A special holiday took place this week in the Nordic nations as they celebrated St Lucia, a Christian saint.
The celebration is marked by young children dressing up, holding candles in the dark, singing and handing out a traditional pastry called “lussekatter.” To mark the holiday, the Danish Royal Court published several older photographs of how the Royal Family celebrated the day during World War II.
While Germany occupied Denmark during the Second World War in 1944, the first public procession for St Lucia Day took place in the kingdom. At that time, the future Queen Margrethe and Princess Benedikte joined their mother, Crown Princess Ingrid, in introducing the celebration of Saint Lucia in Denmark. This included girls dressing up as Lucia herself in a white dress and boys representing “star boys.”
Part of the message on Instagram translates to: “The tradition of going to the Lucia procession on 13 December comes from Queen Ingrid’s homeland, Sweden. In the 19th century, the Swedes combined the Nordic custom of going from door to door to sing Christmas into the story of Saint Lucia, who was born in the Roman Empire in the year 300. Lucia chose to become a Christian, which was illegal and resulted in her death. However, before that, Lucia helped other Christians in the catacombs, and at night, she put a wreath on her head so that her hands were free to help others around her.”
The Royal Court further said on Instagram: “The pictures of Princess Margrethe and Princess Benedikte from December 1944 are part of Queen Ingrid’s photo collection. Two weeks ago, the pictures, together with 10,000 other photographs, were made available in the Royal Photography Collection, which can be found on the Royal House’s new website. The collection contains photographs from the childhood of photography – the oldest photograph is from around 1845 – and to this day, with a centre of gravity in the 20th century. Among the royal photographers are Queen Alexandrine, Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid. In addition, a number of famous 19th-century photographers and photographic pioneers from home and abroad are also represented in the photography collection.”
The Swedish royal family also marked St. Lucia on Monday by publishing a picture of Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar. Princess Estelle was ready to hand out pastries and had even put on the traditional costume. Little Prince Oscar had dressed up as a Santa Claus for the occasion.
