The Swedish Royal Family stepped out in full force to attend the annual Nobel Prize Ceremony. King Carl XVI Gustaf handed out several Nobel Prizes at the Concert Hall in Stockholm.
Each year on 10 December, the Nobel Prizes are awarded. The Nobel Peace Prize is traditionally awarded in Oslo, Norway. In Sweden, King Carl XVI Gustaf hands out the Nobel Prizes for Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Sveriges Riksbank’s Prize in Economic Science to Alfred Nobel’s memory. The 10th of December is Alfred Nobel’s death day, and in his memory, the prizes are awarded on this day.
In the late afternoon, King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel arrived at the stage of the Concert Hall in Stockholm to attend the Nobel Prize Ceremony. Prince Carl Philip, Princess Sofia, Princess Madeleine, Chris O’Neill, Princess Christina and Tord Magnuson were seated in the front row. King Carl XVI Gustaf awarded the Nobel Prizes one by one. This year’s Nobel Prize laureates are:
- Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Kip Thorne (USA) received the Nobel Prize in Physics.
- Jacques Dubochet (Switzerland), Joachim Frank (USA) and Richard Henderson (UK) received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
- Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young (USA) received the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
- Kazuo Ishiguro (UK) received the Nobel Prize in Literature.
- Richard H. Thaler (USA) received the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
During the ceremony, there was also time for music by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra accompanied by soprano Camilla Tilling.
The dress code of the Nobel Prize festivities is white tie meaning the Swedish royal ladies wore tiaras. Queen Silvia wore the Nine Prong Tiara, Crown Princess Victoria wore the Aquamarine Kokoshnik Tiara for the first time, Princess Sofia wore her wedding tiara but replaced the emeralds with pearls, Princess Madeleine wore the Amethyst Parure, and Princess Christina wore the Steel Cut Bandeau.
After the ceremony, the Swedish Royal Family headed to the Stockholm City Hall to attend the Nobel Banquet. Princess Madeleine did not join the rest of the family. The Swedish Royal Court announced earlier this week that the Princess is suffering from back pain due to her pregnancy. Therefore, Princess Madeleine did not attend this portion as she is unable to sit for a very long time.
She did, however, post two images including the one below, on her Facebook after the day’s events saying, “Today Chris and I took part when my father handed out this year’s Nobel Prizes in Stockholm’s Concert Hall.”
Princess Madeleine and Chris O’Neill are pictured in a new official portrait which has been earlier taken today. (Photo: Princess Madeleine’s official Facebook/Kungahuset.se)
This year 1350 guests were invited to the Nobel Banquet. The Swedish Royal Family as per tradition descended from the impressive central stairs before taking their places at the table of honour. King Carl XVI Gustaf held the first toast of the evening. Each member of the Royal Family is seated next to at least one of the laureates. All the guests received a three-course dinner. This year’s menu included:
Pressed and dried Jerusalem artichoke, served with kohlrabi flowers
flavoured with ginger and lightly roasted cabbage broth
Crispy saddle of lamb, potato terrine with Svedjan crème,
yellow beet, salt-baked celeriac, apple salad and rosemary-spiced lamb gravy
Frosty bilberry bavaroise, bilberry ice cream with lemon thyme,
lime jelly, lime curd and lime meringues
After dinner when coffee and liqueurs are served, the laureates will hold speeches of thanks. Only one Laureate from each prize category will speak. The meal concluded at 10.50 pm, and then the dancing began upstairs in the Golden Hall.
In 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, giving the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace – the Nobel Prizes. In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden’s central bank) established The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The Nobel Prize laureates receive 9.0 million SEK/ Nobel Prize. When there is more than one laureate in the same category, the laureates ought to share the prize money. The first Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901.
Tomorrow, King Carl XVI Gustaf and the other members of the Swedish Royal Family will host a dinner for the Nobel Prize Laureates at the Royal Palace of Stockholm. Princess Madeleine will join the family for this event.
