Queen Silvia of Sweden celebrates her 80th birthday on December 23rd, actually in the middle of the Christmas hustle and bustle, but the modern monarch has taken precautions.
She is a queen, patron, trained interpreter but above all also a wife, mother and multiple grandmother and the German-born woman takes every single task very seriously and is far from thinking about slowing down. She has a very special wish for her birthday.
Queen Silvia on May 28, 2023 in Heidelberg, on the occasion of the charity event for her World Childhood Foundation
BILD met the Swedish queen at several appearances in Germany this year. Among other things, the monarch was made an honorary citizen of the city of Heidelberg in May and in November she inaugurated a new Childhood House for her foundation in Frankfurt.
During her visit to Heidelberg, Queen Silvia said that she actually came to her old hometown several times a year, although usually incognito, to visit the graves of her parents and brother.
Her love for Heidelberg became clear once again when she spontaneously didn’t get into the limousine after the appointment, but instead greeted the onlookers and shook numerous hands. Even though her German has now acquired a hint of a Swedish accent, her deep voice always seems calming and powerful at the same time.
In 1976, Queen Silvia, as Silvia Sommerlath, married the then newly crowned Carl Gustaf of Sweden
Silvia of Sweden was born Silvia Renate Sommerlath on December 23, 1943 in Heidelberg. Her father was German and her mother was Brazilian. And so Silvia once said about herself: “They say I have a Brazilian heart, a German head and a Swedish soul.”
In 1972, Silvia met the then Crown Prince Carl XVI. Gustaf (77) met at the Summer Olympics in Munich. She worked there as a hostess in a VIP box.
It is said that Carl Gustaf saw them and, just for fun, inspected them more closely with binoculars. The two started talking, went out in the evening in Munich and four years later, on June 19, 1976, they married in Stockholm.
The first child, Crown Princess Victoria, was born on July 14, 1977
Her eight grandchildren mean everything to her
A short time later their three children were born: Crown Princess Victoria (46), Prince Carl Philip (44) and Princess Madeleine (41). These made Silvia and Carl Gustaf proud grandparents. For 80-year-old Silvia, the most important task in her life: her eight grandchildren.
Queen Silvia and King Carl Gustaf with their three children, their spouses and a total of eight grandchildren and two dogs at Solliden Castle in Borgholm
Shortly before Christmas, the children and grandchildren of the royal couple arrived in Stockholm to celebrate Queen Silvia’s special birthday. Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel (50), Princess Estelle (11) and Prince Oscar (7) came from their Haga Castle in Solna.
Prince Carl Philip, his wife Princess Sofia (39) and their three sons Prince Alexander (7), Prince Gabriel (6) and Prince Julian (2) arrived from Stockholm and even the youngest, Princess Madeleine (41) with husband Chris O ‘Neill (49) and the children Princess Leonore (9), Prince Nicolas (8) and Princess Adrienne (5) have already flown from Florida to Stockholm and are helping Grandma Silvia decorate the tree.
Whether Silvia is talking about her own family or her aid organizations, the safety and future of children is particularly important to the Queen of Sweden. She also confirmed this in December 2022 when she was a guest at the “A Heart for Children Gala”.
Queen Silvia of Sweden as a guest at the One Heart for Children Gala 2022
Queen Silvia is tireless and is currently active as a patron for around 40 organizations. She is considered very organized, attentive and understanding. Swedish journalist Ingrid Thörnqvist published in November a book about Queen Silvia.
She enthused to BILD: “In Sweden you don’t even know how much she actually works. She is not just a symbol and not just a patron, she works like a real boss who runs a ‘company’. She is very determined, she has a strong will.”
It is precisely this foresight and this strong will that has always held the family together, even in stormy times. The queen always kept calm and found the right words.
The monarch’s style is always chosen carefully. Silvia loves royal blue costumes, dresses in rosé and berry tones and matching accessories such as scarves, handbags and eye-catching brooches.
A snapshot of Queen Silvia during her visit to Brandenburg
And because Queen Silvia is so organized and her birthday is the day before Christmas, her birthday was sometimes simply celebrated in advance: a birthday concert took place in her honor at Drottningholm Palace on November 5th.
Even though a Swedish queen can certainly afford everything, the monarch still has one big birthday wish: Anyone who would like to give her something should please not buy anything, but instead donate to a charity for children in war zones.
Grattis på födelsedagen – happy birthday, Your Majesty!