Article at Expressen yesterday:
Here are the women in Crown Princess Victoria's innermost circle.
They learned to know each other when they were children and went to the same school. At Enskilda Gymnasiet Victoria made friendships for the rest of her life.
Today, the inner circle is a collection of successful, wealthy and famous women. They live at exclusive addresses in Stockholm - fashionable Östermalm, Lidingö and Bromma. Several of them, and their parents, have a close relationship with King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia. There is also another thing that unites the eight women - parenthood. Several of the Crown Princess's close friends have children, which means they meet regularly so that the children can play with each other.
Leonie Persson is married with billionaire Karl-Johan Persson, CEO and co-owner of H & M. The couple has three children. Leonie grew up at Lidingö in Stockholm and, just like her husband, studied at Enskilda gymnasiet in Stockholm. She has also studied the design of famous Parsons in New York.
When Leonie turned 40, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel were two obvious guests. Leonie belongs to the small crowd called Crown Princess Victoria's innermost circle. Leonie currently runs her own design and interior design company and is a member in no less than five corporate boards.
Caroline Nilsson, born Kreuger, founded 2014 her own jewelry brand Kreuger Jewellery, which has made and sold luxury rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets. The flagship in the collection has been the "Kreuger Butterfly". The jewelery is worn by, among other friends, the Crown Princess.
Caroline worked very hard with the exclusive jewellery making.
- It lasted for seven years, now I have it more like a hobby because I have some new exciting things going on. I'm a bit of an entrepreneur, like to create things - and now I'm going to take the next step, she says.
Caroline's late father, Björn Kreuger, stood the king very close. Caroline's mother Agneta Kreuger is one of the Queen's closest friends.
Caroline is also one of Crown Princess Victoria's oldest friends:
- We are old friends. She is a lovely friend, and we often meet with the kids, it's very nice. We have fun with the kids I would say. My children are nine and ten while Prince Oscar is two and Princess Estelle goes to preschool, but they play well together.
Caroline admires the Crown Princess - for several reasons:
- She does a brilliant job and at the same time is a wonderful mom. When she is with her children she is very present, fun and kind. I think the children think they have a very lovely mom. She loves to be out in nature so her children can learn to play outdoors.
Caroline Dinkelspiel has worked for the TV4 Group and HBO. Caroline and Victoria became quickly became best friends at school. In the late 90's, she traveled with the Crown Princess to the United States - while Victoria had suffered from eating disorders. Caroline studied at Yale (1998-1999) - at the same time she was a great support for the Crown Princess. She has also studied law.
Since 2003 Caroline is married to financier Peder Dinkelspiel, son of former EU minister Ulf Dinkelspiel and his wife Louise. The couple lives in Östermalm in Stockholm.
Now, after four years at HBO, she has new plans for the future:
- I will start a business together with Eva Swartz Grimaldi, focusing on projects in culture, Caroline reveals.
Josephine Génetay, "Jossan" to her friends, is one of Crown Princess Victoria's closest friends:
- I think the work the Crown Princess does as Sweden's representative, for the environment and all other issues she engages in, is admirable, says Jossan. And even though she has a hectic schedule, she protects the people close to her. It's also admirable, I think.
Jossan is close to the royal family, she is queen Silvia's goddaughter. She is married to PT Anderson Zapata and mother to four-year-old son. The family lives in Östermalm in central Stockholm.
Jossan works as scriptwriter and producer with film and television. She runs company Josephine Génetay Productions, but also gym Rawhouse Calisthenics with her husband. Jossan has produced no less than seven plays to the famous theater district West End in London. Now she is actual with new exciting things:
- I'm currently writing on two series for Viaplay, and have several other projects under development, she says, somewhat secretive to Expressen.
Martina Bonde Liska is also included in the inner circle. Martina was a classmate with Victoria at Enskilda gymnasiet, where they became very close friends. She is educated economist and criminologist, but since 2014 she works at Arvid Wærner's Funeral Bureau in Stockholm. Martina also runs her own company where she works with Act Therapy - a kind of care management:
- It stands for Acceptance and commitment therapy, and is an interesting form of therapy where you work with grief management, crisis management and regular discussion therapy.
About her close friend Crown Princess Victoria, she says:
- She's a very nice friend.
Martina lives with her husband Karl and three children in a floor in Östermalm.
Andrea Brodin lives with her boyfriend Cedric Notz, who was also bestman at Chris O'Neill and Princess Madeleine's wedding. The family lives in a luxurious villa on Lidingö. They became a couple at Princess Madeleine's wedding: "Totally unexpected", Andrea commented afterwards in Svensk Damtidning.
Andrea is part of the Crown Princess Victoria's innermost circle and is close friend of the royal family. She works with interior design and as a stylist. She also runs the interior blog "Mellan damm och glam", where she gives personal tips on interior design. She has written the interior book "Gör om hemma", but is perhaps best known from the "Arga Snickaren" program on Channel 5 and as a decor profile in TV4's morning show.
Anna Jussil Broms, mother of three children, became close friend with Victoria during their common school time. At Ensklda Gymnasiet, she and the rest of the crown princess circle formed a covenant that they will follow each other through life.
Anna is a qualified lawyer. She lives with her family, husband Michael Broms and children - in a two-star villa in a fun-style style in the Stockholm suburb of Bromma.
Anna works as a lawyer at the agency DLA Piper. There she is focused on commercial agreements regarding IT, technology and intellectual property rights. She is also, according to the company's website, active in the agency's corporate group, with focus on company acquisitions and partnerships.
Kronprinsessan Victorias innersta krets – så lever de i dag
