Opening of Parliament, Riksdagen 2003-2023


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And on another note...


Here's a clip from the opening ceremony. This is swedish singer Lisa Nilsson who makes the whole riksdag (almost) and the royal familty sing along with her. Somehow I think that lots of issues would be easier to resolve if people sang together more often :)
 
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Humera said:
I've noticed quite a subtle yet deliberate attempt on the part of the three younger Swedish royal ladies to coordinate their outfits at important events (ever since Carl Philip's engagements). Every time I see it I think it's a coincidence but it really isn't and today's pictures are no different.
I loved looking at the pictures of Victoria, Madeleine and Sofia in their matching outfits (and yes, Victoria also matches, it's only the colour scheme of her outfit that's reversed). It's the kind of thing one sees among sisters and cousins in real life and it's sweet to see on royalty.
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I too think about coordinated outfits whenever I see the pictures. Victoria stands out, because of the reveresed colour scheme. She's the CP, she's the one of the Princesses who should stand out, so she does. Yet the style of her costume is so similar to those of Sofia and Madeleine, that it still says 'we belong together'. (I hope that makes sense?)
At the reading of the banns for CP and Sofia and at some other events the outfits looked carefully coordinated as well. So I don't believe in coincidence.
 
Of course the outfits were talked about prior to event and was no coincidence. They looked lovely. Madeleine did not look lonely or sad. She looked professional at a very serious occasion listening to serious remarks. I think people want to make a big deal out of Chris not being there. I don't see a problem and I doubt if the King did either.
 
Mbruno said:
So you are basically saying that they changed the seating arrangements to minimize the picture impact of a lonely, sad Madeleine and thus not feed German tabloid headlines. It looks like my perception about Madeleine being embarassed was right after all.
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I don't agree at all. It's standard practice to change seating plans after the amount of guests etc. If someone calls sick to a wedding, usually the seating arrangeements are changed. And the way they are sitting is female-male-female-male-female which is cusumary. I don't see any embaressment in changing seatingplans. It's standard practice not to have empty spaces and chairs, to make the seating look planned.
 
hernameispekka said:
I don't agree at all. It's standard practice to change seating plans after the amount of guests etc. If someone calls sick to a wedding, usually the seating arrangeements are changed. And the way they are sitting is female-male-female-male-female which is cusumary. I don't see any embaressment in changing seatingplans. It's standard practice not to have empty spaces and chairs, to make the seating look planned.
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What about Madeleine riding in the King's carriage ?
 
Mbruno said:
What about Madeleine riding in the King's carriage ?
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Well... I don't know their thinking. Maybe the 2nd carriage is bigger and work better with 4 people than if Victoria and Daniel crammed with Silvia and the King? I don't know the facts, just pointed out that changing seating and travelling arrenements depending on who will be there is standard practice and that I wouldn't take it as a sign of her being embarressed. I'm not saying she is or isn't, I don't know her. Just pointing out something :p
 
grevinnan said:
I don't think neither Princess Madeleine nor Princess Sofia will leave their respective appearance to chance for such an important event. They may simply have agreed on what to wear and opted for a similar look in order to not stray too far from the tradition Queen Silvia started of wearing black and white. All the royal ladies looked great.
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Silvia haven't always been wearing black and white at the opening of the parliament, in 1976 she wore red, you can see it here: http://www.oppetarkiv.se/video/1464848/ and in 1979 she wore green: http://www.oppetarkiv.se/video/1464958/ It was first in the 1980ies she began the black and white tradition.
Madame Verseau said:
I saw pictures of Princess Lilian during the opening of the Riksdag while she was alive and I think she was sitting up front as well. Was this in deference to being Bertil's widow?
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Lilian and Bertil were always seated up front at the opening of the parliament, as well as Victoria after her 18th birthday, here in 1997: http://www.oppetarkiv.se/video/1465163/riksmotets-oppnande-1997
 
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The Opening of Parliament 2015

The new Court dress for the high ranking ladies in service at Court was introduced in 1988 and according to the essay I'm linking too it had been up for discussion since 1978 to do so in one way or another. To me it seems there was a process where The Queen got to know the traditions of the Court and eventually decided to keep some or start new ones.
http://journals.lub.lu.se/index.php/rig/article/download/4299/3930


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I don't think the new court dress have anything to do with the fact that the royal ladies are dressed in black and white at the opening of the parliament, as the court dress is in dark blue velvet and it's a dress for evening wear.
 
Oh, I agree with you but I was more pointing in the direction of how during her early years at Court the Queen might have had the old Court dress in the back of her mind and eventually both decided to pay homage to tradition by wearing it's colours at The Opening of Parliament and by creating a new one in the style but not the same colour as the old one.


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I think I see the connection you see. Formerly the ladies wore the black and white courtdress to the Openings of Parliament. And when Queen Silvia entered the scene, she took some years to look at these traditions and gradually developed her own ideas how to base new traditions on the old ones. So the new court dress as evening gowns for the ladies-in-waiting, and the b/w outfits for the Opening of Parliament, evolved from the same old tradition.
 
Exactly my thoughts but you managed to put it down on "paper" so much more eloquently than I could.


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A good way to combine tradition with the (at that point) current society IMO.
 
Meraude said:
Silvia haven't always been wearing black and white at the opening of the parliament, in 1976 she wore red, you can see it here: Riksmötets öppnande 1976 | Öppet arkiv | oppetarkiv.se and in 1979 she wore green: Riksmötets öppnande 1979 | Öppet arkiv | oppetarkiv.se It was first in the 1980ies she began the black and white tradition.

