The King’s 80th Birthday (April 30th) & The King’s and Queen’s Golden Wedding Anniversary (June 19th) : Joint Celebration on June 13th, 2026

[Hans-Rickard]

On Thursday April 30:th 2026, His Majesty The King turns 80 years old.

On Friday June 19:th 2026 Their Majesties The King and Queen celebrates their Golden Wedding Anniversary.

Due to Friday June 19:th this year being on Midsummer eve (Sweden’s biggest public holiday) the public celebration will take place on Saturday June 13:th.

His Majesty The King’s 80:th Birthday

On Thursday April 30:th, His Majesty The King turns 80 years old. The day will begin with a Service of Thanksgiving (Te Deum) in the Royal Palace Church for invited guests.

After that, the Swedish Armed Forces will conduct a large military ceremony on the outer courtyard at the Royal Palace.

In the afternoon, The King will recive a choral celebration and the official congratulation from the swedish people, on the Lion Slope in front of the Royal Palace.

In the evening a Gala Dinner will be hosted for invited guests.



The King’s and Queen’s Golden Wedding Anniversary

On Friday June 19:th 2026 Their Majesties The King and Queen celebrates their Golden Wedding Anniversary.

Due to Friday June 19:th this year being on Midsummer eve (Sweden’s biggest public holiday) the public celebration will take place on Saturday June 13:th.

The day will begin with a Service of Thanksgiving (Te Deum) in the Royal Palace Church for invited guests.

During the day, The King and Queen will travel in a horse-drawn carriage procession through the streets of Stockholm, and will then be transported back to the Royal Palace onboard the royal barge ”Vasaorden”.

Further details of the public celebrations on Saturday June 13:th will be published later.


Jubilée Exhibition

A Jubilée Exhibition over The King’s and Queen’s 50 years as a married couple will be hosted at the Royal Palace.

The Royal Court also published 3 new official portraits of the King and Queen today, taken at the Royal Palace by photographer Elisabeth Toll.

Kungen och Drottningen firas under 2026

Under 2026 äger två kungliga firanden rum: H.M. Konungen fyller 80 år den 30 april och DD.MM. Konungen och Drottningens guldbröllop firas den 13 juni.

www.kungahuset.se

 

[An Ard Ri]

Looking forward to both celebrations to mark the Kings 80th and the Golden Wedding Anniversary!

Two wonderful new portraits ahead of the double celebrations for the King and Queen!

 

[Stefan]

Good to see that there will some official Events for the Golden Wedding, and it is not a private celebration

 

[LadyFinn]

King Carl XVI Gustaf's 80th Anniversary Foundation for the Scout Movement
It is H.M. The King's wish that any gifts in connection with his 80th birthday on 30 April 2026 should be directed to the Scout Movement.
For this purpose, King Carl XVI Gustaf's 80th Anniversary Foundation for the Scout Movement has been established. The foundation will distribute annual grants to support and develop Scouting activities in Sweden

Konung Carl XVI Gustafs 80-årsstiftelse för scoutrörelsen

Det är H.M. Konungens önskemål att eventuella gåvor i samband med 80-årsdagen den 30 april 2026 ska riktas till scoutrörelsen.

www.kungahuset.se

 

[Blog Real]

Will members of other royal families be invited to the gala dinner?

I hope so.

 

[Stefan]

Will members of other royal families be invited to the gala dinner?

I hope so.

I'm pretty sure the foreign royals (and also non-scandinavians) will be invited for the King's 80th birthday celebrations as they were for his 40th, 50, 60th and 70th birthdays. But i guess not for the Golden Wedding celebrations.

 

[Kingen]

So happy to see these news shared by the Royal Court already now, I didn't expect it yet for another couple of weeks.

Even though the scale of the celebrations for H.M. the King's Birthday isn't a surprise, it's nice to see it confirmed. I expect and hope that we see a good turnout of fellow Royals from around the world this time, it was some time since the last time.

The rumors of celebrations for Their Majesties Golden Wedding have been going around, so also nice to see that this has been confirmed. The Navy already confirmed last year, the use of Vasaorden at one point during the year. I also heard rumors of a dinner, but I guess that will be more of a private event like the Queen's 80th birthday dinner, but I'm hope I'm wrong. I guess this will be mostly for family and official Sweden, and maybe some few Scandinavian royals.

