Getting in some early Tuesday morning quality babysitting with Estelle, the new Swedish Crown Princess, as SVT Play presented the Royal Christening -det kungliga dopet- LIVE from the Royal Chapel

SVT video: Archbishop Anders Wejryd christens Crown Princess Estelle as her grandfather, King Carl XVI Gustaf, mother, Crown Princess Victoria, father, Prince Daniel, and grandmother, Queen Silvia, plus Daniel's parents, beam with pride. Amazingly, Estelle was quiet until that moment. May 22, 2012.

Rather than catch-up on some TV shows I've taped the past week -The Killing, Mad Men, et al- I was diligent and did my Swedish homework early Monday night and watched SVT's information-packed one-hour show with host Ebba Von Sydow on the Royal Christening -det kungliga dopet- in Stockholm at the Royal Palace's Royal Chapel, Slottskrykan.

http://www.kungahuset.se/kungligaslotten/slottskyrkan.4.30963a1811be3fda3ab80007080.html

http://svtplay.se/v/2803597/det_kungliga_dopet/infor_det_kungliga_dopet?cb,a1364145,1,f,-1/pb,a1364142,1,f,-1/pl,v,,2803037/sb,p179267,1,f,-1

Which is why I'm so tired typing this, since the pre-game baby/fashion/royals watching analysis started promptly at 4:45 am Miami time, six hours behind Stockholm

And for those of you with a good memory, if the music you hear at the beginning of the info program sounds familiar to you, well, it should.

It's the same music that SVT used so well in their really beautiful and graphics-intensive on-air promos for the Royal Wedding -det kungliga bröllopet- in June of 2010, which I actually saved  because of how magical they were.

Like something straight out of a classic Disney animated film -but modern.

And seriously, princess or no princess, that is one quiet and contented baby, as she was quiet until almost the very end of the ceremony, even with a singer, a harp and a flute only a couple of feet away from her.

I'll be posting some screen-grabs on the blog later in the day, as the post-christening show is still on at 8 a.m. Miami time, and I've heard about enough already about the fashions, the hats, and the etiquette, et al.

As usual, younger telegenic sister Princess Madeleine looked stunning + gorgeous + je ne sais crois!

I'll have the video of her, later, too.

There's a new princess in the world and Sweden has her! (Det finns en ny prinsessa i världen och Sverige har henne!) Prince Daniel declares "Mina känslor är all over the place."

Kungabebisen

http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/nyheter/article14421584.ab

There's a new princess in the world and Sweden has her! Det finns en ny prinsessa i världen och Sverige har henne!

Prince Daniel declares "Mina känslor är all over the place." (My feelings are all over the place.)

For a while at least, it looks like the Swedish royal family will have some happy news to celebrate and most Swedes will have the common sense and proper perspective to cut them some slack for a bit, instead of continuing the personal criticism of the King and Queen regarding their so-called "secrets" -that were NOT really quite so secret after all it would seem- that have come out over the past few years.


As I've stated here previously, Crown Princess Victoria's positive and warm personality and earnest thoughtfulness has helped keep her personally popular among the populace even while her parents have suffered the slings and arrows that many felt were overdue.


Already, hours later, there are stories appearing in the mass circulation newspapers with various "experts" positing that the birth of Victoria and Daniel's daughter will begin the permanent shift away from her parents and usher in a new era towards what she (and her new family) will do in the future, logic that is very hard to argue with, given how unpopular her parents are with some people.


Dagens Nyheter, http://www.dn.se/, had such a story on Thursday titled Focus shifts from challenged king to Victoria, with various media editorial types from different media groups weighing-in on how they thought they'd cover things in the near-future and long-term.


Fokus flyttas från en ifrågasatt kung
Allt ljus på Victoria och nyfödda prinsessan. Hovexperten Sten Hedman tror på en ny era, som kommer att vara väldigt lönsam för medierna.
http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/intresset-flyttas-fran-ifragasatt-kung-till-victoria


Naturally, once everyone got over the initial news, the next question was, so what's her name?
There's the mystery!


