The upcoming wedding of HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden to Daniel Westling is certainly not going to be cheap. Sveriges Radio has reported that the costs are now up to 80 million kronor ($11.4 million dollars). Security for the big day will involve two thousand police officers at Stockholm Cathedral where the couple will be married. Even renovations of the Cathedral itself will come in at 14 million kronor. A parade on the wedding day will include 2,500 military personnel, which also comes with a cost. Leading up to the wedding is a two week festival called “Love Stockholm 2010”. The world will be focused on the Swedish capitol and the government doesn’t want to miss the opportunity to market the city, but the festival will cost 7 million kronor.
In addition to the cost of the wedding, the government has allocated 40 million kronor to renovate a palace near Stockholm for the new couple. It is slated to cost about 8 million kronor over two years to run the palace. Ongoing costs include security guards, grounds personnel, and the household staff.
These costs come with the benefit of, as mentioned above, that the whole world will be watching. This is the first heiress apparent to a European throne marrying someone of non-royal blood. The event makes history and Sweden would be silly to not take advantage of it. The question lies in whether they are investing too much money and if it will pay off with increased tourism.
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