I have to say the official pictures are very nice indeed. The golden walls of the room at Drottningholm Palace works really well with the Queen's dress, not a coinsidence of course. And a treat to see yet another room for official pictures not used before.

Looking forward tremendously to both celebration!

 

[Toledo]

He's going to be 80! I remember him on the covers and articles of magazines when I was a kid and he was the heartthrob of royalty. He looks great for 79 going into 80 and can't wait for the event to be streamed online.

 

[Somebody]

And the wedding anniversary is of course also the 50th anniversary for Silvia as queen!

 

[Curryong]

Will the BRF be sending anyone to these lovely celebrations at all? The Wessexes used to be the representatives who were sent by the late Queen Elizabeth. I haven’t heard anything this time though.

 

[Biri]

Will the Royal Couple be renewing their wedding vows?

 

[Izzie]

I am sure there will be a big Norwegian and Danish RF turn out as per usual. I won't be shocked to see the Norwegian Royal Couple, QMII, Prncs Benedikte as well. I also wonder if the younger royals Like Princess Ingrid Alexendra and CP Christian would attend (if schedules permit). Looking forward to these events this year.

 

[Hans-Rickard]

Will the BRF be sending anyone to these lovely celebrations at all? The Wessexes used to be the representatives who were sent by the late Queen Elizabeth. I haven’t heard anything this time though.

If they invite all european royal families + Thailand, Jordan and Japan (like they did for his 40:th, 50:th, 60:th and 70:th birthdays) then i am sure they will at least recive an invitation…

Though with the only exception of King Carl Gustaf’s 50:th birthday in 1996 when Prince Philip and Prince Charles attended, we are quite used to the birthday-invitation sent to London being turned down

 

[Somebody]

Though with the only exception of King Carl Gustaf’s 50:th birthday in 1996 when Prince Philip and Prince Charles attended, we are quite used to the birthday-invitation sent to London being turned down

It's interesting to see how they will handle these invitations in this new reign. Will William and Catherine start taking these on or will they continue to rely on Edward and Sophie to handle their European royal relations.

 

[Hans-Rickard]

I am sure there will be a big Norwegian and Danish RF turn out as per usual. I won't be shocked to see the Norwegian Royal Couple, QMII, Prncs Benedikte as well. I also wonder if the younger royals Like Princess Ingrid Alexendra and CP Christian would attend (if schedules permit). Looking forward to these events this year.

I belive Ingrid Alexandra will be busy with her studies in Australia by then.
And with Mette-Marit’s health situation i expect it will be Harald, Sonja, Haakon and Märtha-Louise (yes she attended his 70:th so i am sure she will be invited now too)

From Denmark i expect it will be Frederik, Mary, QMII, Benedikte, and Anne-Marie (though she is ofcourse formally ”of Greece”). Someone will have to serve as regent and i expect it will be Christian this time.

 

[Diarist]

It's interesting to see how they will handle these invitations in this new reign. Will William and Catherine start taking these on or will they continue to rely on Edward and Sophie to handle their European royal relations.

Just guessing but I would expect Edward and Sophie to continue in their role as ''liaisons'' with their European royal relatives - Kate will still be on her 'phased return to royal duties' and in particular June will be a busy month for the BRF - There is the Birthday Parade on 13 June, Garter Day on Monday 15th June and then Ascot Week from 16 to 20 June.....and then Wimbledon following a week later ... Kate is going to be busy...

 

[Somebody]

As in previous years, I expect the main (foreign royal) festivities to take place on the king's birthday (30 April), so a busy June is not a problem.

 

[doro]

I'm pretty sure the foreign royals (and also non-scandinavians) will be invited for the King's 80th birthday celebrations as they were for his 40th, 50, 60th and 70th birthdays. But i guess not for the Golden Wedding celebrations.

I guess only Scandinavian royals will be invited for the Golden Wedding celebrations...

The King's new portraits makes a clear alusion to that portrait from 1973: he in admiral uniform with his cap on the table

 

[CrownPrincessJava]

I belive Ingrid Alexandra will be busy with her studies in Australia by then.
And with Mette-Marit’s health situation i expect it will be Harald, Sonja, Haakon and Märtha-Louise (yes she attended his 70:th so i am sure she will be invited now too)

From Denmark i expect it will be Frederik, Mary, QMII, Benedikte, and Anne-Marie (though she is ofcourse formally ”of Greece”). Someone will have to serve as regent and i expect it will be Christian this time.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra maybe there since teaching would have concluded for semester 1 in Australia. Exams are scheduled during that time, however, most are taken online, and assignments are all submitted electronically too

 

[muriel]

It's interesting to see how they will handle these invitations in this new reign. Will William and Catherine start taking these on or will they continue to rely on Edward and Sophie to handle their European royal relations.