We'll all be finding out on Friday morning around 11:30 a.m. Stockholm time, and as I mentioned in an email to someone Thursday night, also named Jennifer, like one of my sisters and my niece, I asked, "So why not name den nya prinsessan "Jennifer" and then Sverige can really celebrate?"


I haven't heard back from her, but popular Stureplan.se blogger/model and longtime HBB favorite Tess Montgomery was already noodling on the name game from her perch in London by the time I came home Thursday:
http://stureplan.se/bloggar/tess/2012/02/23/una-principessa


The DN also has an angle on that naming question, too, with the Conventional Wisdom p.o.v. being Sylvia, like the Queen, the Crown Princess' mother, with some thought towards Astrid, which I like.


Names it WON'T be, based on my own educated hunch, include Chelsea, Hillary, Ashley, Jessica, Shania, Demi, Taylor, Reese, Winona, Juliet, Rachel, Giselle, Alyona, Lexie, Hayden, Angelina, Dakota or Brooklyn.
Or Lisbeth!


Malin or Marin or Marina would be good choices, and some of you out there in the blogosphere far from Miami know why I've always loved Kirsten.
But that would be too much to hope for.


Aftonbladet will be streaming the press conference LIVE at their website, so check it out if you can:
http://www.aftonbladet.se/

One year after the Royal Wedding, Crown Princess Victoria shows her resolve even while her parents' popularity -and the monarchy's- have tumbled

Aftonbladet video: Highlights from the wedding at Storkyrkan and afterwards.

http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/nyheter/inrikes/article13171220.ab

06:33

If you watched the kungliga bröllopet -like me- you'll recognize the song performed above as the secret song commissioned by Daniel for the wedding that was kept under tight wraps until that very moment.

Here's the complete video of that singular performance, the cherry-on-top even before they left the church and took their stroll around the city by carriage and boat before returning to say "Tack."

SVT video: Agnes Carlsson & Björn Skifs - When You Tell the World You're Mine - Storkyrkan, Stockholm, June 19, 2010.

http://youtu.be/U2Qvh_FonSM

Aftonbladet video: Highlights from their first year of marriage

http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/nyheter/inrikes/article13165551.ab

In the past year, even as Victoria's personal popular has increased, her parents' popularity and that of the Swedish monarchy in general have taken big hits from both republicans and an anti-monarchy media that sees the Swedish monarchy as... in short, an archaic construct in a modern era.
These groups see her parents as people whose ethics, trustworthiness, and general willingness to be straightforward about facts, to be MUCH LESS than they ought to be given their position in the country.
Especially in light of some facts that may prove more personally troubling than anyone can presently guess.

In May, in the U.S., the AP finally reported that Victoria's German-born mother, Queen Silvia, wants the longstanding questions surrounding her father's personal and professional activities and behavior in Germany and Brazil during the war to be re-examined.
This is usually referred to somewhat euphemistically in the news media as his "alleged Nazi ties." (Her mother was Brazilian.)

In the view of many of my well-informed friends in Sweden and other parts of Scandinavia, that moral cloud seems likely to get only more complicated, and some sensibilities may well be rubbed raw by the time the results are finally announced in the Fall.
(Though you're entitled to wonder where all this moral outrage is coming from now in a country that was officially neutral during the war.)

As to Victoria's father, King Carl XVI Gustaf, well, his personal behavior was the subject of an unflattering AP article in early June months after last year's publication of a not-entirely-believable book alleging many unsavory things.
That AP story made most major American newspapers and the cumulative weight of all of this has caused many people in Sweden to re-evaluate their personal feelings of respect for the king, even as his public 'explanation' -which I have watched a few times- only seemed to make things worse in the view of yours truly.

I suggest you read the AP story while you can before before they wipe this WaPo link clear.

