The crowds had come to celebrate a special day for the King of Sweden but they also ended up seeing an important first for the country’s future queen and a little princess.
As King Carl XVI Gustaf took the salute at a special ceremony at the Royal Palace in Stockholm to mark his birthday, he was joined by Crown Princess Victoria for the very first time.
Usually, Victoria joins the rest of the royal family on the balcony to see the ceremony unfold with her younger brother, Prince Carl Philip, accompanying their father into the courtyard for the military ceremony.
(Sara Friberg/The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Court)
This year was different as the Crown Princess is completing her own military training and so wore uniform to stand by her father for the salute.
There was a big turnout for the event which marked King Carl Gustaf’s 79th birthday. The ceremony began with the Life Guards’ Dragoon Band playing music and, later, the King of Sweden took the salute with his daughter and son on either side of him.
Then there was a chance for the children in the crowd to bring bouquets of flowers to King Carl Gustaf – another long standing tradition. One young gift giver got carried away and walked straight past the king who caught up with her to retrieve his present.
The public ceremonies ended with a balcony appearance and another first. Carl Gustaf’s youngest grandchild, Ines, who was born in February made her public debut as she was carried out of the palace in the arms of her mother, Princess Sofia, who joined her husband, Prince Carl Philip, and two of their three sons to greet the crowds.
