King of Sweden celebrates 60th birthday
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, once the world's youngest king, celebrated his 60th birthday amid much pomp and circumstance and the acclamation of subjects for whom he remains as a popular figure as ever.
Once known to them as "the little prince" he swept through the streets of the Swedish capital in an open coach drawn by six horses, cheered by thousands, on a day of colour and pageantry attended by most of the crowned heads of Europe.
At his side was his consort, Queen Silvia, former interpreter Silvia Renate Sommerlath of mixed German-Brazilian parentage, whom he met at the Munich Olympics in 1972. They married in 1976.
King Carl, as ever the darling of the crowds because of his relaxed, easy manner, has reigned for nearly 33 years.
His father died when he was still a small child and he assumed the throne in 1973 following the death of his grandfather, the long-reigning Gustav VI Adolf.
The royal couple have three children, the heir-apparent Princess Victoria, 28, Prince Carl Philip 27, and Princess Madeleine, 24.
Sunday's celebrations began with a Te Deum sung in the chapel of the Royal Palace in the heart of Stockholm. Later the King and his family appeared on the palace balcony to acknowledge the cheers, saying: "I am moved. I am proud of a day like this."
Then he was cheered all the way along his coach route from the palace to the city hall to attend a banquet of the scale he usually presides over each year at the presentation of the Nobel Prizes.
"He does good work for Sweden," said one enthusiastic subject, student nurse Rebecca Sarebaeck, 26.
"I think he'll be on the throne for another 30 years," said journalist Bjorn Vingard.
On behalf of the government and parliament, Social Democratic Prime Minister Goran Persson presented the monarch with a large official portrait by Swedish painter Ole Hamngren.
Among the crowned heads of were Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, King Albert II of the Belgians and Queen Paola, King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway, Prince Albert of Monaco and members the Jordanian royal family.
The British royal family was not represented. No explanation was given by the royal press service here. The Duke of Edinburgh attended the king's 50th birthday celebrations 10 years ago.
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark had to cancel because of a cold and was represented by Australian-born Princess Mary and Prince Consort Henrik.
In June the Swedish royal couple will celebrate 30 years of marriage followed in all probability by the much-awaited wedding of Princess Victoria to Daniel Westling, 32, a gymnasium owner who has been her close companion for four years and was present Saturday evening at a private celebration given by the king for guests of honour, the press reported.
Carl XVI's father, Prince Gustaf Adolf, died in 1947, leaving the one-year-old as heir to the throne. The king is in fine health and has no intention of abdicating.
"Retirement is not an option for me. It is not something I think about or discuss," he recently wrote on Sweden's official royal website.
Talking to journalists before the festivities, he joked that he might hand over to Victoria in 40 years' time.
The birthday celebrations began on Friday, when the king received gifts from the Swedish people at the royal palace in Stockholm, where he works but does not live.
Other institutions offered less conventional presents. The police gave the king a GPS receiver, while provincial presidents invited him to a conference on water quality.
The army also offered the king an invitation -- to a seminar on the future of Sweden's soldiers.
Among the non-royal heads of state present at the celebration were Finnish President Tarja Halonen and President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson of Iceland.
A dinner and a concert at the royal palace were planned for Sunday evening.
AFP
