Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf celebrated his golden jubilee

To celebrate the golden jubilee of the throne, the 77-year-old monarch attended, among other things, the changing of the guard in front of the Royal Palace in Stockholm on Friday, accompanied by several musical bands. Hundreds of onlookers gathered at the castle in the old town (Gamla Stan). 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.”

Carl Gustaf’s family, including Queen Silvia (79) and Crown Princess Victoria (46) as well as her husband Prince Daniel, were present at the celebrations. Carl Gustaf’s son-in-law celebrated his 50th birthday on Friday.

Parade in Stockholm

Celebrations lasting several days were planned for Carl Gustaf around his throne anniversary. On Saturday there will be a big parade in Stockholm from 2:30 p.m. The king and his wife Silvia will wave to the crowd from a carriage escorted by 3,000 soldiers. The royal couple then completes the last part of the journey on a rowing launch. Around 500,000 onlookers are expected along the parade route. There will then be an open-air concert in front of the castle with Swedish stars (4 p.m.), before the city center becomes an open-air dance floor with DJs and live bands in the evening.

The monarch and his family rang in the actual anniversary day on Friday with a solemn service in the Stockholm Palace Church. The heads of state of the other Nordic countries also honored him with their presence: the Danish Queen Margrethe II (83), Norway’s King Harald V (86), Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö (75) and the Icelandic President Gudni Jóhannesson (55 ). They later joined the Swedish royal family on the castle balcony.

Carl Gustaf became King of Sweden after his grandfather’s death on September 15, 1973. He was 27 years old at the time.

The fact that he was thrown into royal responsibility so early was also because his father died in a plane crash in Copenhagen in 1947. Carl Gustaf was only nine months old at the time.

Today he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history and one of the longest-serving officials in the world. He met his German-born wife, Queen Silvia, at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

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