Location: East of the sun and west of the moon, United States
Posts: 6,409
Swedish King Carl Gustaf Queen Silvia and Princess Madeleine attend a memorial sermon for the Tsunami victims in Uppsala Cathedral. The heavy storms in Southern Sweden cancelled Silvia´s trip to Lund.
Thanks for posting the pictures Dennism, they are very nice. The Queen’s airplane couldn’t land at Sturup Airport when she was going to Lund’s Cathedral, because of the hurricane level storms, so she had to turn around and go back to Stockholm – and then went from there to Uppsala Cathedral. The Archbishop held a wonderful worship/devotion called “the God of all solace” during the service.
Why is Madeleine sitting at the chair next to the king in some of the pictures, and in the rest of the pictures, Silvia is sitting next to Carl Gustaf, and Madeleine is sitting next to Silvia? I really can't understand...Can anyone explain?
Swedish Princess Victoria attends a memorial ceremony for the Tsunami victims in Uppsala Cathedral, Sweden on January 8, 2005. (Pictured: Princess Victoria) Photo by Niklas Larsson/Pressens Bild/ABACA </SPAN>
Location: East of the sun and west of the moon, United States
Posts: 6,409
Thanks for posting a photo of the Crown Princess. She was in Skara though. Photo agencies should know these things!
Perhaps for many but the Royal Court did announce this earlier in the week. Anyway, Skara is a town in Västergötland. It has a cathedral which has some parts which date to the 11th century. Very Gothic cathedral. Most of it dates from the 13th century. It is the oldest diocese in Sweden. The city itself was founded in the 10th century which makes it one of the oldest in Sweden.
Is it just me or has the Swedish media not been more outspoken about Victoria's behaviour during this entire situation? She makes her first appearance after 8 days of absence bows her head and cries a bit and everything is swept under the rug? She goes back to being the perfect little princess and back high on that pedestal she has been placed.
It would bequeath Victoria and her future role a lot if she could at least understand her error in this situation so that we don't experience a repeat.
Shame on the Swedish media for completely ignoring Victoria's mistake and her very apparent lack of consideration in this matter.
yeah! Was is a lil bit strange. But maybe she just had the luck, that the press was not in the mood for stories about her or had some better things to write of...
Ale Möller with Shipra Nandy and Maria Stellas. "Dao bidaai / Livadhia". Text and music: trad. India and Greece, arr. Ale Möller.
Song: Rikard Wolff and accordion: Niklas Sundén. "Min Gud" ('My god'). Text and music: Michel Vaucaire/Charles Dumont.
Song: Louise Hoffsten with Benny Andersson's Orchestra. "Have a little faith in me". Text and music: John Hiatt.
Speech by Archbishop KG Hammar.
Ale Möller with song from Louise Hoffsten and Maria Stellas. "Varför skola männskor strida/Xanalego" ('Why do people fight', traditional Salvation Army song, combined with a Greek song). Text: V Dahlquist Musik: H Danks / Trad. Greece.
Earlier today, a National Gathering for Reflection and Fellowship was in the City Hall in Stockholm. King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Princess Madeleine, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Lilian topped the guest list as the Prime Minister and whole Government, the Speaker of the Parliament, the Archbishop, representatives from the Diplomatic Corps and a total of about 1 150 guests gathered. This was not a mourning ceremony, which has been very emphasized by the Government - this was a ceremony for reflection and fellowship, supposed to provide a start when things go back to normal today. These pics are from Svenska Dagbladet:
Location: East of the sun and west of the moon, United States
Posts: 6,409
BBC
King Carl Gustaf of Sweden has led a national ceremony in Stockholm to remember the Swedish victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami. Sweden has suffered the greatest number of deaths per capita of any country outside the earthquake region. Fifty two Swedes have been confirmed dead in the disaster, with more than 600 still missing. The authorities have no information about another 1,000 people, who could have been in the affected region.
In a statement broadcast live on state-run television and radio, the king told survivors and relatives of those killed that he wished he could put everything right again like a fairytale king. But, he added, he was just another mourner.
