On Friday, Crown Princess Mette-Marit went to a seminar for Europe’s scouts leaders, where the issue of diversity was discussed. A former girls scout herself, the Crown Princess seemed at ease with the rest of the young people from 12 countries.
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Upon her arrival, Mette-Marit received a scout scarf as a welcome gift from scouts Maria Tanduru and Alla Edin Maach.
In her speech, the Princess talked about how the scouts transforms those who are different from others into ordinary people.
“The scout movement is global – and is therefore initially diverse. This encourages curiosity and tolerance towards other people. When people meet and get to know each other, we are not any longer ‘the girl with hijab’ or ‘the boy in a wheelchair.’ We are names, personalities, friends. Inclusion of minorities has to happen locally, and I am glad to see that the scout movement is in front with good practices.”
Afterward, Mette-Marit talked to the scout leaders, and even enjoyed a hip-hop performance by a group of scouts, who called themselves Kidz from the East, who rapped about growing up in Oslo.
Being in the public eye is not always so glamorous. Just ask Sweden’s Princess Madeleine, whom on Wednesday, had a mysterious package sent to her that set off a bomb scare in New York City.
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The box arrived at New York’s World Childhood Foundation’s office in midtown Manhattan. Workers feared the package was a bomb and called the police. When a bomb squad responded, no bomb was found in the box.
However, it did contain mixed cassette tapes, underwear, wires connected to nothing, love letters and a marriage proposal to the Princess.
“The royal family does get unusual mail from time to time, but it is not common,” said Jenny Alexandersson of Aftonbladet. “There are plenty of crazy fans out there.”
Madeleine was not at the Foundation’s offices when the package arrived.
Unfortunately for the obsessed fan, the Princess announced her engagement to longtime boyfriend, Jonas Bergstrom back in August.
Police say they are investigating the case. It is not known if the person ever sent anything else to Madeleine.
Sweden’s Queen Silvia was the recipient of the Courage Prize today in Bad Iburg, Germany. The award was in recognition of her World Childhood Foundation, which helps abused and disadvantaged children.
Gerd Schoewing, the chairman of the Courage Prize committee, gave the Queen the award. She also received 5,000 euros, which would likely go to her Foundation.
When the Queen arrived in Bad Iburg, hundreds of locals greeted her with Swedish and German flags. Queen Silvia is German by birth.
The Courage Prize has been given out since 1996.
The World Childhood Foundation is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
