1. When Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark married Mary Donaldson in 2002 and when his brother Prince Joachim married Marie Cavallier in 2008, the official website was updated with their biographies within minutes.
Nothing happened at the Swedish Royal Court's website Kungahuset.se on Saturday, as has been commented on in the media and in various discussion forums. Not until today was the section about the royal family updated with the biography of Prince Daniel, and as I write this lines only the Swedish version is available. We still have to wait for the biography in English. You can still find some information in the wedding section, though.
I can well understand that the press information department at Stockholm Palace was rather busy on Saturday, but most of the work in preparing the biographical updates could have been done in advance.
One of the reasons for not updating the website with a new family picture, is according to today's Aftonbladet.se that an external firm has got the task to do the work, which is to include the family monogram. We will have to wait until Tueday for this to be completed. A new and formal group picture of the royal family will be taken in August when the Crown Princess couple returns from their honeymoon.
2. Interestingly enough, Prince Daniel's biography tells that his full name is Daniel Olof, and not the othe way around. The Archbishop certainly used the order Olof Daniel Westling during the wedding ceremony on Saturday, and that is also quoted in Svenska Dagbladet's special wedding edition on Sunday 20 June 2010 (paper edition, p. 6). But the biographical presentation in the same edition (p. 32) says Daniel Olof. However, the website Birthday.se, which I believe gets its information from Folkbokföringen (the National Register), says Olof Daniel Westling. As of now I think Olof Daniel is correct, but I have contacted the Royal Court and hope to get confirmation soon.
In the biography the new prince is presented as Daniel Olof (which could be Olof Daniel), Prince of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland. In other words, he seems to have lost his surname (or at least not used anymore officially). According to the blog Per Westberg - Kyrkordnaren, the members of the royal family do not have a surname in the National Register, and allegedly the surname is replaced by an asterisk (i.e. *). But what will really happen to the surname Westling, Per Westberg asks. He doubts that the government has the authority in law to take it away. In other words, the question remains open.
3. Yesterday I made a link to Expressen.se's Swedish version of Prince Daniel's speech to Crown Princess Victoria. Another version is now published at the official website. This version is the most accurate, as Prince Daniel said some words in Swedish and some in English. But if you want a full translation of Prince Daniel's words in English, then Sveriges Radio is the place to go (thanks to Marianne at GREMB for providing the link).
4. Prince Daniel once dreamed about becoming a professional ice hockey player, something his father Olle Westling briefly touched upon in his speech. Daniel even played at senior level for Hofors HC. His kidney problem, which was discovered after an inury he got in a football match (!), seems to have stopped his ambitions. As I am a great fan of ice hockey myself (although football (soccer) comes first), I certainly appreciate Daniel's enthusiasm about hockey. I presume that he is still interested in the game, and wonder which teams he supports in Sweden and in NHL?
Updated Tuesday 22 June 2010 at 10.55 (minor language error).
I also am puzzled by the website "issue" (may be too strong a word. I have been very impressed by both the Jordanian and British monarchies and the Holy See in terms of how quickly they update their sites upon the deaths of royal family members or (in the latter two cases) monarchs. Deaths are by nature unscheduled, so it would presumably be easier to update in the case of a wedding!
ReplyDeleteIn terms of Hockey, I have fond childhood memories of attending many games in which the great Swedish goalkeeper Pelle Lindbergh worked his magic before his tragic death. I wonder if Prince Daniel was also a fan of his?
About surname.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.metro.se/2010/03/12/97461/prins-daniels-namn-ar-ett-juridiskt-p/
http://www.metro.se/2010/03/12/97461/prins-daniels-namn-ar-ett-juridiskt-p/
ReplyDeletePer Westberg - thank you so much for the link! I wonder if the easiest solution would be for the royals to take a surname just like everyone else. Then Prince Daniel could keep his own if he wants to, or take Bernadotte (or a combination) instead. It will not have much consequence, though, as it will never be in daily use. But might be practical to have.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks again to Gary for your comments! Always appreciated. Prince Daniel was a forward, so he might have had a different sort of player as an idol? But Pelle Lindbergh (http://www.pellelindbergh.se/) was a fantastic goalie for sure (although I wasn't so into hockey at the time he played).
DTH