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Sweden

A new Haga princess continues royal tradition

Princess Estelle is wishing everyone a happy St Lucia Day in a new picture on the Swedish Royal Family’s social media.

The young princess and future queen of Sweden appeared dressed as the fourth century saint in a snap shot by her mother Crown Princess Victoria. The photo caption read: “Happy Lucia morning from Haga!”

Princess Estelle is seen in the picture wearing candles in her hair and a white dress, and holding a basket filled with buns.

Photo by Crown Princess Victoria / Kungahuset Instagram

The martyred saint Lucia was famed for wearing a wreath lit with candles on her head to allow her to light the way and keep her hands free as she delivered food to Christians hiding in the Roman catacombs.

Today, St Lucia Day is widely celebrated throughout Scandinavia, with the Swedish royals taking a particular interest in the feast day. In the country, girls dress up as St Lucia and boys dress up as other characters associated with Christmas; and the traditional bun Lussekatt—St Lucy’s Bun—is baked and eaten.

Princess Estelle, the 12-year-old daughter of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, does not make many public appearances outside of major family events, but she does typically star in St Lucia Day photos, sometimes with younger brother Prince Oscar in tow.

About author

Jess Ilse is the Assistant Editor at Royal Central. She specialises in the British, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Royal Families and has been following royalty since Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee. Jess has provided commentary for media outlets in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Jess works in communications and her debut novel THE MAJESTIC SISTERS is now available.