When Prince Carl Philip of Sweden marries former topless model Sofia Hellqvist in the Royal Chapel, Stockholm, the lack of controversy over the match in Sweden is a sign how far monarchies have become more relaxed in contemporary Europe. Prince Carl Philip is third in line to the throne, having been superseded by his sister Crown Princess Victoria who married her personal trainer Daniel Westling in 2010 and has a daughter Estelle, owing to a retrospective law in 1980 giving the first born right of succession regardless of sex, Europe’s first such law. They have been living together since 2010 and the public have got used to what would formerly have been a highly controversial match.
The marriage will be followed by the traditional carriage ride and then a dinner and dance. There will be a 21-gun salute. The Swedish monarchy is purely ceremonial after changes to the constitution in 1974 and seems popular.
It was Norway’s King Harald who married Sonja Haraldsen in 1968 and subsequently Sweden with King Carl Gustav who married Olympic hostess Silvia Sommerlath in 1976, who pioneered the marrying of members of the royal families into the middle class and for love, the norm having been previously that royalty married royalty in both countries. Marrying outside royalty and aristocracy is now usual in Europe with the British royal wedding being the most recent high profile example.
When Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon married Mette-Marit Holby in 2001 it was initially highly controversial that she was a single mother and linked with the use of drugs but she has become extremely popular. There was controversy when Crown Prince (now King) Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands married Maxima Zorreguieta as her father had been a member of the Argentine military junta of General Videla and when his mother Crown Princess (later Queen) Beatrix married Claus von Amsberg who was German in 1965. It would once have been thought improbable that Spain would have a divorced Queen but Queen Letizia is divorced. She and her husband King Felipe are attempting to rebuild the popularity of the monarchy in Spain after King Juan Carlos’s abdication last June.
Monaco is unique as the Oscar-winning actress Grace Kelly’s marriage to Prince Rainier in 1956 was so high profile but their daughters Princesses Caroline and Stephanie’s disastrous love lives made the gossip columns for years. The heir Prince Albert had two illegitimate children which he has publicly acknowledged though his marriage to Princess Charlene now seems a stable one. The “sunny place for shady people” has its international profile largely because of its royal family.
There are still over 40 monarchies in the world. More recently, laws have equalized the sexes, most recently in Britain and the 15 Commonwealth realms and in all European countries save for Spain, Monaco and Liechtenstein. The institution can go through troubled times as Britain’s monarchy did in the 1990s and Spain’s is now but its ability to adapt and change rigid rules and protocol, as shown by the forthcoming Swedish royal wedding, is undoubtedly a pivotal reason for its survival and continued popularity.
