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Sweden

The King and Queen of Sweden visit Västernorrland

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden talks to a resident during a visit to an old people's home

The King and Queen of Sweden have visited Västernorrland county to show their support for communities in the area as the global health crisis continues.

The royal couple were welcomed to the county and to the residence in Härnösand by Governor Berit Högman. At the residence the governor, together with local authorities, told the royals about how the pandemic has affected the region and about the challenges and lessons that the pandemic has brought.

After the meeting at the residence, the King and Queen visited Koltrasten’s special accommodation for older people. The staff spoke about the activities available there and how the challenges that the pandemic brought with it affected the work and the residents.

One of the topics discussed during the visit was the pandemic’s impact on the county’s cultural scene. Norrland’s dance company told about the change that the company made during the pandemic and about how they offered such corona-safe cultural events, including performances at nursing homes.

The royal couple then visited the Castor restaurant for lunch. The lunch began with the principal, teachers and students at the local high school talking about the impact of the pandemic on the school, about the work of student health during the pandemic and about creating faith in the future among the students. Afterwards, lunch was served and prepared by Year 3 students.

After lunch, the royal couple visited Härnösand’s business unit where business leaders told about the pandemic’s impact on the county’s economy and the municipality’s various support measures for companies. Afterwards, representatives from three companies and three industries talked about their perspectives on the pandemic.

The day ended at the Midlanda airport in Timrå municipality where the royal visitors held a meeting with Christina Thonman, operations manager at Söråkers Folkets hus, Anders Fällström, rector of Mid Sweden University and Annelie Ringbro, head of the Timrå competence center, about the pandemic’s consequences for integration, competence development and job creation. The royal couple then visited the exhibition “The Meaning of a Job” where six of the people portrayed in the exhibition shared their stories.

About author

Senior Europe Correspondent Oskar Aanmoen has a master in military and political history of the Nordic countries. He has written six books on historical subjects and more than 1.500 articles for Royal Central. He has also interview both Serbian and Norwegian royals. Aanmoen is based in Oslo, Norway.