King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia are now back at the Royal Palace in Stockholm after an absence of almost six months caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
As the virus took hold, the royal couple moved to Stenhammar Palace, about 120 kilometres southwest of Stockholm. King Carl XVI Gustaf, 74, and Queen Silvia, 76, have been based there through the spring and summer. It was from here that the King gave his televised address to Sweden as the pandemic worsened. The royal couple have been seen working at the palace regularly, holding video calls.
They returned to the Royal Palace as September got under way, underlining its role as the official home of the Head of State. The King and Queen will continue to use video and digital meetings to carry out engagements but they also plan to hold audiences and events at the Palace, observing social distancing and safety measures necessitated by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The first of those events took place on September 2nd when the couple held a meeting with Carl-Henrik Heldin, Chair of the Nobel Foundation, and the organisation’s Director, Lars Heikensten. The King and Queen were photographed sitting at the head of the meeting table with their guests spread away from them.
Queen Silvia also held a meeting, alongside Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, with representatives from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency to hear about ongoing work in Beirut following the explosion there in August which killed at least 190 people and left many thousands injured.
On the same day, Prince Carl Philip oversaw the prizegiving for the ‘Thinking Hand’ arts competition at the Royal Palace. The contest celebrates young artists working in visual mediums.
