant remeber that Silvia does? Other than her traditional inteview, that from now on is Victorias, with the green puppet Skurt

Princess Margareta used to open the swedish christmas "marknad" at the swedsh church in London, but I dont know if she still do?
And some years Victoria has attend a concert in aid for the homless people in Stockholm, but same here, I dont know if thats every year or if its just sometimes?
Anyone?

 

[GrandDuchess]

There are no annual Christmas engagements for the Swedish Royal Family - which I think is a real pity...

It would be nice if there was some annual Christmas concert or thing like that at the Palace or Palace Church in Stockholm, or something like it - that the royals could host every year.

There is only one annual thing that is on the Royal Family's official calendar around Christmas every year, and which counts as an official engagement (which it isn't) - and that's the Christmas Luncheon for the staff of the Royal Court...

One thing that occurs every year, but is not an official engagement - is as Yennie said - is Queen Silvia's (from this year Crown Princess Victoria's) tv interview with Skurt (a puppet). And, also just like Yennie said, Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler used to open (or still does?) the Swedish Christmas bazaar at the Swedish church in London.

But nothing more connected to the Royal House at Christmas...

 

[hrhcp]

There are no annual Christmas engagements for the Swedish Royal Family

Skipping ahead a bit, GrandDuchess, the Royal Family does make a "thing" out of ringing out the old year (and the new year in) with a midnight champage on the balcony?

 

[Yennie]

two old photos of the royal family, taken in december 1995.
I can´t belive its 10 years ago, seems like yesterday

They are from the traditional christmas photoshoot and they are in the Bernadotte libary at Stockholm Palace. Carl Philip couldn´t make it home in time for the photoshoot, as he was studying in USA at the time.

photos from IBL

 

[Regina]

two old photos of the royal family, taken in december 1995.
I can´t belive its 10 years ago, seems like yesterday

photos from IBL

The Queen and Victoria are more or less the same, but the King and Madeleine really have changed a lot!!