Two day festival
King Carl XVI Gustaf invites you to the anniversary banquet
September 15, 2023, 11:27 p.m
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Half a century ago, King Carl XVI came into power. Gustaf begins his service as Swedish monarch. The country is celebrating the anniversary with a big festival in the capital. The highlight of the celebrations will be a parade tomorrow, Saturday.
The two-day celebrations for King Carl XVI’s Golden Jubilee began in Stockholm. Gustaf started. Together with crowned heads and heads of state from neighboring Nordic states, the 77-year-old and his wife Queen Silvia took part in a thanksgiving service in the palace chapel, after which he attended a changing of the guard in the palace courtyard. In the evening the monarch invited guests to a banquet in the castle.
“Fifty years ago I stood here for the first time as King of Sweden,” said Carl XVI. Gustaf at the opening of the banquet. “My feelings about the office are the same today as they were then: pride, gratitude and humility,” the monarch continued. It is an “honor” to be able to represent a country that is a “stable, solidarity-based and peaceful democracy.” The banquet was also an opportunity to celebrate the 50th birthday of Prince Daniel, husband of Crown Princess Victoria.
Changing of the guard in the palace courtyard under the eyes of the royal family.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
The highlight of the celebrations is an anniversary parade through central Stockholm on Saturday. Carl XVI Gustaf and his German-born wife Silvia will wave to the crowd from a horse-drawn carriage escorted by 3,000 soldiers. Around 500,000 onlookers are expected along the parade route. There will then be an outdoor concert with Swedish stars before the entire city center is transformed into an open-air dance floor with numerous DJs.
Carl XVI Gustaf had in 1973 after the death of his grandfather Gustaf VI. Adolf ascended the throne at the age of 27 as the youngest monarch in the world at the time. Since a constitutional change in 1974, the Swedish king has had a purely ceremonial role.
In 2010, the king hit the headlines with an unauthorized biography that reported contacts with call girls and affairs. However, the scandal did not affect his popularity; In a recent survey, 62 percent of Swedes were in favor of maintaining the monarchy.