Lilian and Bertil were always seated up front at the opening of the parliament, as well as Victoria after her 18th birthday, here in 1997: Riksmötets öppnande 1997 | Öppet arkiv | oppetarkiv.se
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The videos can not be seen outside of Sweden.
 
Mbruno said:
So you are basically saying that they changed the seating arrangements to minimize the picture impact of a lonely, sad Madeleine and thus not feed German tabloid headlines. It looks like my perception about Madeleine being embarassed was right after all.
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No, if you would care to re-read my post you will see that I said exactly the opposite.

The members of the Swedish Royal Family often move things around to suit themselves and this time it was the seating order in Church. As to the Carriage, I should imagine they once again suited themselves.

The SRF are not big on protocol dictating all aspects of life, so seating in the church was their choice and the seating at parliament was protocol.

It baffles me why people try to create a tense and uncomfortable royal family when they are happily just doing their thing. And, if Victoria, Madeleine and Sofia didn't discuss what they intended to wear, I'll happily eat my hat!
 
Mbruno said:
What about Madeleine riding in the King's carriage ?
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It could simply have been the only few minutes they had to chat with their daughter as she arrived earlier in the morning and left in the afternoon.
 
LadyFinn said:
Why would it be inappropriate? Chris attended at the Opening of the Parliament with the rest of the Royal family in 2013. Last year Madeleine didn't attend, so Chris didn't attend either.
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Because he isn't a member of the royal family. This event is for the members of parliament, and the royals. It's insulting to those elected to their positions for the royals to just bring along anyone they want (Chris may be Madeleines husband, but since he isn't royal, that isn't relevant in this case) I didn't realise he had attended before- but that doesn't make it acceptable IMO.
 
Aussie Princess said:
Because he isn't a member of the royal family. This event is for the members of parliament, and the royals.
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Princess Christina and her husband Tord Magnusson have attended the opening of the parliament many years, sitting in the gallery, and no-one have had any complaints about his presence there. The members of the parliament can invite guests to the opening of the parliament, to sit in the gallery, so there is no reason why Chris can't be there too.
 
Stoppa pressarna quotes Hänt i Veckan, which has written about that Victoria was very moved at the Opening of the Parliamentary session.
During the Opening of the Parliament the king gave a very emotional speech in which he raised the issue.
- There is a strong desire to help, to be a human being. Let's take note on that and jointly help people in need, he said, among other things.
During the speech crown princess Victoria became so touched that she could not hold back the tears. As a pregnant mother she clearly feels so strongly for all vulnerable children who now find themselves in need. Hänt i Veckan tells that she on several occasions was comforted by prince Daniel.
- She looked incredibly touched. Victoria loves children very much and she feels a great sadness that so many youngsters are feeling so bad, says a source.
The entire royal family is involved and affected by the large refugee crisis that has hit the world.
Gråtande Victoria fick tröst av Daniel
 
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I think that Victoria has proven more than once to be a sensitive person! Pregnancy hormones mught have help as well!
 
Aussie Princess said:
Because he isn't a member of the royal family. This event is for the members of parliament, and the royals. It's insulting to those elected to their positions for the royals to just bring along anyone they want (Chris may be Madeleines husband, but since he isn't royal, that isn't relevant in this case) I didn't realise he had attended before- but that doesn't make it acceptable IMO.
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Anyone can be invited by a member of Parliament to attend the ceremony. It is also not true that the Opening of the Parliament is for parliamentarians only. In all monarchies you can see that the who-is-who from the military, the judiciary, the corps ddiplomatique, the nobility, etc. attend this sort of ceremonies. Often members of Parliament invite the spouse or the children to attend. I think that is a healthy sign that the so called "peoples' representative" indeed is accessible for all people.
 
Opening of Parliament, Riksdagen 2016

The traditional of opening of Parliament this year takes place on Tuesday 13 September, 2 pm.

Attendance by the Royal Family
Service in connection with the opening of the Parliament, Stockholm Cathedral
The King, The Queen, The Crown Princess, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip, Princess Sofia, Princess Madeleine

Opening of the Parliament, Riksdagshuset
The King, The Queen, The Crown Princess, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip, Princess Sofia, Princess Madeleine

Concert in connection with the Opening of the Parliament, Stockholm Concert Hall
The King, The Queen, The Crown Princess, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip, Princess Sofia, Princess Madeleine

Attendance in the calendar of the Royal Court:
Calendar - Sveriges Kungahus

Opening of Parliament
The Royal Family will traditionally go in cortege from the Royal Palace to Riksdaghuset and arrive shortly before the ceremony.

The theme of this year's opening of the Parliament will be northern Norrland and thereby the traditional provinces (landskap) of Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Jämtland and Ångermanland. The theme will be visible in the programme, food and decorations. The choir will also be from northern Norrland.

Information from the Parliament:
Opening of the 2016 Riksdag session - Riksdagen

Concert
The traditional concert takes every second year place at the Stockholm Concert Hall, the other year the concert takes place at The Royal Opera. The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is in the concert conducted by Kristiina Posk and the concert hosted by Concert Hall Director Stefan Forsberg.

For the first time the concert is live broadcasted at SVT2.

Information from the Stockholm Concert Hall:
Konsert i samband med Riksmötets öppnande | Stockholms Konserthus
 
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