The royal family of Sweden will spend the majority of 2023 celebrating the Golden Jubilee of King Carl XVI Gustaf, the country’s longest reigning monarch. The King and Queen Silvia will spend several months touring the country and meeting as many people as possible, with 2023 also marking the 500th anniversary of Sweden becoming a country.
On New Year’s Day a new official portrait of the King was released to kick off the Jubilee year, with the first celebratory dinner to be held later this month.
On January 20 the King and Queen will be joined by Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia at the Swedish dinner at the Royal Palace for representatives and governors of each of Sweden’s counties.
Then the nationwide tour will begin on February 9 in Nyköping, Södermanland County and is scheduled to finish on September 7 in Karlstad, Värmland County.
The royal couple will spend their time immersing themselves amongst other Swedes in a very special year for the Scandinavian nation.
The country will celebrate its 500th anniversary on National Day, June 6, with the usual National Day dinner at the Royal Palace being replaced with an even bigger banquet at the Nordic Museum.
September 15 marks the actual day King Carl ascended to the throne, with the weekend of 15/16 seeing festivities take place in Stockholm.
On September 15, a Te Deum, a Latin Christian hymn, will take place in the Royal Chapel of Stockholm Palace.
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The Royal Palace and the palaces of Slottsbacken and Vasaborgen Gripsholm will also play host to various exhibitions throughout the year.
King Carl became the heir to the throne aged just nine months after his father was killed in a plane crash.
He is Sweden’s longest reigning monarch, having surpassed King Magnus IV’s previous record of 44 years and 222 days on April 26 2018.
