King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
In the aftermath of dueling engagements in Sweden, HRH King Carl XVI Gustav, for the first time, allowed photos of his family in a private moment. His reasoning was simple – to put to rest the stories from the Swedish press about a sibling rivalry between his two daughters. The press has long tried to create a story of a rivalry between the two and coverage of Princess Madeleine’s engagement offered another opportunity. Many in the press tried to spin the story as Princess Madeleine trying to steal Princess Victoria’s engagement thunder. The King is known to despise these rumors and wanted to make a visual, bold statement to the contrary. So the King took his three children and his two future sons-in-law on a walk through a forest near Solliden Palace. It was a strong move by the King to show the closeness of his family.
HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit / AP
A number of years ago Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit was at a conference whose topic was homosexuality, homosexuals in society, as well as the lack of knowledge within society as a whole around the subject. The Crown Princess gave the opening speech and then remained an active participant for the remainder of the conference. The topic has come up again, as a new book due out in August entitled Skapsprengerne (translates to “Those who blow up the closet”) which tells the coming out stories of different Norwegians. The Crown Princess has written the preface of the book in which she says, “I hope that this book will create discussion and reflection about how important it is to be allowed to be a whole human being, and how we can help each other to become just that.” The most shocking part of this (for those of us in the US at least) – this book will be handed out in Norwegian schools.
For more info: Royalty in the News - Swedish Royals walk to deny sibling rivalry
Comments
I agree with Mette-Marit. People are people
I'm in the US, and I don't find it shocking at all that it will be handed out in schools. It's wonderful that she is working to promote tolerance. Homophobia is a dangerous and hateful thing, and it is very admirable that Mette- Marit is playing a part in helping to combat this.
I just meant that in the US it would be surprising that something like this would be handed out in the schools. Frankly, I wish they would. I think what Mette-Marit is doing is wonderful.
Having come under negative scrutiny herself because of who she loved, it would seem the Crown Princess feels an affinity towards those who would risk public and family disapproval by no longer denying an important part of their being. I applaud her for lending her voice to the discussion, and Norway for having the discussion.
It is unfortunate that in the US, "live and let live" more often than not is replaced by "live and live how I think you should live".
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