Discussion about Sofia Hellqvist's Past & Future Role in the Royal Family

[Princess Robijn]

It's a picture from her official biography.

Fröken Sofia Hellqvists biografi - Sveriges Kungahus [NS4 version]

 

[MARG]

Yes, MARG. It is indeed fascinating how two people can sometimes read the same thing and come up with different interpretations.: cool:

And why exactly was the journalist "sleazy" for asking Victoria her brother's upcoming wedding? If you read the interview it was during the course of a relaxed question and answer period when lots of personal questions were being asked....i.e. about Princess Estelle's response to her mother's absence. It was perfectly legit for the reporter to ask about the upcoming wedding...ANY Royal with a family member having a wedding coming up would have been asked that question.

And the question was about the wedding in general...not about Sofia.

The question might be considered "loaded" by some SH fans but that is hardly the fault of the journalist is it?

Finally...what other recent Royal fiancée has had a thread put up to discuss her "PAST, and her future role" within her new family? Catherine Middleton? Stephanie de Lannoy?

I am not a "fan" of Sofia, I know little about her except that which has headlined the news, published by the Court and hashed out on this forum. Would it have been easier had she been a little more of a conventional bride-to-be, yes of course. But I am actually going to reply to why I described the journalist as sleazy.

Crown Princess Victoria was on a short and quite intense Official Visit on behalf of King and Country. The question asked had no place in that discussion, namely about her tour, just as the question;

"Speaking of diplomacy, Sweden is experiencing after a diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia right now. What do you think the royal family can play the role there?" was, and her reply "
- It is of course so that I follow developments at home. So it is. But I'm here to focus on Korea

Then came;

"Summer wedding between Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist, what are the feelings about that?
- You may come back in June. Now we are only in March. What will you write about in June, then? You can not burn all the gunpowder before.
A short comment then?
- No, I will not answer that. There I will return to.
How does it feel to get a new person in the family?
- But you, we will talk again (laughs)".

Hardly the terse response we have be told of. For Victoria to have answered with a sweet platitude, "I can't wait for the wedding" or some such, would have opened a dialogue with the media present and she would have been bombarded by further questions regarding "The Wedding".

Her laughing response of "No Comment at this time" was to shut down such a situation. It had nothing to do with her personal feeling about Sofia, Carl Philip, and the wedding, and everything to do with the job at hand; The Official Visit to South Korea. "But I'm here to focus on Korea"

The journalist was trying to trap Victoria into making an indiscrete statement, both diplomatically and personally. To me, that's sleazy.

In the final analysis, ironically, her "no comment" response has been lauded as proof positive that she does not like her future sister-in-law and is not looking forward to the wedding. Reading the above, I don't see it.

 

[Skippy]

Finally someone with a sober look at that particular moment. It just goes to show that some people will take anything to look for a sign that the royal family secretly really doesn't like her. Only because those people really don't like her themselves, because She With Her Past, and they can't imagine why the family does.

Even if each and every member of the family would show on camera voicing their "approval" or have a written statement published - some people really would just not believe it and interpret it as a sign to fool the public. There is also something that's called quibbling. Or to say it in Dutch "spijkers op laag water zoeken". Very tiring.

 

[Nice Nofret]

.. it is not a personal thing about not liking SH to marry CP (how often does one have to repeat that, i wonder?) she may be a very nice person for all we know - but still her past makes her a bad choice for the job at hand. It will be very hard to overcome the existing footage of her naked and frolicing etc. - if ever that will be achieved. Those pictures will come up again and again. And she - and with her the royal family of Sweden, will have a very hard time to be taken seriously by conservative states/people...

So in my eyes - it is a very unfortunate thing, this wedding.

 

[LadyFinn]

Hardly the terse response we have be told of. For Victoria to have answered with a sweet platitude, "I can't wait for the wedding" or some such, would have opened a dialogue with the media present and she would have been bombarded by further questions regarding "The Wedding".

