Wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling

Daniel Westling was Victoria's personal fitness trainer. In July 2002 , the princess and he were first photographed kissing ^[4] on the birthday of Caroline Kruger, a close friend of Victoria. The engagement of Victoria and Westling took place on February 24, 2009 . The wedding was scheduled for June 19, 2010 - the 34th anniversary of the marriage of the princess's parents. In 2010, the bicentennial of the choice of Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte as the heir to the Swedish throne was also celebrated ^[5] .

On September 17, 2009, it was announced that SEK 12.4 million would be spent on the repair and restoration of Stockholm Cathedral during January-April 2010 ^[6] . About 20 million kroons ($ 2.5 million) was spent on the wedding itself. The amount was divided equally between the Swedish royal family and the Swedish government and taxpayers ^[7] . These costs in the conditions of the economic crisis provoked protests among the Swedes. A number of communities have emerged on Facebook : “Refuse to pay for Victoria’s wedding,” with more than 56,000 supporters; “If I have to pay for Vicki's holiday, let her damn invite me” another 2,000 Swedes ^[8] .

On November 24, 2009, it was decided that the festival "Love in Stockholm" will be held on the days between the National Day of Sweden and the wedding day on June 19. During the event, special attention will be paid to culture, art, music, history ^[9] .

On June 17, a gala dinner was held in the Drottningholm Palace , and on June 18, a government reception in the Riksdag building.

Also on June 18, Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling attended a concert featuring Swedish pop and classical music stars in their honor at the Stockholm Concert Hall ^[10] . The famous Swedish band Roxette reunited on stage to perform their hit “The Look” ^[11] .

On May 19, the Livrustkammaren Museum in the Royal Palace of Stockholm opened an exhibition entitled “Wedding in the Name of the King and the Fatherland”, dedicated to the history of the weddings of kings and dedicated to the princess’s wedding ^[10] .

The Swedish Royal Mail issued a series of three stamps with a face value of 6 kroons for the wedding ^[12] .

Mattel released the famous Barbie doll in the image of Princess Victoria in a wedding dress and a crown in the series “Strong Modern Women”. The throne is attached to the toy ^[13] .

The wedding ceremony began at 15:30 local time in Stockholm Cathedral and lasted an hour. It was attended by about 1,100 guests. The service was conducted by Andersem Weirud , Archbishop of Uppsala. Among the four clergy was a female bishop Antje Jakelen ^[14] . Victoria was wearing a white wedding dress with a five-meter train. The crown princess had the same diadem in which her mother, Queen Sylvia , was married, and a veil in which Swedish princesses had been married for 150 years ^[14] .

Crown Princess Victoria expressed a desire for her father to accompany her to the altar. But many feminist organizations and even priests opposed this tradition. They considered that the transfer of the bride to the groom shows her submission to the man (first to her father, then to her husband) ^[15] . The royal family was forced to make concessions: King Charles XVI Gustav accompanied his daughter only until the middle of the church, where she was met by her bridegroom ^[16] .

After the ceremony, Victoria and Daniel marched under the crossed sabers of the officers of the Swedish Navy ^[17] .

The newlyweds drove through the streets of Stockholm in an open carriage. Twenty music groups marched on their way, 19 of which were military bands. 18 JAS 39 Gripen BBC Sweden planes flew over the carriage. Victoria and Daniel were welcomed by about 250 thousand people gathered in the city center. Then, on a royal yacht, on which King Charles XVI Gustav and Queen Sylvia sailed 34 years ago, ^[18] they crossed the island in the middle of Lake Mälaren.

In the evening, a gala dinner was held at Drottningholm Palace ^[19] .

The wedding of Victoria and Daniel was the largest event ever broadcast on television live (according to Sveriges Television ) ^[20] . However, the three largest news agencies, France Presse , Associated Press, and Reuters, refused to report the wedding of the crown princess. This is due to the fact that the royal family imposed a ban on the transfer of video outside of Sweden. The agency considered such restrictions to be an infringement on press freedom ^[21] .

The ceremony was attended by a number of famous guests - representatives of the royal houses of Europe, Asia and the Middle East and heads of state ^[22] :

