pic: gala.de
The political news for the day is that the court of His Majesty the King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf announced today that some of his grandkids, the children of Princess Madeleine and of Prince Carl Philip, will no longer officially be considered Royal Highnesses.
They’re still part of the royal family, of course, but not in the official sense whereby they must work for Sweden and represent in some way. When they go somewhere, it will be as regular people and not official representation with expenses covered by tax payers. They’ll still retain their various duchess and duke titles (although their future children won’t), but now they are free to actually work, and even join a political party and run for office. Just like everybody else, sort of (SvD.se).
As head of state, the King receives compensation for the work he does representing the country. This money comes in the form of a lump sum which he can distribute among the family as he will. Since 2013, the Royal Court has had to account for its income and expenses, but within that reckoning, they do not have to account for what are private expenses and what the expenses are associated with their representation.
In the larger scheme of things, like the state budget, the royal apanage is not much more than a drop in the bucket – but to many people it’s a completely unnecessary drop that doesn’t fit with the modern democratic society that Sweden otherwise prides itself on being. For others however, the Royal Family is charming and traditional and a bit of color in an otherwise not so exciting state apparatus. These folk will be happy that at least Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland remains the heir apparent to the Swedish throne for whenever her father decides it’s time to step down. Victoria and her family, plus her parents His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf and Her Majesty Queen Silvia of course, remain officially royal.
The decision, a pretty unique one in the history of royalty apparently, is likely a way of circumventing a more visible debate on the status of the Royal Family in Sweden. Although a committee hadn’t yet been put together, a decision to form one, and look over the apanage, was taken by Parliament earlier this year (DN.se/apanage). It’s unclear whether the King’s decision will obviate such a committee. Word is, that the apanage amount won’t now be reduced either. Representation costs and duties are as high as ever, reports Marshall of the Realm (riksmarskalk) Fredrik Wersäll (SvD.se).
The German gossip papers were all over the news. The Swedish Royal Family is an enduring and popular page-filler for a dozen-odd papers. “What an upset!” ran Gala’s headline (Svd.se/Skrall). If you thought that the Nobel prize in medicine would top all news today, you’d be wrong.