Her laughing response of "No Comment at this time" was to shut down such a situation. It had nothing to do with her personal feeling about Sofia, Carl Philip, and the wedding, and everything to do with the job at hand; The Official Visit to South Korea. "But I'm here to focus on Korea"

The journalist was trying to trap Victoria into making an indiscrete statement, both diplomatically and personally. To me, that's sleazy.

In the final analysis, ironically, her "no comment" response has been lauded as proof positive that she does not like her future sister-in-law and is not looking forward to the wedding. Reading the above, I don't see it.

I'm quite sure that if Victoria would have answered to Aftonbladet's Mattias Sandberg "I'm very happy for my brother/for the both of them", The questions would have ended to that. Sandberg has a good relationship with Victoria and Daniel, has always had. I think that Sandberg was totally surprised that Victoria didn't want to answer to his question with some normal and polite sentence. And as a reporter, Sandberg wanted to be the first one to get a comment about the engagement/wedding from Victoria.
Victoria hasn't commented on Carl Philip's and Sofia's engagement in any way. After Madeleine's wedding there was a page at the court website where the families congratulated the engaged couple. Nothing like that after Carl Philip's engagement. Well, it was announced suddenly, when part of the royal family had already started their holiday. Of course, the king and queen attended at Carl Philip's and Sofia's press conference and told about their happiness then.
Lyckönskningar - Sveriges Kungahus [NS4 version]

On the day Madeleine's engagement was published, Victoria and Daniel were at an work event in Gothenburg. Victoria had no problem to comment the engagement to the press.
"Does the Crown Princess have some good advice to her sister?
- Good advice, I do not know if it is needed. But it is very nice, says the Crown Princess to Expressen.
And makes thumbs up - while she looks very pleased."
Victoria till Expressen_ _Det är väldigt roligt!_ _ Nyheter _ Expressen

To Göteborgs-Posten on the same day: "It is incredibly nice. We are all very happy".
_Det är fantastiskt roligt_ - Göteborg - Göteborgs-Posten

I also find it very interesting, that Madeleine kept the really mean comments about Sofia and the links to her nude photos at her official Facebook for many months.

Party-Tagebuch der neuen Schweden-Prinzessin Sofia Helqvist - Royals - Bild.de

 

[carlota]

i wonder if sofia's friends like this lady, Camilla Sundman, will be invited to the wedding. i think they will be 'conveniently forgotten'...

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

I'm quite sure that if Victoria would have answered to Aftonbladet's Mattias Sandberg "I'm very happy for my brother/for the both of them", The questions would have ended to that. Sandberg has a good relationship with Victoria and Daniel, has always had. I think that Sandberg was totally surprised that Victoria didn't want to answer to his question with some normal and polite sentence. And as a reporter, Sandberg wanted to be the first one to get a comment about the engagement/wedding from Victoria.
Victoria hasn't commented on Carl Philip's and Sofia's engagement in any way. After Madeleine's wedding there was a page at the court website where the families congratulated the engaged couple. Nothing like that after Carl Philip's engagement. Well, it was announced suddenly, when part of the royal family had already started their holiday. Of course, the king and queen attended at Carl Philip's and Sofia's press conference and told about their happiness then.
Lyckönskningar - Sveriges Kungahus [NS4 version]

On the day Madeleine's engagement was published, Victoria and Daniel were at an work event in Gothenburg. Victoria had no problem to comment the engagement to the press.
"Does the Crown Princess have some good advice to her sister?
- Good advice, I do not know if it is needed. But it is very nice, says the Crown Princess to Expressen.
And makes thumbs up - while she looks very pleased."
Victoria till Expressen_ _Det är väldigt roligt!_ _ Nyheter _ Expressen

To Göteborgs-Posten on the same day: "It is incredibly nice. We are all very happy".
_Det är fantastiskt roligt_ - Göteborg - Göteborgs-Posten

I also find it very interesting, that Madeleine kept the really mean comments about Sofia and the links to her nude photos at her official Facebook for many months.

