There are only a few weeks left until Christmas Eve – but Swedish royal fans are already receiving a gift. The palace confirms that Princess Madeleine and Chris O’Neill will be in Stockholm with their children in time for the festival. And that doesn’t just mean Christmas.
Every year, their Swedish compatriots fear their comeback at Christmas. Princess Madeleine, 41, will not disappoint anyone this year and will return to the fold of the royal family with husband Chris O’Neill, 49, and their children Princess Leonore, 9, Prince Nicolas, 8, and Princess Adrienne, 4. This is now confirmed by the court spokeswoman Margareta Thorgren told “Svensk Damtidning” and also emphatically confirmed to “Aftonbladet”: “Yes, the whole family will be together.” Of course, the arrival of König’s youngest daughter, who currently lives in the USA, is important Carl Gustaf77, and Queen Silvia, 79, and her loved ones a special must-see this year. At least her mother is celebrating a big birthday.
Princess Madeleine + Co. honor Silvia on her special birthday
Silvia turns 80 the day before Christmas Eve. It was announced that she will celebrate her cradle celebration with her closest family circle. Of course, your baby and its appendages shouldn’t be missing. However, Madeleine and Chris will miss the further celebrations surrounding the Queen’s proud birth anniversary. These have already started a long time ago.
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On November 5th, Silvia and her husband went to more than just any concert in the Drottningholm Palace Church. It was the traditional birthday concert for the Queen, which usually takes place on December 23rd, and was brought forward. “We have already started to draw attention to the birthday, and a lot of it will revolve around the Queen’s various foundations that she wants to focus on,” says Margareta Thorgren, explaining the unusual date deviation.
It continued on November 16th: The “Care about the Children” Foundation invited as a final event to a seminar at which the Queen thanked the foundation for its ten years of work, which she received as a gift for her 70th birthday in 2013. The project will end in December 2023, just in time for Silvia’s 80th birthday.
On November 29th, the “World Childhood Foundation” holds a board meeting with representatives from all countries. This ends with a big dinner in the Royal Palace, where Silvia’s birthday is also celebrated. Another concert will be given on November 30th at the Lilla Akademien, a music school for children, whose patron is the wife of the Swedish monarch. There is even a concert hall named after her, the “Drottning Silvias Konsertsal”, which was only inaugurated in October 2022. All of the Queen’s foundations are invited to the event.
Silvia celebrates her special day with her closest circle
On December 20th and 21st, official Sweden will have the opportunity to congratulate the woman celebrating her anniversary – similar to how King Carl Gustaf was honored on his 50th throne anniversary in mid-September. “There was a lot to do, we thought everything would calm down. But now everything else comes,” Thorgren comments on the exciting royal year with a smile to Aftonbladet.
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On the evening of December 23rd, the members of the Swedish royal family will meet for a festive private dinner. Silvia’s husband maintains a touching tradition: every year he hosts the family meal in another of the many beautiful rooms at Drottningholm Palace. When asked by “Hänt” in 2022, even Margareta Thorgren was unable to answer how this tradition came about. It will probably remain a well-kept secret in the family circle.
But before that, the farm lets it rip, literally. “The Queen’s birthday is a public flag day. The birthday is also an official salute day,” the royal court recalled on December 23, 2022. “The Swedish Armed Forces will therefore be sent from the Skeppsholmen salute station in Stockholm as well as from the salute stations in Boden, Härnösand, “Fire a salute of 21 shots from Karlskrona and Gothenburg.”
A truly royal moment in which Madeleine, Chris and the children will finally be eyewitnesses and earwitnesses. For Silvia, it’s an annual heartfelt wish. “That’s where Christmas begins for me,” “Hänt” quotes the queen. “The King and I have a close relationship with our children.”
Two TV specials for the woman celebrating her anniversary
It’s easy to imagine that they’ll all snuggle up together on the royal sofa after the honorary salute. Because there is a lot more to see on this day. In December, TV specials celebrating the Queen’s Day will be broadcast on two Swedish channels. An interview by journalist and presenter Pernilla Månsson Colt with the birthday child will apparently be recorded promptly and shown on December 23rd. “It is true that SVT will meet and interview Queen Silvia on the occasion of her 80th birthday,” said an email from the station when asked by “Dana Press,” and continued: “It will be broadcast on her birthday. Unfortunately We have no further information at the moment.”
Meanwhile, “Svensk Damtidning” reported at the end of October that an interview would be broadcast on TV4 two days after the Queen’s birthday – December 25th. Silvia will talk about her life both before and since her time as Queen of Sweden. In addition to her, other members of the royal family, companions and other people will also speak about the crucial events in the life of the German-born royal.
And what does a queen want for her birthday?
Anyone who would like to make Silvia happy is asked to make a donation. To mark her milestone birthday, the Queen has decided to launch a campaign to help children in Ukraine suffering from mental illness as a result of the Russian invasion. The starting signal was given in October when Carl Gustaf’s wife took part in a televised gala. By mid-November, over 3 million Swedish kroner (around 261,000 euros) had already been raised. The campaign runs until December 31, 2023 and, like all tasks, is very close to the Queen’s heart. “I took part in the interviews that were conducted on the occasion of her birthday and she often mentioned that she is focused on the future and what she wants to do and not so much on her current age,” Aftonbladet quotes Thorgren as saying .
However, the near future brings her appreciation and many congratulations – and the return of her youngest child to her homeland. There is no better way to start a new decade of life.
Sources used: svenskdam.se, aftonbladet.se, hant.se, Dana Press