Press briefings ahead of the Royal Wedding

Friday 18 June

• 09.00-9.30 'The Crown Princess's wedding - arrangements, content, etc.' Nina Eldh is Head of the Information Department at the Swedish Royal Court. Representatives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Police Service and others will take part in Ms Eldh's briefing to answer questions about the arrangements, media services, the work of the police, etc.
  
  
• 10.00-10.30 'Military parades for the wedding' Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Beck-Friis Häll is head of the Commandant Staff at the Royal Palace and is responsible for all military parades for the wedding.
  Six thousand representatives of military units and NGOs will line the cortege route, some twenty vessels will be lying at anchor on Stockholm Ström and two divisions from the Swedish Air Force will perform overflights. Listen to more information about the cortege route, the salute, the arrangements and the military parades for the wedding.
  
  
• 11.00-11.30 'The Swedish Monarchy - an insider's view' Former Marshal of the Realm Ingemar Eliasson has a unique perspective of the Swedish monarchy thanks to his time spent at the Swedish Royal Court, and as a former government minister, county governor and member of the Riksdag. Until just recently he was Marshal of the Realm - the highest office at the Swedish Royal Court.
  
  
• 13.00-13.30 'Sweden - a country full of modern royalists?' Susanna Popova is a journalist and author who, together with a photographer, is being allowed to follow Crown Princess Victoria in all her preparations, which will feature in a book to be published directly after the wedding.
  Susanna Popova: "If you look at the image of Sweden in the media, Swedes live in an egalitarian country where there are few differences between people. Differences in income are small and the Swedes also regard themselves to be modern. Class is not something a Swede wants to talk about, but deep down every Swede knows where he or she comes from. This explains why around seventy per cent of the Swedes regularly state that they are in favour of the monarchy."
  
  
• 13.45-14.15 'Democracy and monarchy' Cecilia Åse has a Ph.D. in political science from Stockholm University and in October 2009 she published a book entitled The Power of the Monarchy. National Unity in Swedish Democracy. The book discusses the position and tasks of the head of state in relation to the Swedish democratic system and ideas about nation and gender, among other things.
  
  
• CANCELLED 14.30-15.00 'Swedish royal weddings, past and present' Lena Rangström is the First Curator of the Royal Armoury. She has just published a book about Swedish royal weddings from the 1500s and onwards. Which elements of these historical weddings will reappear in Crown Princess Victoria's wedding?
  
  
• 15.15-15.45 'Modern subjects? The thoughts of normal Swedes on royalty and monarchy' Mattias Frihammer has a Ph.D. in ethnology from Stockholm University and has just presented his doctoral dissertation entitled From the bottom of the Swedish heart  Reproduction of contemporary monarchy on the monarchy in the 21st century.
  Mattias Frihammer: "Through normal people's thoughts about the monarchy and experiences from encounters with royalty, the monarchy emerges as both a symbol of an unjust form of society and a uniting symbol for Sweden as a nation and the continuity of society. What gives royalty its extraordinary lustre in a modern and democratic country?"
  
  
• CANCELLED 16.00-16.30 'A wedding in Stockholm - European Green Capital 2010' Linda Persson is project manager for the Green Capital Year and will provide an insight into Stockholm's work on sustainability and how this is being integrated into new districts.
  Linda Persson: "In the water outside the Palace you can fish for salmon. The clean water and the Royal National City Park are examples of decades of strategic sustainability thinking in Stockholm. Environmental aspects are taken into account at every stage, from budget to operational planning to reporting and monitoring; this was also one of the reasons why Stockholm was named Europe's first Green Capital.
  
  

Thursday 17 June

• 09.30-10.00 'Military parades for the wedding' Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Beck-Friis Häll is head of the Commandant Staff at the Royal Palace and is responsible for all military parades for the wedding.
  Six thousand representatives of military units and NGOs will line the cortege route, some twenty vessels will be lying at anchor on Stockholm Ström and two divisions from the Swedish Air Force will perform overflights. Listen to more information about the cortege route, the salute, the arrangements and the military parades for the wedding.
  
  
• 10.30-11.00 'The Swedish Monarchy - an insider's view' Former Marshal of the Realm Ingemar Eliasson has a unique perspective of the Swedish monarchy thanks to his time spent at the Swedish Royal Court, and as a former government minister, county governor and member of the Riksdag. Until just recently he was Marshal of the Realm - the highest office at the Swedish Royal Court.
  
  
• 11.30- 12.30 'The Crown Princess's wedding - arrangements, content, etc.' Nina Eldh is Head of the Information Department at the Swedish Royal Court. Representatives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Police Service and others will take part in Ms Eldh's briefing to answer questions about the arrangements, media services, the work of the police, etc.
  
  
• 13.00-13.30 'Sweden - a country full of modern royalists?' Susanna Popova is a journalist and author who, together with a photographer, is being allowed to follow Crown Princess Victoria in all her preparations, which will feature in a book to be published directly after the wedding.
  Susanna Popova: "If you look at the image of Sweden in the media, Swedes live in an egalitarian country where there are few differences between people. Differences in income are small and the Swedes also regard themselves to be modern. Class is not something a Swede wants to talk about, but deep down every Swede knows where he or she comes from. This explains why around seventy per cent of the Swedes regularly state that they are in favour of the monarchy."
  
  
• 13.45-14.15 'Democracy and monarchy' Cecilia Åse has a Ph.D. in political science from Stockholm University and in October 2009 she published a book entitled The Power of the Monarchy. National Unity in Swedish Democracy. The book discusses the position and tasks of the head of state in relation to the Swedish democratic system and ideas about nation and gender, among other things.
  
  
• 14.30-15.00 'Swedish royal weddings, past and present' Lena Rangström is the First Curator of the Royal Armoury. She has just published a book about Swedish royal weddings from the 1500s and onwards. Which elements of these historical weddings will reappear in Crown Princess Victoria's wedding?
  
  
• 15.15-15.45 'Design for Sweden - a few royal contributions. From Prince Eugen to Prince Carl Philip' Micael Ernstell is a curator specialising in design at the National Museum of Fine Arts and was responsible for an exhibition entitled Design Sigvard Bernadotte.
  
  
• 16.00-16.30 'A wedding in Stockholm - European Green Capital 2010' Linda Persson is project manager for the Green Capital Year and will provide an insight into Stockholm's work on sustainability and how this is being integrated into new districts.
  Linda Persson: "In the water outside the Palace you can fish for salmon. The clean water and the Royal National City Park are examples of decades of strategic sustainability thinking in Stockholm. Environmental aspects are taken into account at every stage, from budget to operational planning to reporting and monitoring; this was also one of the reasons why Stockholm was named Europe's first Green Capital.