Party-Tagebuch der neuen Schweden-Prinzessin Sofia Helqvist - Royals - Bild.de

Agree 100%! At the hen afternoon, Victoria only showed up shortly, didn't mingle with the girls, took a long walk instead and left.

At the end of the day, they have to get along, especially in the public eye, but there doesnt seem to be any additional effort.

 

[JR76]

Agree 100%! At the hen afternoon, Victoria only showed up shortly, didn't mingle with the girls, took a long walk instead and left.

At the end of the day, they have to get along, especially in the public eye, but there doesnt seem to be any additional effort.

Victoria took a walk while the others jumped into the jacuzzi but stayed the night and left the next morning.


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community mobile app

 

[LadyFinn]

Victoria took a walk while the others jumped into the jacuzzi but stayed the night and left the next morning.


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community mobile app

Yes, but the house was quite big, so we don't know how much Victoria mingled with Sofia. Victoria might have had some of her old friends there, like Charlotte Cederlund, the wife of one of Carl Philip's best friends, Christoffer Cederlund and the sister of Victoria's best friend Caroline Nilsson.
To me it looked that Victoria made her duty, possibly even requested by the king to attend and of course because of her brother. She knew that there would be photographers, doesn't want the royal family have a scandal "no one of the royal family attended at Sofia's hen party", so she showed herself at the hen party because Madeleine was abroad and tried to get from it as easily as possible.

 

[Archduchess Zelia]

I love that once you dare defending Sofia from unwarranted hatred, you suddenly become her "fan"

she may be a very nice person for all we know - but still her past makes her a bad choice for the job at hand..

How can you know that? CP and Sofia haven't even married yet – on what exactly do you base the premonition that she's a bad choice for the job without having seen her in action in said job as a functioning royal? (How often does one have to repeat that, I wonder...)

Yes, but the house was quite big, so we don't know how much Victoria mingled with Sofia.

That's right, we don't know. As a matter of fact, for all we know, Sofia and Victoria could easily have spent the entire evening together, literally not having left each other out of sight. We just don't know

 

[Lee-Z]

Don't know if this has been posted, but it made me LOL:
Sofia Hellqvist: Sie war nicht immer ein Hingucker! | BUNTE.de
Bunte (german mag) compares a young Sofia to "looks a bit like a female version of Harry Potter"

google translated

 

[Lady Nimue]

I'm quite sure that if Victoria would have answered to Aftonbladet's Mattias Sandberg "I'm very happy for my brother/for the both of them", The questions would have ended to that. Sandberg has a good relationship with Victoria and Daniel, has always had. I think that Sandberg was totally surprised that Victoria didn't want to answer to his question with some normal and polite sentence. And as a reporter, Sandberg wanted to be the first one to get a comment about the engagement/wedding from Victoria.Victoria hasn't commented on Carl Philip's and Sofia's engagement in any way.

Exactly so. It is significant imo.

After Madeleine's wedding there was a page at the court website where the families congratulated the engaged couple. Nothing like that after Carl Philip's engagement. Well, it was announced suddenly, when part of the royal family had already started their holiday. Of course, the king and queen attended at Carl Philip's and Sofia's press conference and told about their happiness then.

On the day Madeleine's engagement was published, Victoria and Daniel were at an work event in Gothenburg. Victoria had no problem to comment the engagement to the press.

"Does the Crown Princess have some good advice to her sister?
- Good advice, I do not know if it is needed. But it is very nice, says the Crown Princess to Expressen. And makes thumbs up - while she looks very pleased."

To Göteborgs-Posten on the same day: "It is incredibly nice. We are all very happy".

A good summation. It takes very little to say something polite. It took the same amount of effort to deflect the question as it would have taken to make a simple statement. Puzzling.

