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ROYAL FAMILY

Swedish royals forced to ‘show the money’

The Swedish royal family will soon need to carry out a more open and transparent accounting of how it spends its annual allotment of public funds, according to a new proposal.

Swedish royals forced to 'show the money'

Starting next year, the royals must provide a proper balance sheet and income statement detailing how they spend the money they receive from the state, complete with comments and notes, according to the government’s budget bill presented earlier this week, the Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper reports.

The opposition has previously pushed for increased transparency in royal finances. Following talks between the Royal Court and the government, the request is set to be implemented.

King Carl XVI Gustaf and his family receive an annual sum, known as an appanage, of roughly 127 million kronor ($20 million) from the Swedish state. Roughly half of the money goes to running the royal palaces, operations which have long provided an accounting of their expenses.

According to the new proposal, the Royal Court will also have to provide proper accounting much like a private company for the roughly 65 million kronor the king receives each year to cover expenses related to the royal family’s activities and official duties.

According to SvD, Sweden’s royals have a total turnover of roughly 600 million kronor per year, excluding the royal family’s private assets.

The Royal Djurgården Administration, which earns revenue in the form of rents and leases, has an annual turnover of 250 million kronor. Entrance fees to palaces and other royal sites account for another 137 million kronor in income.

In addition, dividends for charity from royal foundations generate about 150 million kronor annually.

The Local/dl

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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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