Associated Press
Swedish monarchy under siege as king defends himself in strip club scandal.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/swedish-monarchy-under-siege-as-king-defends-himself-in-strip-club-scandal/2011/06/06/AGra25JH_story.html


New York Times
Some Doubt if Any King Is Still Fit for Sweden
By John Tagliabue
August 25, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/world/europe/25sweden.html



TheLocal.se
From wedding bliss to royal crisis: the state of Sweden's monarchy
By Clara Guibourg
Published: 17 Jun 11 09:41 CET
http://www.thelocal.se/34412/20110617/

On her big day, Crown Princess Victoria shows how it's done with aplomb -and wows Sweden again

Or, watching det kungliga bröllopet (the royal wedding) from South Florida via SVT on the Internet with almost no sleep whatsoever.

"What a glorious day for a wedding" was the the subject line for one of the emails I received from friends in Stockholm early Saturday morning, who were already making their way to favorite parade "spots" around town to watch the cortege after the wedding, even while I was trying to catch a few hours of sleep, so I could watch all the coverage on Sveriges Television (SVT) starting at 7 a.m. East Coast time in oppressively hot and humid Miami, where you can actually sweat going outside to pick up the newspaper.

SVT's coverage of everything was superb, so much better than I could've hoped, but as one scene after another fell on me, my biggest regret was that I couldn't be there in-person to share the moments with some good and loyal friends, many of whom had feared, as I had, that that day for Victoria and Daniel would never come.
Sometimes, there are no happy endings, even for real life princesses.

If you didn't take advantage of that invaluable SVT web information I shared with you on Friday, you missed one hell of a great wedding, as it was pitch-perfect, and the summer weather even cooperated, with no rain in Stockholm to douse everyone camped-out throughout the city to see the cortege.
Just mostly sunny skies and lots of smiles all around.

My screenshot, above, part of the royal procession in Stockholm on Saturday.

My screenshot, above, some of the throngs of happy people waiting to hear from the King and his daughter, Crown Princess Victoria, after her cortege around the city with new husband Daniel Westling.
The "True Love" balloon was a big hit among the ocean of Swedish flags, with one Danish and German flag also popping-up.


My screenshot, above, of a beaming Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling in their horse-drawn carriage, with Queen Silvia, Princess Madeleine, Prince Carl Philip and King Carl XVI Gustaf waiting to meet them.

I will have a lot more to say about the weekend's events in the days to follow, and I think you'll find what I have to say of interest, especially if you are someone who knows the full story behind Victoria and Daniel finally making it to the altar all these years later.

As impressed as I've always been with the Crown Princess, and for reasons that I've never really mentioned here before in any great detail, I believe she really outdid herself this weekend by handling things with such aplomb and good humor.

All of these qualities, along with her well-known warm, down-to-earth personality, are ones that the majority of people in Sweden know about and respect, almost instinctively, regardless of whatever their own individual political position may be on retaining a constitutional monarchy, or despite what know-it-all foreign reporters, dropping-in for the ceremony this weekend, may have to say about her or the country.

Trust me, those people are very happy for her personally, and proud that she was more than up to the task confronting her with millions of people watching her every move on a day that she once thought might never come to pass.


My favorite screenshot: Crown Princess Victoria, how about a smile for the folks overseas? Alongside Daniel and her parents just moments before she made her short but moving speech that had people laughing -and crying.

Victoria's comments:

Kära, kära vänner,

jag vill börja med att tacka svenska folket för att ni har gett mig min prins.

Vi, min make och jag, är så otroligt glada och väldigt tacksamma för att så många vill vara här och fira tillsammans med oss.

Det är en enorm upplevelse, det är vår absolut största dag hittills i vårt liv.

Att känna ert stöd betyder mer för oss än ni någonsin skulle kunna förstå.

Det är något otroligt.

Idag är en dag som vi kommer att bära med oss i våra hjärtan för resten av vårt liv.

Tack!

