Princess Sofia of Sweden recently got a lot of attention when she signed up to serve as a caregiver in Sweden during the coronavirus pandemic. Now her husband is following her lead. The only son of the Swedish king, Prince Carl Philip has joined the army and will serve as a Major during the ongoing pandemic that has hit Sweden hard.
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the Swedish Prince has joined the military. According to the Swedish royal house’s official Instagram account, this happened at the Prince’s own initiative. The Royal Court stated that since mid-May, Prince Carl Philip has served as a reserve officer at the Armed Forces headquarters in the capital of Stockholm.
Together with a picture of the Prince in his military uniform outside the main camp of the military in Stockholm, the royal court stated the following: “Since mid-May, Prince Carl Philip has served a reserve officer with the rank of Major at the Defence Headquarters. The Prince is now located at the Operations Command Centre, which directs and coordinates operations for all combat forces. From the command centre, the Armed Forces also support and coordinate the community for the COVID-19 pandemic. The service is performed at the Prince’s own initiative”.
Earlier this spring, the Prince visited the same place for an event on behalf of his father, the King. During that visit, the Prince was informed about the Swedish military’s work during the coronavirus pandemic. Now the Prince takes part himself.
In March, his wife Princess Sofia took a three-day medical course to work as a caregiver in Stockholm. She is now performing non-medical tasks and relieves the permanent staff so that they have more time to care for patients with the coronavirus.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic was confirmed to have reached Sweden on 31 January 2020. Sweden has not imposed a lockdown, unlike many other countries, and kept large parts of its society open. This has attracted a lot of attention and criticism. As of 25 May 2020, there have been 33,843 confirmed cases, of which 1,957 have received intensive care, and 4,029 people have died. Sweden is therefore hit very hard if you compare the nation with its neighbours. In comparison, 562 have died in Denmark, 308 have died in Finland, and 235 have died in Norway.
