King Carl Gustaf of Sweden and Silvia Sommerlath: June 19, 1976

[XeniaCasaraghi]

Silvia was too beautiful for a dress like this.

 

[Thena]

It's still not my favorite dress, but I picked up some interesting tidbits from the SVT documentary on royal wedding dresses. Fair warning: the video is in Swedish and while I was able to get English sub-titles, there's a chance that something got lost in translation.

Silvia said that she when they were planning the wedding, she went to spend a weekend in Copenhagen as the guest of Queen Ingrid. There, they looked over dress sketches together and picking out the Christian Dior dress that she ultimately wore.

What really blew my mind, though, is that they used the train from Princess Birgitta's dress instead of the one originally supplied by Dior. Silvia wanted something from Märtaskolan since they made the dresses worn by Carl Gustaf's sisters, but the dressmaker had closed permanently a year before. So Silvia had the train from Birgitta's dress (also worn by Princess Desiree) added onto her gown. I still don't like the gown, but the sentimental gesture of using the train softens my dislike a bit. Can you imagine what she would have been able to wear if Märtaskolan had made her dress?

 

[maria-olivia]

Thanks for this pictures. Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte was one of the very last Royal by blood.

 

[Somebody]

Thanks for this pictures. Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte was one of the very last Royal by blood.

Her brother is still alive

How would you define 'royal by blood' - how many generations of 'what exactly' are required?

As it is clear that with each generation there will be fewer royals with two royal parents (whose parents were also royals etc); it would be an interesting exercise (not for this topic though) to identify all remaining (European) 'royals by blood' but to do so we would need to agree on the criteria.

 

[Queen Claude]

Grand duke Jean, grand duchess Joséphine-Charlotte and Louis Mountbatten, Earl Mountbatten of Burma
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Estelle (countess Estelle Bernadotte) and Carl-Erik Ekstrand
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It's interesting that Carl Gustaf and Silvia's wedding was not a tiara event, I assume that it was because the time of day that the wedding was held.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Silvia's wedding was the first wedding for a sitting monarch in Sweden since 1797 when Princess Frederica of Baden married King Gustav IV Adolph.

 

[LadyFinn]

Svensk Damtidning had an article about the wedding at last week's issue, today 43 years ago.
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[LadyFinn]

Newspaper Expressen published on Sunday 10th November a special issue due to its 75th anniversary.
At the newspaper is also and article of the king and queen's wedding:
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[LadyFinn]

Bertil and Lilian's wedding gift
"A set of matchbox cases in silver from Lilian & Nappe ie Prince Bertil"
https://bilderisyd.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/kk131210074.jpg
https://bilderisyd.se/produkt/kk131210074/

 

[LadyFinn]

About the wedding at Svensk Damtidning's special magazine about the royal weddings.
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[LadyFinn]

Swedish photographer Jan Düsing died of covid-19 at the age of 75 years. He worked for Expressen 44 years and Expressen published 20 of his photos to honour his memory.
Photo of king Carl Gustaf and Silvia Sommerlath, taken by Jan Düsing.
https://c.cdn-expressen.se/images/04/fa/04fa15cdd75d4ff5bcab8ebeebda4d21/annan/1280@60.jpg

 

[LadyFinn]

Queen Silvia's parents at the church
https://www.sjobergbildbyra.se/foto...bergwatermarkbottom.tif.xLDYLysDX5ejLzyta.jpg

 

[LadyFinn]

45 years ago
Au mariage de Carl XVI Gustaf et Silvia de Suède

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E36EKsvXEAAFT2j?format=jpg&name=900x900

 

[rominet09]

I still remember it, I was so impressed by the beauty of the bride and by the ceremony itself !

 

[Blog Real]

Video:

 

[LadyFinn]

Queen Silvia's bouquet was tied in a single grip and was created by Marlene Pröpster at Nordiska Kompaniet. The bouquet consisted of orchids of the cattleya genus, Stephanotis floribundas, lilies of the valley, jasmine and myrtle sprig.
https://files-aller-blogger-platfor..._silvias_brudbukett.jpg?w=850&fit=max&fm=webp
https://files-aller-blogger-platfor...ningen_brollop_1976.jpg?w=850&fit=max&fm=webp
https://files-aller-blogger-platfor..._xvi_gusaf_bröllop.jpg?w=850&fit=max&fm=webp

 

[LadyFinn]

Photo by TT Nyhetsbyrån
https://www.fotografiska.com/app/up...ias-brollop-19-juni-1976-foto-TT-1-scaled.jpg

 

[An Ard Ri]

An article from Tatler on the Wedding of King Carl XVI Gustaf & Silvia Sommerlath
Remembering King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden’s historic nuptials on the anniversary of his birth

 

[LadyFinn]

The Swedish Royal House at its Instagram
"On June 19, The King and Queen and the Crown Princess Couple celebrate their wedding anniversaries.
The King and Queen are celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary today. The Crown Princess and Prince Daniel have been married for 15 years today and are celebrating their “crystal wedding”.
Photographs taken by TT (1976) and Mikael Jansson (2010)."

Kungahuset 🇸🇪 on Instagram: "Den 19 juni firar Kungaparet och Kronprinsessparet sina bröllopsdagar. ♥️ Kungen och Drottningen firar i dag 49-årig bröllopsdag. Kronprinsessan och Prins Daniel har i dag varit gifta i 15 år och firar ”kristallbröllop”

9,249 likes, 76 comments - kungahuset on June 19, 2025: "Den 19 juni firar Kungaparet och Kronprinsessparet sina bröllopsdagar. ♥️ Kungen och Drottningen firar i dag 49-årig bröllopsdag. Kronprinsessan och Prins Daniel har i dag varit gifta i 15 år och firar ”kristallbröllop”. Fotografier...

www.instagram.com

 

[eejm]

I’ve always thought Silvia’s dress should have included embellishments at the neck and cuffs. I get that the veil, tiara, and Cameo Tiara were in the intended focus of her overall look, but as it was the dress appeared “unfinished.” If Silvia had worn a dress more like Sonja Haraldsen’s - very sleek and simple, but with decor at the cuffs and neck - this would have been a more successful look.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Here's a little further reading on Silvia gown , I hadn't realised it was by Dior!
The Queen's wedding dress