• Their Royal Highnesses Prince of Bavaria Manuel and Princess Anne
• Their Majesties King of Belgium Albert II and Queen Paola Ruffo di Calabria
  • Their Majesty the Duke of Brabant Philip and the Duchess Matilda
  • Their Royal Highnesses Princess Astrid of Belgium and Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este
  • Their Royal Majesties Prince Laurent of Belgium and Princess Claire
• Their Majesties the king of Bulgaria Simeon II and Queen Margarita Gomez-Asebo ^[23]
  • Their Royal Highnesses Prince and Princess of Preslav
• Her Majesty Queen of Denmark Margrethe II and His Royal Highness Prince Consort of Denmark Danish Henrik
  • Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Danish Frederick and Crown Princess Mary
    • His Royal Highness Prince Danish Christian
• His Highness the 6th Prince of Saints-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Richard and Her Royal Highness the Princess of Denmark and Saints-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Benedict
  • His Highness Crown Prince Sain-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Gustav and Miss Karina Axelsson
  • Their Highnesses Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Alexandra and Jefferson, Count Pfile and Klein-Ellgut
  • Her Highness Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Natalie
• Her Excellency President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen with her husband Mr. Pentti Arayarvi
• Their Majesties the King of Greece in exile Constantine II and Queen Anne-Maria of Denmark ^[23]
  • Her Royal Highness Princess of Greece and Denmark Alexia
  • His Royal Highness the Prince of Greece and Denmark Nicholas
  • His Royal Highness the Prince of Greece and Denmark Philip
• His Excellency President of Iceland Oulavur Ragnar Grimsson with his wife Ms. Dorrit Mussayeff
• His Imperial Highness Crown Prince of Japan Naruhito
• Their Majesties King of Jordan Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al-Abdullah
  • Their Royal Highnesses Prince of Jordan Ali bin Al Hussein and Princess Rome Ali
  • Their Royal Highnesses Prince of Jordan Hassan Ibn Talal and Princess Sarvat El Hassan
  • His Royal Highness the Prince of Jordan Rashid bin Hassan
• Her Imperial Majesty Farah Pahlavi, Dowager Empress of Iran in Exile
• Their Highnesses Crown Prince of Liechtenstein Alois and Crown Princess Sofia
• Their Royal Highnesses Grand Duke of Luxembourg Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Theresa
  • His Royal Highness Crown Grand Duke of Luxembourg Guillaume
  • His Royal Highness Felix of Luxembourg
• His Serene Highness Prince of Monaco Albert II and his bride Charlene Wittstock
• Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands Beatrix
  • Their Royal Highnesses Prince of Orange of Willem-Alexander and Princess of the Netherlands Maxim
    • Her Royal Highness Princess of the Netherlands Katarina Amalia
  • Their Royal Highnesses Prince of Orange of Constantine of Nassau and Princess of the Netherlands Laurentin
  • Their Royal Highness Count of Orange of Nassau Friso and Princess Maybel
• Their Majesties King of Norway Harald V and Queen Sonia
  • Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince of Norway Haakon and Crown Princess Mette Marit
    • Her Royal Highness Princess of Norway Ingrid Alexandra
  • Her Highness Princess of Norway Martha Louise with her husband Mr. Ari Ben
• Their Royal Highnesses Crown Princess Margarita Romanian and Crown Prince Radu Romanian
• Their Highness Crown Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Hubertus and Crown Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
• Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince of Yugoslavia Alexander and Crown Princess Katarina
• Her Majesty the Queen of Spain, Sofia, Greece
  • Their Royal Highnesses Prince of Asturias Felipe and Princess Leticia
  • Her Royal Highness the Infanta of Spain Elena, Duchess of de Lugo
  • Her Royal Highness the Infanta of Spain, Cristina, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca , and His Excellency Iñaki Urdangarin, Duke of Palma de Mallorca
• Their Royal Highnesses Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex , and Sophie, Countess of Wessex , representing Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain ^[22]

In 1980, Sweden passed the birthright of the heir to the throne, regardless of gender. Thus, at the age of three, Princess Victoria became a crown princess, pushing her younger brother Carl Philip ^[24] . Westling was the first spouse of the Swedish princess since the Middle Ages to receive the title ^[25] : all previous husbands themselves were of royal origin ^[26] .

On February 20, 2009, the Swedish royal court announced that after marriage to Princess Victoria, who is the Duchess of Westergold (hertiginna av Västergötland), Westling would receive the titles “Prince Daniel” and “Duke of Westergland” ^{[27] [28]} . Thus, his title will sound His Royal Highness Prince Daniel, Duke of Westergland

The royal wedding again revealed the dissatisfaction of a number of citizens with the existence of the monarchy in Sweden. The liberal newspaper Dagens Nyheter wrote that “the upcoming royal wedding is a blow to democracy, because it (the wedding) will once again remind the people that they do not elect the head of the Swedish state, but they are born (the head)” ^[29] . In 2000, only 12% of the population supported the idea of ​​abolishing the monarchy, now 28% ^[15] . The FSI Institute of Sociological Research conducted research for this newspaper, which showed that 46 percent of Swedes now approve of the monarchy. The popularity of the royal family is only 40 percent (in 1996, the figures were 70 percent and 69 percent, respectively) ^[30] .

Moreover, according to another study, Princess Victoria earned the trust of 50% of respondents ^[31] . And seven out of ten Swedes believe that Daniel will cope with his role, despite the non-royal origin. Among Swedes, this figure reaches 80% ^[31] . At the same time, the inhabitants of Sweden are not opposed to Carl XVI Gustav losing his throne to his daughter in 2011 ^[29] .

• The official wedding site
• Swedish Crown Princess Victoria