SVT video of Victoria's speech to the Swedish people is at
Victorias tal till svenska folket
You can watch this SVT video until Monday July 19, 2011.

Selected video summary from Daniel and Victoria's wedding day in Stockholm on Saturday and the happy scenes that were shared across Sweden. http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter/nyhetskanalen?videoId=1.1686444

See more excellent videos of the myriad wedding events as well as analysis at:
http://svt.se/2.132586/det_kungliga_brollopet_-_livesandningen and http://www.tv4play.se/

Based on what I've seen so far, the best photos and articles have, predictably, been at
http://www.aftonbladet.se/ and and http://www.expressen.se/
They never disappoint.

Now these two organizations know how to put together an interesting and attractive news website, something the Miami Herald could learn volumes from as their pathetic website remains a complete mish-mash and industry-wide embarrassment.
Seriously, I cringe almost every time I go to it, dumbfounded at both its ugliness and complete uselessness, a very bad combination, indeed.

Also be sure to see the great Love Stockholm 2010 3-D photo collage of the crowds outside the royal palace as Victoria spoke: http://lovestockholm2010.se/EN/About.aspx
An ingenious idea well-executed.
Would be nice to see something this clever done in South Florida once in a while. HINT!

And check out TV4 LOVE 2010 trailer!
http://www.tv4play.se/noje_och_humor/nojesklipp?videoId=1.1648320
Wow!

As I said above, there's quite a lot more from me to come on the whole kungliga bröllopet, as well as my thoughts on a really fascinating behind-the-scenes documentary on Crown Princess Victoria that I recently saw which was almost like an eavesdropping C-SPAN TV camera, letting you see things you'd never otherwise never see.

I'll share my thoughts about it, but also give you information you need so that you can see it yourself and draw your own conclusions.
As always, seeing is believing.

------------------------------
http://www.stockholm.se/

Live TV coverage in North America of Saturday's royal wedding in Stockholm of Daniel Westling & Crown Princess Victoria

Official Swedish Royal Court photo of Daniel Westling & Crown Princess Victoria by Paul Hansen, 2010.


June 19th, 2010 10:35 p.m.

Sorry for the tardiness of this post but meant to upload this Thursday and got overwhelmed by other material that's also coming soon. I will have more information up in the next few hours, but wanted to be sure to put this information up now so that anyone wishing to watch tomorrow's exciting royal wedding, det kungliga bröllopet, above would know where they could turn.

SVT's LIVE wedding coverage from Stockholm to areas outside Scandinavia starts at 7 a.m. Eastern Saturday our time, and they even have a countdown clock.

http://svtplay.se/v/2046599/det_kungliga_brollopet/det_kungliga_brollopet_-_for_viewers_outside_the_nordic_region?cb,a1364145,1,f,-1/pb,a1364142,1,f,-1/pl,v,,2046054/sb,p104698,1,f,-1

Tonight, Friday night, SVT produced this interesting feature, just under an hour in length, that's a mix of news, actualities, history and pop culture, from SVT's perch near the kungliga slottet, royal palace
http://svtplay.se/t/104697/det_kungliga_brollopet

Also from Thursday, mostly from their royal perch that TV4 is calling the Bröllopsstudion, as well as with reports throughout Stockholm, here's a 22-minute news segment on the latest goings-on with the wedding details and the hoopla.
Warning -This opening visual is positively killer!

http://www.tv4play.se/aktualitet/brollopsstudion?videoId=1.1683750

Wish I could be there in-person with some friends of mine who are very psyched for the festivities to begin.

