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This past Friday saw Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel go to the Raoul Wallenberg Square in Stockholm to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Friday remembered the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945.
 Click here for additional photos Victoria and Daniel met with Kofi Annan, former U.N. Secretary General, who gave a speech at the ceremony. At the beginning of it, he greeted the royal couple by saying, “Your Royal Highnesses, Victoria and Daniel, and the little one”.
But there wasn’t much room for humor during the commemoration. Annan urged those in attendance not to forget the millions who died in the Holocaust. Swedish Speaker Per Westerberg said “We humans need good role models. Role models who fights evil and gives us hope and courage.”
“It was Raoul Wallenberg’s courage, ingenuity and drive that saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from death in Hitler’s gas chambers,” Westerberg added.
The Crown Princess placed a lit candle jar at the center of the square to remember both those who died and Wallenberg’s bravery.
Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat who orchestrated the survival and rescue of thousands of Jews in Budapest during World War II. Wallenberg was captured by the Soviet Union, however, and no one knows what happened to him.
When he was asked why he risked his life to save Budapest’s Jews, he said, “I had no choice.”
Sources: AP, Epoch Times
 Click here for original Swedish article and photo Sweden’s Prince Carl Philip was on hand to award the Chef of the Year Wednesday. This year’s winner is Klas Lindberg, a freelance chef who’s dish of fried steak and lobster won him the prestigious title.
The Prince placed a medal around Lindberg’s neck as he expressed his delight over winning. He beat out 147 chefs for this title.
“It feels great,” Lindberg said.
This award ceremony showcases Carl Philip picking up more duties as his older sister, Crown Princess Victoria, goes on maternity leave as she waits for the birth of her first child, due in March.
“We are very happy and proud of the Prince’s participation. The Prince has a great commitment to the Swedish gastronomy and it’s a great honor that he now crowns the Chef of the Year 2012,” says Hannah Halpern, General for the competition.
Sources: Aftonbladet, SVD
 Click here for more of Victoria's arrival Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria paid a visit to the Astrid Lindgren Children’s hospital in Solna Thursday. The hospital recently merged with the Children’s Hospital in Huddinge into one pediatric hospital under the organization of Karolinska University Hospital.
While Her Royal Highness met with the staff and patients of Astrid Lindgren, the media focused mainly on her ever growing baby bump. The Crown Princess is due to have her first baby in March, and will go on maternity leave possibly next week.
One member of the press presented Victoria with a knitted onesie – or jumpsuit – for her soon-to-be born baby. She graciously accepted the gift.
Victoria was all smiles during this visit. She has been looking content and relaxed during her pregnancy.
The Crown Princess has two more engagements to perform, according to Pure People. After that, she will be waiting for the arrival of her first child. In the meantime, it is expected her brother and sister – Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine – will take over for her in her absence.
Sources: Expressen.tv, Pure People
The girlfriend of Sweden’s Prince Carl Philip was in Helsinki, Finland Thursday to attend the Strauss concert where she accepted a check for her charity, Project Playground.
 Click here for original Finnish article Dressed in a simple white and black dress, Sofia Hellqvist was all smiles as she accepted the check and gave a little speech in both Swedish and Finnish about the foundation. Project Playground helps disadvantaged children in South Africa.
“Project Playground offers children and young people in activities after school as an alternative to street life. Many of the children have to face the horrors in their lives, and shoulders to carry the small problems that no child should face,” Sofia told the audience.
“Township areas have high unemployment rates, and they lead to alcohol and drug problems, violence, the spread of HIV and AIDS, and abuse. We want to encourage and motivate children to work towards a better future. Our children are the future generation of teachers, workers and managers. Sport, play and leisure activities to help children get the skills that are not necessarily taught at home or at school. We want our children to remain children as long as possible.
“Once again, we thank all the companies which are involved in donating. We hope that this day is a good start for our cooperation in Finnish companies and individuals. Together, we can take small steps towards a better world. There are many ways to help, not just financial. We can also help by opening the heart, opening the eyes and understanding of what happens elsewhere in the world, and disseminate information. These children need advocates.”
With that, Ms. Hellqvist thanked everyone.
She and the Prince have been dating for about two years. There has been controversy swirling Sofia due to her past as a reality show star and modeling nude. Yet, she and Carl Philip have been living together for quite some time, and some see her involvement with Project Playground as a rehabilitation of her image.
Sources: Iltalehti, MTV3
While 2010 may have been a celebratory year for the Swedish royal family, 2011 has been difficult.
 Click here to view the website of the Swedish Royal Court So says Queen Silvia and her eldest child, Crown Princess Victoria. In an interview with the SVT program, Året med kungafamiljen – or, The Year with the Royal Family, the two talked about how the media reported on the scandal involving King Carl XVI Gustaf and his alleged affairs and visits to strip clubs.
