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ROYAL FAMILY

Sweden’s royal family joins Facebook

Pictures of Queen Silvia at the World Child and Youth Forum. Behind-stages snaps of formal dinner table settings at the Royal Castle.

Published: 20 November 2011 11:21 CET
Sweden's royal family joins Facebook

The Swedish royal family has taken another step onto the digital world, and can now be found on their own Facebook account.

Those hoping to see candid status updates signed by King Carl Gustaf, or everyday shots of the king and queen in slippers enjoying a Sunday breakfast at the palace are likely to be disappointed, though. The account will be manned by the court’s information office.

“We want to get information out faster, and among other things inform about the 11 royal castles,” said the court’s information officer Bertil Ternert to daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

The Norwegian royal family has already been on Facebook for some time, and interest is high among monarchy fans.

“Since many have asked us why we aren’t on Facebook, we decided to connect our website to Facebook,” explained Bertil Ternert to Dagens Nyheter, adding that the royal family’s website has rapidly grown from 4,000 daily visitors to 10,000.

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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.

Published: 7 July 2023 13:53 CEST
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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