I also find it very interesting, that Madeleine kept the really mean comments about Sofia and the links to her nude photos at her official Facebook for many months.

The most telling and uncomfortable fact of all.

But....it is what it is. It is what it is.

 

[LadyFinn]

According to Expressen's live reporting, the court will publish today at 12.00 that Sofia will become a princess.

EDIT
Now it is official, after the wedding we have HRH princess Sofia, the duchess of Värmland.
Kommuniké från Riksmarskalken - Sveriges Kungahus

 

[Marty91charmed]

it was obvious and exepcted, but I am nonetheless very disapointed...

 

[princess carmen]

I am happy she will receive the title she is marrying a prince and should have it as his wife.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Interesting, since we all know that Jonas would only have become a Duke.

 

[LadyFinn]

Aftonbladet writes that ever since Sofia and Prince Carl Philip met in 2010, she began to prepare for life as royalty.
- Carl Philip and Sofia have known each other for years. Already then began preparations for an upcoming new role as a member of the royal family. Sofia has the full support of the court and of course from the royal family that she is prepared in her upcoming new role as representative of the royal, said Margareta Thorgren from the press department.
Prior to his and Victoria's wedding in 2010, Daniel had Jan-Eric Warren from the court as a mentor.
- It was my job to help Daniel to get in on a good way and get an introduction course for quite a long time, says Warren, who between 2009 and 2012 taught Daniel all about how the court is constructed.
- And then there was of course also a lot of history and political science.
Warren is not involved in the Sofia's preparations. Thorgren says that the situation differs from Daniel's because he married a future head of state, but Sofia of course receives training in, among other things, the Swedish form of government and the monarchy's mission. It is not about groveling of books in the classroom, but rather to be involved and participate. Media training comes from Thorgren and information department.
Sofia's mentor Barbro Ehnbom is convinced that Sofia will fulfill her princess role with success:
- She has a natural talent for this. Brilliant. She will become such a professional representative of Sweden that it will be great fun for everyone.
Drillats till prinsessa sedan första mötet _ Nyheter _ Aftonbladet

 

[muriel]

- She has a natural talent for this. Brilliant. She will become such a professional representative of Sweden that it will be great fun for everyone.
Drillats till prinsessa sedan första mötet _ Nyheter _ Aftonbladet

I am sure the Swedish public wish her well in her endeavour to represent them.

 

[Mbruno]

Interesting, since we all know that Jonas would only have become a Duke.

Women use their husband's titles as a matter of courtesy. Men like Jonas, on the other hand, do not usually take their wives' titles.

Sofia's title and style will be the same as Princess Lilian's (the last wife of a Swedish prince and royal duke). I don't see anything unusual about that.

Drillats till prinsessa sedan första mötet _ Nyheter _ Aftonbladet[/URL]

Sofia of course should have learned about "the Swedish system of government and the monarchy's mission" at school, but, in any case, I am surprised she is receiving instruction in history and political science. As the wife of the King's second child, I don't expect her to perform official state functions that would require that kind of expertise.

 

[Pranter]

Second son?

 

[Mbruno]

Second son?

I meant second child of course.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Sofia of course should have learned about "the Swedish system of government and the monarchy's mission" at school, but, in any case, I am surprised she is receiving instruction in history and political science. As the wife of the King's second son, I don't expect her to perform official state functions that would require that kind of expertise.

As a member of the Bernadotte dynasty and the SRF, it is imperative that she at the very least is knowledgeable about the Crown she represents, it's history and the basics of how the government works.

Imagine she is seated next to someone at the Nobels or at a State dinner who compliments her on her resemblance to Desiree Clary? As a Bernadotte she should at least know who that is!

 

[Tilia C.]

I'm sure that a member of the Royal House must know more about "the Swedish system of government and the monarchy's mission" than the stuff an average student learns at school. To me it is no surprise that she received instruction about these topics.