I suspect it will be Edward & Sophie who will represent the BRF.

 

[Marengo]

I believe there were no UK royals for his 60th and 70th birthdays, so the duke and duchess of Edinburgh there would be a nice surprise.

I am looking forward to the celebrations. Let´s hope that many of the younger generation will join too.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Will the royal ladies wear tiaras at the Gala Dinner of The King's Birthday?

 

[LadyFinn]

We will hear later more about the celebrations - in 2016 the Royal House informed in the end of February about the whole program of the celebration of the King's 70th birthday.

Then there was during the birthday week among others
The Royal Academies' Seminar
The Military Bands' birthday concert at the Royal Chapel
Authorities and organizations congratulating the King at a reception at the Royal Palace on two days
The royal art academies congratulating the King at an event at the Royal Opera
The Royal Opera and Stockholm Concert Hall gave a concert at the Nordic Museum
The City of Stockholm hosted a lunch on 30th April at the Stockholm City Hall
The Riksdag, the Government and the governors congratulated the king at a reception on 30th April

We will see if the celebrations are as big this year too.

 

[Stefan]

Will the royal ladies wear tiaras at the Gala Dinner of The King's Birthday?

I would say yes. For the 50th and 60th birthdays the Gala Dinner was white tie and for the 70th it was black tie, but even then tiaras were worn, although mostly smaller ones.

 

[An Ard Ri]

I would say yes. For the 50th and 60th birthdays the Gala Dinner was white tie and for the 70th it was black tie, but even then tiaras were worn, although mostly smaller ones.

The Nordic Monarchies excel at these Galas and really pull out all the pomp and ceremony for these events.

 

[Kingen]

I guess it will be very grand in all, but we'll have to wait for the details. As stated in my previous post I didn't expect any news at this point, but as LadyFinn pointed out, later in February. There will most likely be more events, and maybe something on the eve of the Birthday as it tend to be.

It's said there were plans in 2021 to celebrate the 75th Birthday (that is quite a big occassion in Sweden), but of course nothing came out of this due to the pandemic. H.M. is said to like a good party, so we'll probably not be dissapointed.

The wording in Swedish was större galamiddag", larger gala dinner. The word gala dinner usually indicates white tie, while banquet (bankett) could mean both black and white tie.

 

[iceflower]

To mark the anniversaries new stamps have been created:

PostNord Sverige on Instagram: "I dag släpps nya frimärken med Kungaparet. 2026 är ett år då Sverige och Kungafamiljen firar två stora högtidsdagar: H.M. Konungens 80-årsdag i april följd av DD.MM. Konungen och Drottningens guldbröllop i juni. 📸 Fö

13K likes, 95 comments - postnord_sverige on January 8, 2026: "I dag släpps nya frimärken med Kungaparet. 2026 är ett år då Sverige och Kungafamiljen firar två stora högtidsdagar: H.M. Konungens 80-årsdag i april följd av DD.MM. Konungen och Drottningens guldbröllop i juni. 📸 För att markera...

www.instagram.com

Today, new stamps featuring the King and Queen are being released. 2026 is a year when Sweden and the Royal Family celebrate two major holidays: H.M. The King's 80th birthday in April followed by DD.MM. The King and Queen's golden wedding anniversary in June.

To mark this, completely new portraits have been produced for stamp issuance – something that has not been done in ten years. The King adorns the domestic stamp and the Queen that for foreign letters.

Depicting royalty on stamps has a long tradition in Sweden. As early as 1885, the then King Oskar II was portrayed on a Swedish stamp.

Today, the next chapter in this Swedish stamp history is being written.

Photo: Elisabeth Toll © Kungl. Hovstaterna.
Design: Daniel Bjugård.

 

[Hans-Rickard]

There will most likely be a week full of official and inofficial activities, just like it was for his other round birthday’s… What was presented yesterday was the core-events on the actual birthday.