"We are all just humans without clear answers," he said. "What can I say that could be helpful? It feels as though there are no more words or that they have never existed."
The survivors and relatives were joined by members of the government and royal family at the ceremony in Stockholm. Across the country people watched it on television. The BBC's Lars Bevanger says that Swedish children returning to school after the Christmas and New Year holidays, will find a number of empty desks. In some schools, teachers will be missing. Most schools do not know who are still unaccounted for, because the authorities have decided not to publish the names of those missing.
In other Nordic countries the number of missing people dramatically decreased when such lists were made public, as it became clear some of those listed had in fact returned safely home.
Carl Gustaf: "Nobody dares to take responsibility"
On Monday King Carl Gustaf led a memorial service for the victims of the tsunami catastrophe in Asia with what Svenska Dagbladet called "a strong, personal speech". But earlier in the day another newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, carried a full-length interview with the king, in which he appeared to criticise the government's reaction to the disaster.
Representatives of the government and parliament, the palace and a host of other organisations gathered in Stockholm's Town Hall heard the king implore the young survivors of the tsunami to turn to Sweden's adults for help.
"We adults will listen to you, you who are children and young, to your stories of what you experienced and feel. Show us your drawings, your tears, sorrow and anger. We adults are here to protect and to help you."
Referring to the "many children who have lost one or both parents", the king reminded the audience in the town hall, as well as those watching live on television or listening on the radio, that he also grew up without a father.
"I believe I know what that is like. I myself have been such a child. My father died in a flying accident when I was very small. So I know what it means to grow up without a dad."
Svenska Dagbladet's Karin Thunberg was at the ceremony,
"I was most impressed with the king," she reported. "He came across as a very attentive and sympathetic person."
In the most moving passage of the speech, the king asked how "parents, siblings, relatives, teachers and leaders will manage to handle the loss".
"I wish I had a good answer. Imagine if I, like the king in the fairytales, could make everything all right and end the story with "and they all lived happily ever after". But I, like you, am just a grieving, seeking person."
Archbishop KG Hammar also spoke at the ceremony and told the audience that "our understanding of reality becomes more truthful if we take death into account".
"Sorrow shows the meaning of love," he added.
The last to speak was prime minister Göran Persson.
"Pain is all around us, in our country and throughout the world. But also consideration is growing and spreading between people and generations and across continents," he said.
"Thank you to everyone who has contributed, here at home and abroad. Thank you to all fellow human being, adults and children, for being there when you are needed most."
While both the king and the prime minister spoke of mutual support, the morning's papers brought signs of a rift between the palace and the government over the handling of the catastrophe.
"King criticises foreign office and Laila Freivalds" ran Expressen's headline.
Revealing that he had waited over 36 hours to be briefed on the tragedy unfolding in Asia, King Carl Gustaf said, "In certain circumstances it is better to act than to do nothing at all."
The source of the king's quotes was an in-depth interview in Monday's Dagens Nyheter, in which he described how his only source of information on Boxing Day had been news reports.
"We were at my sister's, Princess Christina, on the Boxing Day, as we are every year. And we all stood there in front of the TV and watched" he told the paper.
"Then we tried to get information from the foreign office... and after a lot of hassle we managed to get hold of cabinet secretary Lars Danielsson on the evening of the 27th."
The king also compared the Swedish reaction to the crisis with that of the Italians.
"We are northerners and Scandinavians. Italians are latin and react in a different way. And it is often rightly said in Sweden that we react slowly but when we do we are extremely effective and organised and go about it calmly and methodically."
But on this occasion the king hinted that in his view the Swedish approach was not necessarily the best one.
"It's better to ring the ambulance and then send it back if it's not needed. But here in Sweden it's often the case that nobody dares to take responsibility," he told DN. "People are afraid to get things going."
"I think it is important that people dare to take responsibility. Then you'll certainly be hung out to dry but it's better than passively standing by."
Linear Mode
