We’re about to kick off the royal wedding theme on the site. And the clock is counting down to the royal “I do.” Trying to cover both monarchy and love in our different features, we want to show the two different sides of this saga. The royal wedding is not just about two people — Victoria and Daniel — falling in love and getting married, but also about the institution of monarchy and how this wedding actually concerns all of the Swedish people.
What does the average Swede have to say about it all? Well, the latest polls have shown that the Swedish monarchy is losing support. I can only guess that this has to do with all the focus on the royal wedding, every little detail and what it all costs. Supposedly, this makes many people start to question why a modern democracy like Sweden has a non-elected head of state — i.e. today King Carl XVI Gustav, in the future Crown Princess (then Queen) Victoria.
We, the Sweden.se staff, have also had a few discussions about how to write about the Swedish monarchy while still conveying an image of Sweden as a modern, progressive nation. We hope we’ve managed to get the balance right. The funny thing is that we’re located just next to the Royal Palace, the main symbol of the Swedish monarchy. And the wedding will take place in Storkyrkan, which is just up the hill.
The Swedish Institute is in the yellow building to the left of the Royal Palace. Photo: newformula/Flickr