I am not completely surprised that they gave us that information early. The core-events for the yearlong ”50 years on the throne jubilée-year” in 2023 was also revealed early…

The court has become better ”party planners” for the more recent jubilée’s and become better at involving ”the people” earlier and to a higher degree than before…

I expect there will be royals invited from all over europe + from jordan, japan and thailand for The King’s 80:th birthday. It was for his 40:th, 50:th, 60:th and 70:th birthday’s so i would be very surprised if they draw the line after the nordic heads of state now…

That itself is an upgrade from Gustaf VI Adolf who celebrated his 70:th, 80:th and 90:th birthdays with only the nordic heads of state present…

For many of you the gala dinner will be the highlight. There has always been tiaras worn for his round birthday’s with only one exception (the 40:th birthday in 1986). And like Kingen stated above, whenever the court uses the term ”större galamiddag” (bigger gala dinner) it usually means white tie, tiaras and orders to be worn, like it is for the Nobel Festivities…. For the 70:th birthday they always used the term ”banquet” instead and that turned out to be a black tie dinner..


When it comes to the Golden Wedding Anniversary, it turns out that the court had planned a much more extensive public celebration than most of us thought….

The Silver Wedding Anniversary in 2001 had both public and private events (though not on this scale) and was celebrated with many royals invited…. Though by then there was ofcourse no round birthday to be celebrated during the same year, so we will have to wait and see how they do it this time.

 

[Kingen]

The Royal Court has published a more detailed program for The King's 80th Birthday on 30th April, and King and Queen's Golden Wedding Anniversary on 13th June, the program is only for the main days, and we could likely expect more to be released later. I thought that this was to be published after the funeral of Princess Désirée, but happy to see more details already.

H.M. The King's 80th Birthday, 30th April
10.00 - Te Deum
Te Deum in the Chapel of the Royal Palace for invited guests.

11.00 - Armed Forces celebration
The King's Birthday is tradionally celebrated at the Outer Courtyard of the Royal Palace with the Changing of the Guards. Parade of the flags of the Armed Forces, the three music bands of the Armed Forces takes part.

Children have the possibility to congratulate the King with flowers and drawings.

12.30 - Flypast and salute
The King (and the Royal Family) is the entering the terrace of Lejonbacken to be greeted by a gun salute from Skeppsholmen and a flypast from the Airforce.

12.35 - Choir tribute and public celebrations
The Royal Academy of Music is offering the King a Choir tribute with six Choirs from different parts of Sweden.

14.00 - Luncheon in Stockholm City Hall
The City of Stockholm hosts a luncheon in Stockholm City Hall.

19.30 Gala dinner
A larger gala dinner for invited guests will take place at The Royal Palace.

Link to the program (in Swedish):

H.M. Konungen 80 år

I år firar H.M. Konungen 50 år som Sveriges statschef. Kungen uppsteg på tronen den 15 september 1973. Läs om vad som händer under jubileumsåret 2023.

www.kungahuset.se

T.M. The King and Queen's Golden Wedding Anniversary, 13th June
11.30 - Te Deum
The celebration starts with a Te Deum for invited guests in the Chapel of the Royal Palace.

14.00 - The Royal Barge Vasaorden
The King and Queen will board the Royal Barge Vasaorden at Skeppsbron infront of the Royal Palace (where Vasaorden usually finish) and be taken to Djurgården aboard Vasaorden.

14.30 Cortege through Stockholm.
The King and Queen will go in cortege through Stockholm, from Djurgården to Kungsträdgården.

The route: Djurgården-Strandvägen-Birge Jarlsgatan-Stureplan-Kungsgatan-Sveavägen-Sergels torg-Hamngatan-Kungsträdgården.

15.00 Concert in Kungsträdgården
A public concert in organized by the City of Stockholm with music from the past 50 years. The King and Queen are attending and no tickets are needed.

18.00 Concert at the Royal Opera
Golden wedding Concert at the Royal Opera in honour of the King and Queen.

Tickets will be available for the public mid-March.

More info at the website of the Royal Opera: Guldbröllopskosert │ Konserter │ Kungliga Operan

20.00 Private supper
The King and Queen are hosting a private supper at the Royal Palace for family and friends.

Link to the program (in Swedish):

Kungaparets guldbröllop

I år firar H.M. Konungen 50 år som Sveriges statschef. Kungen uppsteg på tronen den 15 september 1973. Läs om vad som händer under jubileumsåret 2023.

www.kungahuset.se

A very public and large program that we could look forward to!

 

[Hans-Rickard]

A very public programme indeed… A bit surprised but positively surprised to see that they are celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary in such an official and public way too.