General News about King Carl Gustaf & Queen Silvia 1: February 2016 - December 2023


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Queen Silvia has given an interview to Vårdfokus, magazine of Vårdförbundet (The Swedish Association of Health Professionals). The interview was done in October.
At the interview the reporter writes that the queen is a royal super professional. After a while, the interview feels more like a conversation with an old friend. The queen tells how she chose nurses to her closest employees when she became queen. She speaks about her mother's dementia.
When the queen is asked how she herself wants to be treated by her loved ones when she grows old, she laughs and says that "maybe I am already".
- It is precisely that my surroundings, not just my family members, understand the situation I am in. That with warmth, respect, love and consideration you are next to me, not in front of me, not behind me, the queen answers.
On behalf of her entire family, the queen thanks everyone who works in health care and care for the elderly, for fantastic efforts, not least during the pandemic.
Drottning Silvia hyllar vårdens hjältar - Vårdfokus
Translation

Short video/slideshow
Vårdfokus - Vårdfokus möter drottning Silvia _ Facebook
 
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The board of the King Carl XVI Gustaf 50th Anniversary Fund for Science, Technology and the Environment decided at its meeting on November 18 with H.M The King as Chairman to appoint Professor André M de Roos as the twentysixth holder of King Carl XVI Gustaf's professorship in environmental science for 2021/22.
Professor de Roos is Professor of Theoretical Ecology at the Department of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Innehavare av H.M. Konungens professur i miljövetenskap utsedd - Sveriges Kungahus
 
SVT Morgonstudion showed a clip from SVT's annual program "Året med kungafamiljen" (The Year with the Royal Family).

The king said that Sweden has not succeeded in its corona handling and calls it a failure.
- I think we have failed, a large number of people have died, and it is terrible. You think of all the family members who have been unable to say goodbye to their deceased family members. I think it is a heavy and traumatic experience not to be able to say a warm goodbye. The Swedish people have suffered enormously.
Henrik Wenander, professor of Public Law at Lund University, says that this type of criticism is startling, because it's unusual that the king speaks like this. He shouldn't speak in a way that can be seen as having a different opinion than the government. But he perhaps should comment on this, as he should also be a symbolic leader, even in crises.
Kungen om Sveriges coronahantering_ ”Vi har misslyckats”
Translation

Video at SVT's website
Kungen om pandemin_ ”Jag anser att vi har misslyckats” _ SVT Nyheter
 
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LadyFinn said:
SVT Morgonstudion showed a clip from SVT's annual program "Året med kungafamiljen" (The Year with the Royal Family).

The king said that Sweden has not succeeded in its corona handling and calls it a failure.
- I think we have failed, a large number of people have died, and it is terrible. You think of all the family members who have been unable to say goodbye to their deceased family members. I think it is a heavy and traumatic experience not to be able to say a warm goodbye. The Swedish people have suffered enormously.
Henrik Wenander, professor of Public Law at Lund University, says that this type of criticism is startling, because it's unusual that the king speaks like this. He shouldn't speak in a way that can be seen as having a different opinion than the government. But he perhaps should comment on this, as he should also be a symbolic leader, even in crises.
Kungen om Sveriges coronahantering_ ”Vi har misslyckats”
Translation
Click to expand...

He's right.

A report published very recently backs up what the King is saying.

Yet, the whole Swedish media establishment and opinion elite is up in arms!
The King is criticizing the government! The King criticize the official handling of the pandemic! - How dare the King say something like, just because it's correct! He should be censored! He should be made to apologize!
- Never mind the now almost 8.000 dead, it's unacceptable that the king dare point that out.

- That's pretty much the official reaction...

With a population of 60 % of Sweden, Denmark has one-eight the number of dead, almost 1.000.
Finland and Norway with each half the population of Sweden have less than one tenth the number of dead.
Sweden, with a population of 10 million, has 5.500-6.000 more dead than the other four Scandinavian countries put together, with a combined population of some 17-18 million.

