Swedish News.

Amnesty criticizes Swedish expulsion of Romani beggars. 20 foreign wolfs to be planted in 10 counties in Sweden. Book about the Swedish King to be exported. Sweden's Queen Silvia on Nobel gowns.  

  • Amnesty criticizes expulsions
    The human rights organization, Amnesty in Sweden, criticizes the Swedish government for deporting 26 Romani people with Romanian citizenship earlier this year. Amnesty claims it is discrimination since the EU-citizens were deported for begging on the streets, which is not forbidden. The police suspected they were victims of human trafficking, which could not be proven.

  • 20 foreign wolfs to be planted in 10 counties
    Foreign wolves can genetically strengthen the Swedish wolf population—without sacrificing good disease control and animal welfare. This is the belief of Swedish conservation authorities, who now give their go-ahead for the placing of 20 animals in a total of 10 Swedish counties. These counties are Västra Götaland, Värmland, Örebro, Västmanland, Dalarna and Gävleborg, Stockholm, Uppsala, Södermanland and Östergötland—all counties where wolves already live. This is done to prevent inbreeding of the Swedish wolf population.

  • Book about the King to be exported
    Few books have created a debate such as the one seen in Sweden after the publication of “Carl XVI Gustaf—Den Motvillige Monarken” by Thomas Sjöberg, Deanne Rauscher and Tove Meyer. “It’s the fastest selling book since the first Harry Potter book came out,” says publisher Kristoffer Lind. The book was published in early November and has already been printed in three editions, totalling 84,000 copies. More than 70,000 copies have been sold in Sweden, and sales are expected to increase. Literary agent Maria Enberg now says the rights are sold to both Germany and Estonia. “It’s under way in Norway, too. But the interest is especially strong in Germany,” she adds. Both the author, Thomas Sjöberg, and one of the women that the King supposedly had an intimate affair with, have been interviewed on German television, and the German newspaper Das Neue has bought the rights to publish excerpts from the book in ten articles. The book will be published in Germany in January. “It’s been said that the German market is about ten times as big as the Swedish, which means we ought to sell 700,000 books,” says Enberg. “Now I don’t think we will do that, but I think we will sell very, very well.”

  • Queen Silvia on Nobel gowns
    “I’m a bit old-fashioned, I prefer quality,” says Queen Silvia in an open-hearted interview about her Nobel gowns, which are known for their beauty and craftsmanship. Soon it’s time for the Nobel festivities, and it’s always exciting to see what the Queen is going to wear (and of course it’s just as exciting to see what the Crown Princess will wear; Princess Madeleine will be absent this year). “There’s a lot of work behind a Nobel gown,” explains Silvia. When asked how much influence she has on the creations, she laughs and says: “All, I hope! It is of course a collaboration, and I love my gowns—they are like old friends.” She says the fact that she has to carry royal orders, and their colors, has to be taken into account when designing the gowns. She also reveals that the King has excellent taste and gives her good advice.
    The Queen says that she, like most girls, took an early interest in fashion, and as a teenager she made her own skirts and dresses. Her gowns are handmade (“My mother always told me you should be able to turn a dress and it should be just as beautiful on the other side”) rather than machine-made. Yellow, she feels, is a favorite color: “It’s a color that I wear quite well. I’m lucky to be able to wear a lot of colors.” Interesting to note is that most of Queen Silvia’s Nobel gowns were made by Danish designer Jørgen Bender. Another fun fact is that the Queen’s waist size has not changed through the years. Fashion doesn’t dictate what she chooses: “I pick designs and fabrics that I think are beautiful and that suit me.” Two of the gowns, however, are secretly maternity gowns—a fact only she, the King and the designer (probably) were aware of!