General News about Prince Carl Philip & Princess Sofia, Part 1: June 2015 - June 2016


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Why is it secret? Just because she didn't announce it officially? And it's only natural that she bought it on her maiden name. She wasn't married when she bought it.
 
Madame Verseau said:
I think the question is why Sofia has secret property in her maiden name and why is it coming out now? I believe the press knew all along about the apartment and it's going for a new angle when writing about Sofia. Puff pieces can only go so far. First the plagiarism story now this. I think Sofia's honeymoon with the press is over.
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Don't worry, the press is totally in awe when it comes to Sofia. It's only the other members of the family who get bashed... Sofia can do no wrong in their eyes, as she seems to be considered the "Kate Middleton of Sweden"...:whistling:.

The only strange thing about this purchase is the price... I guess many would say she has worked hard with Project Playground to have such a large amount for the flat. What for then? To spend her time there instead of staying in a hotel when in SA? There is not even need to question anything about her... Defenses will come out in full force.:bang:
 
It isn't such a large amount of money, assuming she took a mortgage and didn't pay cash. And as a future princess of Sweden I doubt that any bank would have refused her a mortgage even triple or tenfold the amount, as it is unlikely she will be unable to pay the monthly fees.

I think that the mortgage costs can be lower than hotel costs, if they use the apartment frequently.

Still, a 250 sq. meters luxery apartment in South Africa for a 'CEO' of a small NGO doesn't look good.
 
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Marengo said:
It isn't such a large amount of money, assuming she took a mortgage and didn't pay cash. And as a future princess of Sweden I doubt that any bank would have refused her a mortgage even triple or tenfold the amount, as it is unlikely she will be unable to pay the monthly fees.

I think that the mortgage costs can be lower than hotel costs, if they use the apartment frequently.

Still, a 250 sq. meters luxery apartment in South Africa for a 'CEO' of a small NGO doesn't look good.
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You didn't read the article well, the apartment has 72 square meters and is 250 meters from Atlantic Ocean.
Expressen has updated their article during the day by that Margareta Thorgren from the press department has said that the court doesn't want to comment.
 
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When it became clear that Sofia (and Carl Philip) wanted an apartment in South Africa, I think that the royal security detail might have had something to say about it. The 24/7 security is one aspect that might not have been Sofias' own choice. And if that kind of security is required, it's probably not going to be a cheap place.
 
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I think that the security issue is looked at differently in SA than in Sweden. From what I heard, the crime rate in SA is very high, so that 24/7 security guarding for appartment house isn't rare. I heard that even some middle class areas have private security services.
 
What is a little funny in this case, is that the swedish press wrote before the wedding that as a princess Sofia can't visit South Africa as much and often she wanted, because of the security reasons.
And at the same time she had bought an apartment in Cape Town.
 
My interpretation is that the security is not specifically for Sofia's apartment, rather it is for the building which has 105 apartments in all.

While as a Princess of Sweden Sofia can no longer work in the same capacity for Project Playground that she did before she was married, she made it clear that she intends to stay involved, so it makes sense for her to get a crash pad in Cape Town especially considering that a very nice one can be acquired for a relatively small amount of money. Also homes are expected to appreciate, so the purchase can be viewed as an investment as well.

IIRC Carl Philip owns 3-4 homes in Sweden, and that's in addition to the family and royal homes he has access to, so Sofia has plenty of places to lay her head in Sweden.
 
It may be the cost of the security is the issue. Sapo, provides 24/7 security to the Royal Couple and the Crownprincess Couple and Princess Estelle; Estelle gets it because she's a future queen. Sofia is married to the fourth in line to the throne. Carl Philip and Madeleine do not get round the clock security, and they only get extensive protection depending on the occassion. Project Playground is not a SRF founded organization; Sofia is the honorary chairwoman. To have constant taxpayer funded protection (I presume the public purse is paying for Sapo) for a royal who will never be queen consort may be a bridge too far. If the CIO is issuing "no comment" to the press, the court knows this looks bad.
 
An additional thought is that Sofia loves spending time in Cape Town, South Africa and bought a home there much like people have second homes in the Alps or the Riviera.

The Expressen article (English interpretation) states, "for long periods Sofia has lived in South Africa and Cape Town." Her long stays seem to be related to Project Playground and she probably plans to continue going to SA for PP but probably also for vacationing as well.
 
Here's some information about the Sea Point where Sofia has the apartment:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Point

Sea Point is a posh part of Capetown apparently, and it has an ugly history of being a "whites only" section during the apartheid era of South Africa. There is diversity in the that part of the city now, and some notables live there. Judging from the pictures there must have been a fire sale in Capetown property in late 2014. You wouldn't be able to get beachfront property at 155,000+ USD in the US, especially in a major metropolitan city.
 
The 24/7 security is for the whole building not just for Sofia. All tenants are protected by this security not just Sofia.
 
:previous: Absolutely. Much ado about nothing. :bang:
 
The "ado" is why is Sofia getting property prior to her marriage, and in another country? It can't be for Project Playground because she's the honorary president now; she had to give up day to day operations when she married in the SRF. Even if Sofia were to go to SA for a PP event, as princess she could stay at the Swedish embassy. Plenty of security there, no extra would be needed. The other "ado" is Sofia is suppose to be spending a lot of time there. Her job is princess of Sweden and she's suppose to do events mostly in Sweden and promote Swedish interests, not for an organization that is not under the umbrella of the SRF.
 