Hoosier Hysteria in Stockholm: IU's Elinor Ostrom accepts her Nobel Prize for Economics from King Carl XVI Gustaf

Photo by Jonas Ekstromer/Associated Press
IU's Elinor Ostrom accepts her Nobel Prize for Economics
from King Carl XVI Gustaf in Stockholm

For "analysis of economic governance, especially the commons."

http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/12824.html
https://www.iu.edu/~iunews/blogs/nobel/

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
(Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien)
-lots of very neat stuff here worth taking a look at, too
http://www.kva.se/en/

Nobel Prize web page on 2009 Economic winners:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2009/
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2009/presentation-speech.html

Here's some photos of the royal family
-a.k.a. Kungafamiljen- attending the formal Nobel
banquet earlier Friday, which ran a little under four hours
with entertainment and speeches.
http://www.royalcourt.se/kungafamiljen/aktuellahandelser/2009aretsaktuellahandelser/aretsnobelpristagarepatraditionellmiddaghoshmkonungen.5.62402a8b12475b47cdb80004857.html

This Aftonbladet online article has an especially great
photo of Princess Madeleine worth seeing.
Så var Nobelfesten
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article6269587.ab

Here's the story and photo that Aftonbladet ran on
October 13th about Prof. Ostrom being honored:
Så vill Elinor rädda världen
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article5948388.ab

It's always good to see Indiana universitetet
in print.
----------

Early this morning, I received my weekly editor's
newsletter from The Local -Sweden's news in English.
http://www.thelocal.se/email/127/88512/

In that newsletter were these very amusing and spot-on
comments from the editor, Paul O'Mahony, which were
titled, Nobel banquet broadcast makes toes curl:

Last night I carried on the by now venerable tradition of tuning in to the live broadcast of the Nobel banquet for five minutes before taking aim at the screen with heart in mouth and dignity almost intact.

Sweden is justly proud of its Nobel Prizes, as scientists and writers are rewarded in this life for their vast contributions to humankind. But something deep inside me rejects the idea of television cameras trained on the every move of boffins, royals and dignitaries, all dolled up to the nines and gorging on a bacchanalian feast under the watchful eyes of the etiquette Stasi.

However, the gods of curiosity demand an annual five-minute suspension of disbelief to absorb with jaw on floor the public broadcaster's amnesiac rejection of Sweden's trademark egalitarianism and informality.

Royalist fervour drips through the screen as one commentator fawns over Princess Victoria's frock and delights in the prospect of her impending nuptials. The cameras then pan to the Crown Princess, who is in the process of applying lip gloss while talking to a clever person. It's hard to escape the fact that we're watching people having dinner.

Meanwhile a presenter is aghast as the finance minister appears to send an under-the-table text message. "Tell me I did not just see Anders Borg doing what I think he just did. Off with his ponytail!" Or words to that effect. "Help so bored no pizza on menu 2 many nerdz", wrote Borg. Probably.

Cut to the top of the steps in the Blue Hall, where a pantomime horse trots into view, neighing loudly and pursued with great vigour by a red-clad choir. And that's when I reach for my revolver.

Anybody with the stomach for an entire evening of this stuff has my grudging respect, and indeed there are plenty who revel in it. Good luck to them. But by the time the new day dawned and the crowds had dispersed, all I was left with was a hole in my soul and the need for a new television. Again.

He shoots and he scores!

---------

Earlier in the year, I posted a video of the King
and Queen Silvia discussing the news about
Crown Princess Victoria's engagement to
Daniel Westling and the wedding scheduled
for next June.

Since it's going to be at the beautiful 700 year-old
Storkyrkan Cathedral, which is in the Gamla Stan
section of Stockholm, the oldest section of town,
it really ought to be awesome.
http://www.royalcourt.se/royalcourt/theroyalfamily/hrhcrownprincessvictoria.4.396160511584257f218000503.html




A few months after Victoria's wedding. the King
will be walking down the aisle again as Princess
Madeleine gets married to Jonas Bergström.
http://www.royalcourt.se/royalcourt/theroyalfamily/hrhprincessmadeleine.4.396160511584257f218000839.html



Here's a video of Victoria making the announcement
in February

Stockholm: After seven years, a "Ja!"
Kronprinsessan Victoria och Daniel Westling
förlovade. Den 19 juni 2010 växlar Victoria och Daniel
ringar i Storkyrkan.