Åland receives first official visit from member of Swedish royal family since granting of autonomy

print this

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden arrived in Mariehamn, the capital of Åland, on Wednesday evening on a two-day official visit featuring an agenda that would require her presence on Thursday from morning to late evening.
      It was the first time Åland has been paid an official visit by a member of the Swedish royal family since the islands were granted autonomous status in 1921.
     
On Thursday, the first item on Victoria’s agenda was a visit to the Parliament Building where she listened to a speech about the autonomy of the Åland Islands, while a crowd of journalists and photographers following her everywhere were speculating about an upcoming wedding - whether or not the princess would marry her boyfriend Daniel Westling soon.
      Luckily, the Swedish women’s magazine Svensk Damtidning had also sent its special Victoria reporter Jenny Alexandersson to Åland. After having followed the crown princess for five years, she knows that a wedding will be set up as soon as Daniel Westling is ready. When he has completed his hotel project in Brazil he might very well start his career as a prince consort.
     
Next, Victoria visited Ålands Lyceum, a local upper secondary school, where she again had to face a wall of photographers.
      Parvin Sharifi and Alice Kuhlman, both students at Ålands Lyceum, were wondering how Victoria can tolerate the kind of life she has to lead. All decisions have been made on behalf of her, even those concerning her career.
      However, Victoria did not speak about such things. She stood up in order to say a few words of thanks for the presents she received, saying how much she has enjoyed her visit.
      She also mentioned that when the official invitation was received, she immediately wanted to go. The royal family often pays private visits to the Åland Islands, but the previous official visit took place 200 years ago.
     
At noon there was a lunch at Kastelholm Castle, followed by a visit to Önningeby Museum and a boat tour on the schooner Albanus. The opening of the Åland Islands Museum’s exhibition and a visit to the Åland Art Museum’s exibition were also on the agenda, prior to a dinner at Nautical Club.
      In May, Åland attracts crowds of camp school pupils from the mainland, and on Thursday, some schoolchildren from Varkaus in Eastern Finland had an opportunity to use their camera mobile phones in order to send home a picture of Princess Victoria.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Princess Victoria opens her own snowmobile route in Finnish Lapland (22.4.2005)

Links:
  Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden (Wikipedia)
  Åland Islands (Wikipedia)

Helsingin Sanomat