Opening of Parliament 2009
 

Opening of the parliament live.
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The royal family arriving.
Bildextra | Aftonbladet
I haven't been following it much, so I have a question: is this a tradition for the royal ladies to wear dark colours at the opening of the parliament?

I think so, when thinking back, I can only remember
them wearing black, but I may be wrong of course :smile:

Here are a few additional pics of the family arriving:

** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** Pic 4 **

And some from inside the parliament:

** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** Pic 4 **

Both Queen and Princess Victoria look beautiful and elegant.:smile:
Thanks to Coco Chanel for her great creation is a black dress.:flowers:

Photos:
SvenskDam
SvenskDam
SvenskDam

Gallery:
BelgaPicture

A report from svenskdamtidning.se

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The royal family looks very apprehensive during the open carriage trip. It must be nerve wrecking to sit so unprotected as there are after all frequent threats against the family. Especially Queen Silvia and Crown Princess Victoria look uncomfortable.

As much as I love the royal carriages and the traditions I wish they will use another mode of transportation in the future.

They certainly will not use 'another mode of transportation' on June 19th, 2010. ;)

After the Opening of Parliament was stripped off all ceremonial elements in-between 1975 and 1982, certain parts were re-introduced, like the carriage procession, as of 1983.

Queen Silvia has worn only black & white ever since, in an intentional homage to the old court dress, which was worn until 1974 and was made of black velvet with white detailing.
CP Victoria and Princess Madeleine follwed suit, only varying it with different shades of grey.

While I find CP Victoria's appearance this year extremely dowdy, I like Madeleine's suit. The Queen's head piece is a bit mad, but with such a simple black suit it becomes possible - a kind of whimsical 'Je ne sais quoi' touch, which she is able to pull off nicely.

The Swedish ladies look absolutely stunning ... as usual!:smile:

Two lovely sisters
ANP Beeldbank
Victoria
ANP Beeldbank
ANP Beeldbank
The King and the Queen: which way to go?
ANP Beeldbank

Gallery
IBL Bildbyrå

Vad hände här, Carl Philip? - Nyheter - Senaste nytt | Expressen

The royal family at the Royal Opera last night, at the concert of the opening of Swedish Parliament
IBL Bildbyrå

Photos from the Opera last night:
Kronprinsessan Victoria färgstarkast på Operan | Svensk Damtidning
APA-Picturedesk
APA-Picturedesk
APA-Picturedesk
APA-Picturedesk
APA-Picturedesk
APA-Picturedesk
APA-Picturedesk
APA-Picturedesk

Photos from the Opening of the Parliament:
Svensk Damtidning
Svensk Damtidning
Svensk Damtidning
Svensk Damtidning

Thanks to everyone who posted pictures.:flowers: But could someone tell me what this "Opening of Parliament" is? Do they do this every year and is Parliament closed at certain times of the year or something? Sorry if this sounds stupid...I tried looking up on it, but I couldn't find anything that explains what it exactly is.

Are you really serious?
Strikes me as self-explanatory.
In the US, the House of Congress goes into recess as well...
Anyway, this is the annual ceremony after the summer recess that marks the new parliamentary season = The Opening of Parliament, as in the UK and practically every country around the world that happens to have a parliament... the people's representatives take holidays too...

Your questions make lots of sense. What they are actually doing with the "Opening of the ......." is opening or starting a new session. In the US the President delivers his State of the Union speech to the joint congress in January or February when the new session begins. With elections in November any newly elected Senators/Representatives are sworn in in January.

In monarchies the "opening..." tends to have different symbolic and ceremonial traditions due to the King's or Queen's role as sovereigns in the past.

Hope this helps.

Look, I just started my interest with royalty recently, so things that may seem obvious to you aren't necessarily obvious to me. I know that the US House of Congress takes recess, but when they go back into session, I've never seen them make a big deal about it or have some sort of fancy ceremony where they go to an opera afterwards like countries with a parliament (or maybe they do and I've just never paid attention).

But thanks for explaining anyway....;)

Thank you for explaining this to me (and not making me feel like an idiot:smile:). This makes sense to me now.:flowers:

I apologize if my posted resulted in that feeling on your part... I was just truly amazed that neither the expression nor trying to look it up / googling it gave you an idea what it could be, and unfortunately it showed in my post. Again, sorry.
We'll see a lot of 'Opening of Parliament' ceremonies in monarchies over the next weeks, and in each country the role the monarch plays in this is different:
From all the pomp and circumstance including the sovereign wearing the crown (UK), to the monarch being invited as guest by Parliament to watch the opening from a gallery without actually declaring it open herself (Denmark).
Countries with different customs, which are based on a rather complex mix of past traditions, the constitutional position of the sovereign, and modern-day approach.
In Sweden, The King is the first to hold a speech, which is his own brief summary of the year on a non-political level; afterwards he proclaims the paliamentary season open, and is followed by the Prime Minister who holds the government's political speech.

I note that members have posted pictures of the Royal Family at the Opera. Is there a series of events held to celebrate the Opening of the Parliament?

Yes.
A church visit in the morning, a carriage ride from the Palace to the parliament building, the Opening of Parliament ceremony itself and the concert at the Royal Opera at night are the annual events on that day in Sweden.

When is Opening of Parliament this year? Is there one?

October 5. Its in October because of the election