- But it's King Carl Gustaf who is the wrong here, for basically saying the Swedish Corona strategy has failed. :whistling:

Yeah, right... :humbug:
 
It should be noted that The King says that "we have failed". By that he implies that Sweden as a whole have failed. Not that the government and parliament have failed. The few reactions I've seen so far are more surprised about what he said than critical of what said. Though I'm sure the backlash is coming. Most importantly judging from what I hear from my social interactions irl (very few) and online His Majesty has his finger on the pulse of public opinion and a majority of the Swedes agrees with what he says.
 
Muhler said:
Indeed, the backlash is coming: Here is what they say in Svensk Damtidning: https://www.svenskdam.se/kungligt/kritik-efter-kungens-ord-om-stefan-lofven/7157574
- According to them and those they have chosen to quote, the King is totally in the wrong... :whistling:
Click to expand...
The professor and the political commentator quoted seems more surprised by than critical off HM's expressed opinion. The most critical one is the editor-in-chief of Svensk Damtidning who has everything to gain from stirring the pot. The magazine calls itself "the royal magazine" but is nothing more than a cheap tabloid.
During the lunch news on SVT, Sweden's public broadcaster, it wasn't even top news but was the fifth news reported. But I do expect more criticism to come during the news.
 
it does not seem to me that any country has done all that well. Countries like Germany that at first had a low rate of infection are now worrying as the figures have gone up and up..
 
LadyFinn said:
SVT Morgonstudion showed a clip from SVT's annual program "Året med kungafamiljen" (The Year with the Royal Family).

The king said that Sweden has not succeeded in its corona handling and calls it a failure.
- I think we have failed, a large number of people have died, and it is terrible. You think of all the family members who have been unable to say goodbye to their deceased family members. I think it is a heavy and traumatic experience not to be able to say a warm goodbye. The Swedish people have suffered enormously.
Henrik Wenander, professor of Public Law at Lund University, says that this type of criticism is startling, because it's unusual that the king speaks like this. He shouldn't speak in a way that can be seen as having a different opinion than the government. But he perhaps should comment on this, as he should also be a symbolic leader, even in crises.
Kungen om Sveriges coronahantering_ ”Vi har misslyckats”
Translation

Video at SVT's website
Kungen om pandemin_ ”Jag anser att vi har misslyckats” _ SVT Nyheter
Click to expand...


A surprising statement for a non-partisan Head of State as it can be construed as a direct criticism of the policies of the Swedish government.


Will that prop up support in Parliament for a Swedish republic ?
 
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Mbruno said:
[...]
Will that prop up support in Parliament for a Swedish republic ?
Click to expand...
No. There's been a republican majority in parliament for decades so this won't change anything.
 
Prime minister Stefan Löfven was asked about The King's comment during a still ongoing press conference and replied: "What The King says, that so many people have died in the care system, is quite correctly a failure".

Later he were asked if The King's statement was the official view on the Swedish strategy and replied: "I don't know what question was asked I only heard the answer".
It seems that the authorities have been backed into a corner by HM's comment. No one could argue that a strategy that has lead to almost 8000 deaths are a success. Especially not when the comment comes in the middle of a second wave that we don't even see the start of the end of yet. At the same time the government can't openly criticise the head of state. Not when what he says are probably in agreement with the opinion of a large segment of the population.
 
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The Royal House commented on the king's statement. Margareta Thorgren sent a text message to Expressen
"The king's answer is non-political, it is obvious that he is referring to Sweden, to our entire society. The king expresses empathy for all who have been affected and died in the pandemic."
Stefan Löfven, här är frågan som kungen fick
Translation
 
LadyFinn said:
The Royal House commented on the king's statement. Margareta Thorgren sent a text message to Expressen
"The king's answer is non-political, it is obvious that he is referring to Sweden, to our entire society. The king expresses empathy for all who have been affected and died in the pandemic."
Stefan Löfven, här är frågan som kungen fick
Translation
Click to expand...

Sounds like damage-control. Of course, this answer was going to be interpreted political... And while truly sad that it happened, it is much better to acknowledge that things went wrong than to pretend that it didn't while the evidence is there.

N.B. I guess it was picked up by the news worldwide as well - at least the Dutch 'NOS liveblog' on all things Covid-19 related picket it up.
 
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Denville said:
it does not seem to me that any country has done all that well. Countries like Germany that at first had a low rate of infection are now worrying as the figures have gone up and up..
Click to expand...

