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Sweden

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia open music festival in Prince Alexander’s duchy

King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden

On Sunday, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia travelled to Stenhammar Palace to open the local music festival. 

The World of Music at Stenhammar is a festival that saw its birth only in 2019 and had to be cancelled in 2020. But in his opening speech, His Majesty expressed his happiness at this event, having survived the global shutdown saying: “After last year’s break, it now feels extra nice for the Queen and me to greet you all warmly! We are happy that it has started to become something of a tradition, this, to gather here at Stenhammar once a year to enjoy the world’s food and music.”

King Carl XVI Gustaf also added that, despite ongoing restrictions for food consumption and social distance, music is still one of the most powerful bridges: “This year, for known reasons, we can not devote ourselves to food to the extent that we have done before. We still have to keep our distance. But we will instead get all the more of spiritual nourishment, in the form of wonderful music from all corners of the world! […] They (the musicians) can bring people from different cultures and generations together.” 

Stenhammar Palace is located in the municipality of Flen, Duchy of Södermanland, about 120 kilometres southwest of Stockholm. 

The duchy is currently held by Prince Alexander, the first child of Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia. Despite King Carl XVI Gustaf’s order to strip Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine’s children of their status as Royal Highnesses and members of the Royal House, all of them retained their duchy titles and their places in the line of succession to the throne. 

Sweden is slowly making a name for itself in the context of open-air music festivals. The country has many of these events that are starting to have a few decades of history, like the concert for Crown Princess Victoria’s birthday in July.