“It makes a lot of pain when your parents are publicized at the brusque way that actually has occurred,” Victoria told SVT.
Following the publication of the book The Reluctant Monarch, it was widely rumored there were photographs of the King at the strip clubs. Also, there were allegations that he was linked to the Serbian mafia operating in Sweden.
“There is a media drive if I get honest. Actually, I would not go into that. It is extremely hurtful. It is a situation when you are totally powerless. There is always someone else who has the final say,” Queen Silvia said.
She went on to say, “There are some who say why don’t you deny it?. Yes, but you can not deny all every day. It’s hard. Then it is not credible either. It then depends on the writings, if I may call them so, at what level they are. Should I go down to the same level to be able to comment on that?”
There were also rumors that the Queen was on the brink of nervous breakdown due to the reports. This she denies.
“They have recently written that I am close to collapse, soon I will be depressed, soon I will have thoughts of suicide, I’ve hit the wall and so on. I see these headlines. Then let me just say that yes, I am disappointed and yes, I’m sorry. But what shall we say? It might have strengthened me.”
Crown Princess Victoria, who is expecting her first child in March, voiced her concern about the media intrusion and how it would effect her child as it grows up. She claimed the media is a lot more intense than it was while she was young, and wondered if the media will ever give her family a chance for privacy.
But at the same time, she agrees with her mother about how this family crisis effected the royal family.
“When I think back, it is also something that has strengthened us as a family.”
To view the SVT program, click here (its in Swedish).
Source: Aftonbladet
On Tuesday, most of the Swedish royal family were at the annual gathering of the Swedish Academy at the Stockholm’s Stock Exchange.
 Click here for more images Founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, the Swedish Royal Academy is a cultural institution meant to promote Swedish language and literature.
Everyone, minus Princess Madeleine, showed up for the formal gathering. Crown Princess Victoria wore a lovely black velvet dress which showed her baby bump nicely.
Her mother, Queen Silvia, recently spoke to Svensk Damtidning about her daughter’s pregnancy.
“She should take it easy and give herself more personal time,” said Silvia.
The Queen also spoke happily about the prospects of being a grandmother.
“It will be wonderful, very fun!” she said, adding that she looks forward to babysitting the future royal baby.
Crown Princess Victoria is due in March. The child, regardless of gender, will be second in line to the throne behind her.
Sources: Svensk Damtidning
Over in neighboring Sweden, the rest of the Nobel Prizes were handed out, with the Swedish royal family witnessing the event. While some may see the Nobel ceremony as a time to honor the achievements of the winners, others see it as a major a fashion event, especially for the royal women.
 Check out more photos at Daylife.com King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel and Prince Carl Philip were present for the ceremony. The Queen wore the same gown she wore to the pre-wedding events of Victoria and Daniel back in June 2010. The Crown Princess looked stunning in a deep blue sequined dress which flaunted her pregnancy. She is six months along, by the way.
Also in attendance, as guests, were the Grand Ducal couple of Luxembourg. Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa were at the Nobel ceremony because one of the laureates was from Luxembourg.
During the event, at the Stockholm Concert Hall, King Carl Gustaf personally gave the prizes to the recipients in the areas of medicine, literature, economics, physics and chemistry. The winners were:
Medicine: Canadian Ralph Steinman, who died just three days before it was announced he won. His wife, Claudia, took home the medal in his place. The other two were Bruce Beutler of the United States and Luxembourg-born Frenchman Jules Hoffmann
Literature: Swedish poet Tomas Transtroemer
Economics: Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims of the United States
Physics: Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess of the United States and US-Australian Brian Schmidt
Chemistry: Daniel Shechtman of Israel
The Nobel Prize laureates take home a gold medal, a diploma, and 10 million kronor ($1.48 million dollars, 1.10 million euros), which is shared if there is more than one recipient.
After the ceremony was complete, the royal family escorted some of the winners out of the Concert Hall and led them to the banquet where 1,400 guests gathered for fine dining. The menu consisted of lobster with pickled winter vegetables and Jerusalem artichoke purée, Guinea hen with porcini mushrooms and lingonberries, poached pearl onions with parsley roots and velouté sauce Mandarin and white chocolate mousse on a cinnamon-spiced cake with raspberry marmalade and fresh raspberries.
Sources: AFP, NobelPrize.org
Since the publication of the book The Reluctant Monarch last November, speculation over King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden’s ties to the Mafia has grown. It has certainly grown louder this weekend with the release of recordings show the King and a longtime friend tried to pay off a sex club owner, who is a gangster, to retract claims that Carl Gustaf attended sex parties there.
