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ROYAL FAMILY

Princess’s honeymoon gift ‘not a bribe’

Swedish anti-corruption prosecutors have said that Crown Princess Victoria’s decision to accept free use of a billionaire’s private jet for her honeymoon did not make her liable to prosecution for taking bribes.

Princess's honeymoon gift 'not a bribe'
Prince Daniel and Crown Princess Victoria

“The Crown Princess has inherited her position and it would therefore not seem relevant to compare her duties to those of someone who had been elected or appointed to carry them out,” Chief Prosecutor Gunnar Stetler wrote in a decision released on Friday morning.

“There is no reason to believe that a crime subject to public prosecution has been committed. An investigation will therefore not be commenced,” Stetler added.

Stetler also said that no investigation would be launched into the conduct of Bertil Hult, who lent the royal couple a plane, a yacht and a house for their honeymoon. Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel flew to Tahiti on his Dassult Falcon 7X private jet, sailed on his yacht in the Pacific Ocean, and reportedly spent several weeks at his house in Colorado.

A number of complaints were made to prosecutors by members of the public, and at the beginning of August Stetler announced that he would consider whether the royal couple and Hult had a case to answer.

Hult is the billionaire founder of EF, a multinational company that organizes language-learning trips.

The Royal Court has previously dismissed criticism of the honeymoon:

“It was a private trip and a wedding present from an old friend of the Royal Family,” Ulrika Näsholm, information secretary to the Royal Family, said when the initial complaints were made public.

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WORKING IN SWEDEN

Swedish Royal Guards scrap ceremonial helmets over safety concerns

The King’s mounted Royal Guards will no longer be able to wear their iconic ceremonial helmets on parades, after the Swedish Work Environment Authority warned of serious safety concerns.

Swedish Royal Guards scrap ceremonial helmets over safety concerns

“We take the safety of our employees extremely seriously and we are going to address this immediately,” colonel Stefan Nacksten, head of the Royal Guards, wrote in a statement. 

Employed by the Armed Forces, the Royal Guards are the King’s cavalry and infantry units and are a well-known sight at ceremonies in Sweden, including at the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace of Stockholm every day in summer – a popular spectacle for Stockholmers and tourists alike.

The helmets will no longer be used by Royal Guards on horseback from July 7th, as they do not conform to safety standards for riding helmets, although guards parading on foot will still be permitted to wear them.

They are part of the 1895 parade uniforms and were last modified in 2000. The Armed Forces will now create an entirely new helmet which looks the part, but is also safe for riding.

“We’re working on finding an alternative solution as quickly as possible which meets safety requirements and can also be used during parades,” Nacksten said.

“We’ve been working long-term with this issue but now that it has been assessed [by the Swedish Work Environment Authority] we need to take measures immediately,” he added.

“This is good, and now we’re working to make sure something good comes out of this and we can get a safe riding helmet for parades in place as soon as possible.”

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