According to Swedish Women’s Weekly magazine, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden is set to be immortalised as a comic on the cover of Disney’s Donald Duck Magazine in celebration of her fortieth birthday this Friday, 14 July,
Anna Bergström, editorial project manager for Kalle Anka & Co. said of the collaboration: “It is the first time we have [had] royalty on the cover. We hope that Victoria appreciates both [cartoonification] and [being on the cover of] our classic magazine.”
According to Bergström, the Crown Princess was “involved throughout the process and approved the outline for colouring.” She added that she thought Victoria agreed to be involved because “it’s a fun think and an honour to get to be on the largest comic book”.
The magazine cover shows the Crown Princess wearing a gown and sash accessorised with jewels including the Six Button Tiara she favours in real life. Her famous smile has been amended to include a duckbill and she is standing next to Donald Duck who is emerging, singing, from an elaborate birthday cake, with the words ‘Congratulations Victoria’ across the image.
The cover was designed and created by Norwegian illustrator and cartoonist Arild Midthun, who said: “It has been a great honour to cartoonify [the] Crown Princess for her big day. Victoria has a strong charisma and…is as enticing and irresistible to Duckburg residents as for us Northerners.”
The special edition magazine will feature a Donald Duck timeline of Victoria’s life and readers will have the opportunity to vote on her “Duckberg” name in a Facebook poll which will be run by publishers Egmont.
The Crown Princess’s birthday will be celebrated with two days of events – one in Stockholm and one in Öland – which all members of the Swedish Royal Family are expected to attend. More details of the birthday celebrations can be found here.
