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Sweden

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Crown Princess Victoria visit fire-stricken areas

On Monday, King Carl XVI Gustaf, Crown Princess Victoria, and her husband Prince Daniel, visited areas that have been affected by severe forest fires. The Crown Princess Couple and the King interrupted their summer holiday to show their support to the areas worst affected.

On Monday morning, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel visited Färila in the Ljusdal municipality in Hälsingland. The town is part of the area that has been stricken by forest fires. During their visit, the Crown Princess Couple learned more about the efforts needed to extinguish the fire and its limits.

To be able to extinguish the fires, several fire brigades of the neighbouring countries have offered Sweden help. Among those who Victoria and Daniel met were the Finnish fire brigade and firefighters from Poland.

Photo: kungahuset.se

Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel also talked with the staff at the airport of Färila. Several planes containing large amounts of water were deployed to combat the fire.

In the afternoon, King Carl Gustaf paid a visit to Pålgård in the Ragunda municipality in Jämtland.

Photo: kungahuset.se

Because of the continuing heat and drought on the European continent, some areas have been severely affected by huge forest fires. Sweden is one of those areas. Earlier this month on the 17th of July, His Majesty had already released a statement on these severe forest fires.

He said: “My family and I are following with great concern the developments surrounding the large number of fires that are raging across our country during this exceptionally hot and dry summer.

“Right now, a lot of work has to be done to combat the fires and minimize its harmful effects.

“I would like to express my support on behalf of the the Royal family to all of you who are afflicted and affected by the fires.

“To all the people–firefighters, armed forces employees, home guard personnel and volunteers — who in this strained situation make great sacrifices to help others, my family and I would like to say: thank you. Your dedication and your efforts are priceless. “

The Swedish Royal family is currently on summer break until the second half of August. Today’s visits had been unannounced.

About author

Laura is from Belgium and has a passion for all things royal. She is Europe Correspondent for Royal Central since October 2016 and has contributed to other news websites. In her daily life she is a fulltime student in EU-politics and political communication.