Prince Carl Philip of Sweden has travel to the island of Gotland, one of Sweden’s Duchies, to take a tour of different areas of the region and get an idea of the current situation for people in the area following the global pandemic.
This is just one of the many visits all members of the Royal Family are making to all regions of Sweden, to get a sense of the impact the pandemic had on businesses, communities and individuals.
Throughout the day-long trip, the Governor of Gotland Anders Flanking served as host for the Prince.
Prince Carl Philip began his visit on 7th of October 2021, in Gotland’s Governor’s Residence, where he held a meeting with representatives of the County Administrative Board of Gotland County to hear about the impact the pandemic and subsequent shutdown had on the county, the current state of things and the potential way forward.
His Royal Highness then made the journey to Visby Hospital, where he received a tour of the infection ward and the emergency room, after sitting down with hospital staff for a short meeting. Prince Carl Philip has undoubtedly heard similar stories from his wife, Princess Sofia, who, throughout the pandemic, has volunteered at Sophiahemmet Hospital in Stockholm, where she helps hospital staff with cooking, disinfecting instruments and more general cleaning.
The Prince then went to lunch at Bor-san restaurant, in central Visby, with representatives from Region Gotland, business, the hospitality industry and the county administrative board. From them , as well as the staff in the restaurant, His Royal Highness heard about the impact the pandemic had on the hospitality and restaurant industries of the region.
Following lunch, the afternoon portion of the visit began with a tour of Visby Gymnasium, a school where Prince Carl Philip heard from students and staff about the lessons they took from the pandemic, as well as seeing some of the school projects, including some a-tractors (a vehicle designed specifically to have a higher than average traction power) and a monument to CoViD-19 victims that students designed with their teachers).
After reuniting with representatives from Gotland region, the Prince visited Segerberg Media, who, during the shutdown, produced media content for its customers, such as speeches, films, reports and documentaries. There, His Royal Highness heard about the impact the shutdown had on the adult education sector, the labour market and the businesses of the country.
The last “external” event was a visit to Drottens ruins, the remains of the medieval city. Prince Carl Philip got to briefly tour the site with representatives from Gotland Region before heading back to the Governor’s Residence, where he heard from representatives of the cultural world about their struggles with the closures. Among those, were representatives from Medieval Week, Länsteatern on Gotland, Swedish form Gotland and Region Gotland.
Sweden’s royals are currently carrying out tours of all regions of the country, to get a taste of the impact the pandemic had and the response each are gave to the shutdowns and subsequent challenges.