 

[LadyFinn]

Sofia of course should have learned about "the Swedish system of government and the monarchy's mission" at school, but, in any case, I am surprised she is receiving instruction in history and political science. As the wife of the King's second child, I don't expect her to perform official state functions that would require that kind of expertise.

Sofia doesn't get instruction in history and political science according to Aftonbladet's article, the article tells that Daniel got it.
From the article I posted
"Prior to his and Victoria's wedding in 2010, Daniel had Jan-Eric Warren from the court as a mentor.
- It was my job to help Daniel to get in on a good way and get an introduction course for quite a long time, says Warren, who between 2009 and 2012 taught Daniel all about how the court is constructed.
- And then there was of course also a lot of history and political science."

 

[Mbruno]

Sofia doesn't get instruction in history and political science according to Aftonbladet's article, the article tells that Daniel got it.
From the article I posted
"Prior to his and Victoria's wedding in 2010, Daniel had Jan-Eric Warren from the court as a mentor.
- It was my job to help Daniel to get in on a good way and get an introduction course for quite a long time, says Warren, who between 2009 and 2012 taught Daniel all about how the court is constructed.
- And then there was of course also a lot of history and political science."

Sorry, I misunderstood your original post. It makes more sense now.

 

[Marengo]

The editor of the Dutch magazine 'royalty' (and presentor at our largest daily entertainment programme: RTL boulevard) has dedicated his weekly column to the upcoming nuptuals.

Under the title 'why not' he explains one of the dilemmas of 21st century monarchies: the public wants them to marry whomever they fall in love with but at the same time there are lots of factors that need to be taken into account. Although the partner doesn't need to be royal or noble anymore, these other factors prevent a real free choice, esp. for the first in line. He also wonders how people will react if they are requested to curtsy to a woman who showed herself nude in pictures for a living and who showed so much of herself to Sweden in a reality tv programme.

He concludes that the Swedish king and queen may have had problems with the match in the beginning, they later may have thought: 'why not?'. He calls the prince lucky, as he suspects that in other monarchies, also in The Netherlands, the prince may have been urged to make a different choice.

I think he is right about that, a (wo)man with such a resume would be unthinkable to ever get the green light from Q. Beatrix. Apparently she and Claus already had their doubts with all present daughter-in-laws, who all were academically educated carreer women from upper-middle-class backgrounds (source: Jutta Chorus, 'Beatrix. Dwars door alle weerstand heen').

Waarom niet? - Royalty Online

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

The heir is always a different matter, CP is unimportant in the end. I'd bet a lot of money on WA not being allowed to marry Mabel. Maxima was ok because you cannot hold somebody accountable for a family member's failures.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Marengo, that article is excellent and thoughtful. Thanks for drawing it to our attention because it articulates my ideas in a nutshell.

"Why not" indeed? Where to draw the line between the very human desire to marry someone for love and compatibility while taking into account the standards that all monarchies must take consider-no matter how "modern"?

One would hope these princes and princesses would consider the dignity, history, and image of the Dynasties they represent as well as their personal inclinations, but this has not proven to be the case at all. They seem unable/unwilling to accept that quite frankly, their privilege and position demand that they consider something other than their personal feelings when choosing a spouse.

ME FIRST seems the way to go now, among regular people and Royalty. I think we are on a very slippery slope.

 

[Archduchess Zelia]

Yeah – royals marrying people they love? Please, now. Arranged marriages all the way. God forbid the possibility of plebs navigating their way into royal families, amirite?

 

[Marengo]

You must be one of the few who is still in favour of arranged marriages, Zelia. Fact is that of the younger generation of royals, there are still quite a few who supposedly were pressured to end a previous relationship and had to look further. Not because the lady in question was not royal or noble, but because of other factors. It apparently happened to all three younger European kings at least and perhaps even to the Danish CP. However, they all found another partner and few will say that their present marriages were arranged or are unhappy.