 View more photos of the Swedish King here The recordings have lead to many in Sweden to urge the King to come clean about his Mafia ties and apologize to the country for lying about the connections.
Even Constitutional Committee chairman Peter Eriksson, MP, is calling for the truth from the royal family.
“If it does not happen, we’ll see what we do,” says Peter Eriksson told Expressen.
The recordings have the King’s friend, Anders Lettström trying to broker a deal through Daniel Webb, an associate of Mille Markovic, the nightclub owner. King Carl was looking to pay to stop the story of him attending sex clubs from continuing to swirl. He was also looking to prevent Markovic from publishing the photos of him at the clubs.
“After our meeting on Kungsholmen, I talked to the King during the evening,” Mr Lettström said, according to Aftonbladet. “Then I told him that Mille had said that he could take back what he said, and that he wanted to be paid I thought it was between one and two million Kronor.”
Previously, the King spoke to TT news agency and denied knowledge of Lettström’s ties to the Mafia.
But with those recordings coming to light, it looks like he lied to Sweden, and the royal court is helping out.
“Our comment is that we do not comment on this further. There is data that has existed for a year,” says the court’s head of information Bertil Ternert to Expressen.se on Saturday morning.
But there is no stopping the urge for the truth, with it coming from Swedish politicians.
“I think it’s a difficult situation as the King got into, even before this last one with Lettström. A prerequisite for the monarchy to remain as true today is that there is some sort of confidence in the foundation of politics, citizens and the royal family,” said MP Peter Eriksson.
 Click here for photos of Crown Princess Victoria “If it is true, it is extremely serious,” said Ulf Bjereld, professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg. ” It would show that King lied to the entire Swedish population. Then it’s a huge crisis of confidence because he is the country’s head of State and shall represent the Swedish people in all contexts.”
Some are wondering if this could lead to King Carl XVI Gustaf’s abdication.
“If it is true that Lettström spoke to the King,” said Lawyer Peter Althin, who is a member of the Republican Association. “It means that our head of state has lied to its citizens straight up the face, and this is not acceptable. The natural thing would be King, if that his friend talked to him about these contacts, realize that it is unacceptable and then should he abdicate.”
If the King abdicates, that means Crown Princess Victoria will become Queen of Sweden while either in the last stages of her first pregnancy or with a newborn child.
It is being reported that all the Swedish royals are upset with Carl Gustaf. Queen Silvia cannot forgive him and does her best to keep up appearances.
Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine are doing all they can to stay out of Sweden and avoid their father. Carl Philip has been abroad either vacationing in Thailand or representing his country in South Africa as he did recently. This scandal may explain why Madeleine has been spending so much time in New York City.
Prince Daniel is reportedly doing everything he can to be supportive of his in-laws, particularly Victoria.
Sources:Telegraph (UK), Expressen
 View more photos here at Daylife.com Princess Madeleine of Sweden wore a lovely red gown for the American Scandinavian Society’s 2011 Yule ball at the Metropolitan Club Friday.
Her Royal Highness was all smiles as she posed for cameras before entering the club. Clearly, this has been a good year for her. Her charity work keeps developing as well as her relationship with New York financier Chris O’Neil.
Madeleine had more reasons to smile at the Yule Ball. She received a humanitarian award for her work with World Childhood Foundation, which was started in 1999 by her mother, Queen Silvia.
Source: Svensk Damtidning
Earlier this month, Sweden’s Princess Madeleine went to China and Inner Mongolia to oversee projects on behalf of the World Childhood Foundation. Although she was in the two places from November 11th to the 16th, the Swedish court and press is revealing the Princess’ work now.
 Click here to see more photos at Kungahuset.se “I have been to China several times to Childhood’s behalf, but this visit was particularly important, as Half the Sky is continuing its expansion,” Her Royal Highness said about her visit. She was referring to the Half the Sky Foundation which focuses on children between the ages of newborn to 16 years who are living in orphanages throughout China. The foundation is one of the few Chinese NGOs operating and is a model for how such foundations in the country.
Madeleine also said that she met “with the directors but more importantly, the staff at the centers, and being able to hold and interact with the children, makes our work real and contributes to the understanding of the program and how to help in better ways.”
The Princess went to Changzhou, 20 miles east of Shanghai, and Hohhot in Inner Mongolia to see how Half the Sky is taking care of children.
In addition, it has been revealed today that Princess Madeleine will not be at this year’s Nobel Prize ceremony. Instead, she will be at an event for the centennial anniversary of Marie Curie’s second Nobel Prize, possibly in New York where she currently lives.
Sources: World Childhood Foundation, Kungahuset, The Local
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