Reported Cases and Deaths by Country, Territory, or Conveyance. The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting 218 countries and territories around the world and 2 international conveyances. The day is reset after midnight GMT+0. The list of countries and territories and their continental regional classification is based on the United Nations Geoscheme.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
 
Denville said:
it does not seem to me that any country has done all that well. Countries like Germany that at first had a low rate of infection are now worrying as the figures have gone up and up..
Click to expand...

Few countries did really well (although I must say, they did relatively well here; the fact that many are really worried about the health care systems helps (although especially the government itself isn't that good in compliance); as well as responding really quickly with strict regulations when cases start to rise); but some countries clearly did much worse than others.
 
Somebody said:
Sounds like damage-control. Of course, this answer was going to be interpreted political... And while truly sad that it happened, it is much better to acknowledge that things went wrong than to pretend that it didn't while the evidence is there.
Click to expand...

When you say "And while truly sad that it happened, it is much better to acknowledge that things went wrong than to pretend that it didn't while the evidence is there", do you refer to the 8,000 deaths, the king's answer, or the political interpretation?
 
Tatiana Maria said:
When you say "And while truly sad that it happened, it is much better to acknowledge that things went wrong than to pretend that it didn't while the evidence is there", do you refer to the 8,000 deaths, the king's answer, or the political interpretation?
Click to expand...

The 'truly sad thing that happened' that I referred to is the high number of deaths; that the king acknowledged and about which he imho rightly concluded that 'we have failed' (to protect the vulnerable and others who died or might experience the damage it did to their health for a long time to come).
 
I think the king was wonderful to speak out. Compared to their neighboring countries the death rate is several times maybe 4 times worse. It was mentioned in the New York Times with a picture of the king. I can’t remember the Royal family ever mentioned in that paper, just when the two daughters married. Needless to say there are very few Americans who know Sweden has a royal family.
What the king said and how he said it was brilliant and could not be faulted. I do have a close friend in Sweden and he has his pulse on public opinion
 
The prime minister made similar comments about Sweden and their handling of Coronavirus so I assume that Carl Gustaf was just reinforcing what was said, though I agree as king it doesn't look good. I agree with Carl Gustaf's statement but as a monarch I'd expect him to follow the government's advice to set an example to the public.
 
King Carl Gustaf speaks at "The Year with the Royal Family" also about his birthday surprise, when queen Silvia had contacted Flens Världsorkester and asked them to come to Stenhammar Castle, where she and the king spent the spring, to play a birthday song to the king.
The king and queen step out the door. The king can hardly believe his eyes when he is met by the orchestra that immediately tunes in to "Ja må du leva".
The king says that he had no idea. He knows the queen usually comes up with some surprises, she thinks it's a little fun. The king doesn't know if he always think it's so funny. You never know what will happen. The king admits that he is usually a little cool-minded of being surprised, he doesn't like surprises.
SVT's reporter asks the king if this is a sign of a need for control. The king says that maybe you can call it that. It depends on what is happening. A surprise can be anything, it's not certain that you will be pleasantly surprised. But the queen's birthday surprise was very nice.
Kungen lurad i hemmet – överraskad av drottning Silvia _*Svensk Dam
 
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Queen Silvia celebrates today her 77th birthday.
The Queen's birthday is a public flag day and also an official salute day. The Swedish Armed Forces therefore fires salutes of 21 shots from Skeppsholmen's salute station in Stockholm and from the salute stations in Boden, Härnösand, Karlskrona and Gothenburg.
H.M. Drottningen 77 år - Sveriges Kungahus

Photo at court pressroom by Victor Ericsson/The Royal Court.
https://www.kungahuset.se/images/20...ag_Foto_Victor_Ericsson_Kungl.Hovstaterna.jpg

Swedish Press Agency SPA congratulates the queen with these photos
Happy Birthday #queensilvia We hope you... - Swedish Press Agency _ Facebook

And Svensk Damtidning with this photo
https://www.facebook.com/svenskdamtidning/photos/a.410705113484/10159009233848485
 
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Is there a link to watch:

A Year with the Swedish Royal Family 2020, in the UK? SVT
Many thanks.
 
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