Madame Verseau said:
The "ado" is why is Sofia getting property prior to her marriage, and in another country? It can't be for Project Playground because she's the honorary president now; she had to give up day to day operations when she married in the SRF. Even if Sofia were to go to SA for a PP event, as princess she could stay at the Swedish embassy. Plenty of security there, no extra would be needed. The other "ado" is Sofia is suppose to be spending a lot of time there. Her job is princess of Sweden and she's suppose to do events mostly in Sweden and promote Swedish interests, not for an organization that is not under the umbrella of the SRF.
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I see your point but actually, except for the different Royal charitable foundations, none of the different organisations that the SRF have founded or are involved in was Royal before the took them on. Many organisations are under what you call the "umbrella of SRF" (nice term btw) during the time they have a Royal sponsor and then go on without them. One example of this are the numerous Women's rights organisations championed by Queen Louise and Princess Sibylla whose Royal sponsorship practicality ended after the death of the later. Firstly because there wasn't any queen to take over from her and secondly because Queen Silvia to my knowledge isn't interested in those kind of movements.


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community mobile app
 
Regarding owning property: It's very common that members of all the royal families own property. I don't see what the fuzz is about this. Maybe she just likes South Africa (just like other people like the french riviera or the alps) and wants a holiday property there. It's also neither big or particularly expensive.
 
A lot of royals have second homes outside their country.
Dutch royals have their second home in Italy (Beatrix) and Greece (King and Queen)
Even in South Africa (Irene)
Danish royals are often in their chateau de Caix (France)

It is well known that former Queen Beatrix spent a lot of time in her house in Tuscany even outside holidays time
 
I wonder what Sofia meant with the sentence "to spend a lot of time in South Africa every year". She is a working member of the swedish royal family now, and it would be strange for her to live the, let's say, 4 or 5 months per year, especially because I would think she wants children or with a family it would sound strange IMO. Besides, when she purchased the flat she was already engaged, so she was perfecly aware the the wedding would have taken place.
 
Marty91charmed said:
I wonder what Sofia meant with the sentence "to spend a lot of time in South Africa every year". She is a working member of the swedish royal family now, and it would be strange for her to live the, let's say, 4 or 5 months per year, especially because I would think she wants children or with a family it would sound strange IMO. Besides, when she purchased the flat she was already engaged, so she was perfecly aware the the wedding would have taken place.
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I wondered about that also. Was it a direct quote from Sofia or speculation from journalist.
 
princess maggie said:
I wondered about that also. Was it a direct quote from Sofia or speculation from journalist.
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It was a quote from the article, so I don't think it's what she directly said to them. But it would make sense with the report about her flat.
 
Could be that she will spend a lot of her holidays in South Africa instead of going to ski in Switzerland or langlauf in Norway, hence the appartment in SA.
If she can combine that with some work for PP fine. She will surely pay them a visit then.


I am pretty sure that it is for her holiday time.

Her whole family lives in Sweden so it is obvious that Sweden will remain her living place, where she will work and later educate her children
 
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I thought that they are busy on refurbishing Villa Solbacken, the inheritance from Prince Bertil and Princess Lilian?
 
@Tilla C - Solbacken is still not ready for renovation, not for this year.

@Lady Finn - does SWW have it right about the name "Queen's Pavilion"? Queen's Pavilion is the former name of Haga Palace - Victoria, Daniel, and Estelle's residence.
 
Madame Verseau said:
@Tilla C - Solbacken is still not ready for renovation, not for this year.

@Lady Finn - does SWW have it right about the name "Queen's Pavilion"? Queen's Pavilion is the former name of Haga Palace - Victoria, Daniel, and Estelle's residence.
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Since I get Svensk Damtidning only tomorrow as I live in Finland, I don't know surely what villa they are talking about.
But Wikipedia tells that close to the Rosendal Palace in Djurgården is "Queen's Pavilion" in the east that was used by Queen Desideria and later Queen Sofia. I think that it is the smaller building at the painting. And the comments at Svensk Damtidning's article also point to this villa.
Rosendals slott – Wikipedia
Translation

One photo of the villa
http://tremansfasad.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Drottning-Kristinas-Paviljong.jpg

According to Expressen Extra's article last week, the renovation at Villa Solbacken hasn't even started yet.
 
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@Lady Finn - Rosendal Palace does have a "Queen's Pavilion", and the location is right. Rosendal Palace is now a museum.
 
Cal Philip will move to another house? they are not living in the house of Princess Lilian?
 
Blog Real said:
Cal Philip will move to another house? they are not living in the house of Princess Lilian?
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No, Villa Solbacken, the house of princess Lilian, needs a very large renovation which according to the swedish press hasn't even started yet.
Carl Philip and Sofia live in Djurgården at a house to which the king has the right of disposition.
The house where Carl Philip and Sofia are living, have lived since summer 2011. There are several apartments at the house and Carl Philip and Sofia live in one of them.
http://images.mmcloud.se/api/v1/ima...04a0/980.jpg?6f2f384b4b9b8530ffe22c89c8459c15
 
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