Swedish News

Covergirl Princess Madeleine of Sweden. Sweden’s best year in film. Stolen Christmas trees for $16.5 million. Anna Anka on Elin, being faithful in celebrity marriages and Hillary Clinton.  

  • Covergirl Princess Madeleine.
    Wow! What else is there to say? Look at the stunning cover girl of Swedish ELLE this month – she is none other than Princess Madeleine. And she is absolutely beautiful in a cream-colored suit. In an interview that must be termed unique, the princess talks about her career, her upcoming wedding, and the prince in her life. The interview was her own idea, although it took time to come about. “I want the readers to get a glimpse of what my life is like,” she says. “What I’m really like and what I feel passionate about.” Madeleine says she at one point in her life said to herself: “I am a princess, what am I supposed to do? Cutting ribbons is not enough for me.” The 27-year old princess works for her mother’s foundation Childhood, and also plans for her upcoming wedding to Jonas. “The focus at the moment is on Victoria and Daniel’s wedding of course,” she says. “And I look forward to that. I also have my own thoughts about a gown, a date, and a church and so on. But that will have to wait a little bit. Now I work hard with the Childhood Foundation and enjoy being engaged.” ELLE reports that a little child outside an orphanage in Moscow asked Madeleine if she had a Prince Charming in her life, Madeleine smiled and said: “Well, he might not be a real prince, but he is mine.” She explains she works from nine to six and mostly in an office. “I go on a lot of project visits of course,” she adds. “But a great deal of time is spent in front of the computer, writing reports.” Madeleine lived over 6 months in New York working at Childhood Foundation’s office in Manhattan and she loves the Big Apple. “It’s wonderful with New York, because I can be incognito there.” Does she think she’ll be working with the same foundation in five years? “I want to keep supporting Childhood and help when my mother is unable to, but it depends a lot on my schedule and my family.” Madeleine Bernadotte and Jonas Bergström were engaged on the island of Capri earlier this year. For more on Childhood Foundation (founded by Queen Silvia): www.childhood.org

  • Sweden’s best year in film.
    2009 is not over yet, but the numbers are in and they are great. The greatest numbers, in fact, since counting began in 1963. Svenska Filminstitutet reports that Sweden has had a great film year, with over 15.3 million visits to the movies in November alone. And not only visits to the movies have gone up, but there was also an increased interest in Swedish films - with an increase of about 32%, which means a lot more people in Sweden chose to see Swedish rather than foreign made films. Among the top ten films watched in Sweden during the 21st century, four were Swedish and they were: “Flickan som lekte med elden” (4), “Luftslottet som sprängdes” (6), “Bröllopsfotografen” (7), and “Så olika” (8).

  • Stealing trees.
    Christmas trees for up to 120 million SEK (around $16,523,688) are being stolen in Sweden. In fact every fifth Christmas tree is a stolen one, according to a report by Skogssverige.se. “Unfortunately people don’t understand the value of the forests,” says Elin Larsson, at Svea Skog in Berslagen. Around 3 million Christmas trees are used every year, making between 500,000 and 600,000 stolen trees.

  • Anna Anka on Elin and Hillary.
    Paul Anka’s wife Anna participated in a debate program on Swedish TV the other night and had, as usual, a thing or two to say about women, men and relationships. She said that unfaithfulness and affairs is something to be expected in a celebrity marriage. “It’s all about power,” she said about Tiger Woods' infamous affairs outside his marriage with Swedish Elin Nordegren. “Famous men are used to getting whatever they want in life. They want sex and they can pay for it.” Anna said she was sure Elin wouldn’t leave her husband. “Women know they don’t have the sole right to a famous man. It’s like a deal celebrities have. Men say ‘I want my single life, and I want this and I want that.’” She doesn’t believe women are as unfaithful as men and claimed, “It’s not interesting and accepted. It’s really all about ‘Stand by your man’ women don’t leave their men. And then there are women like Hillary Clinton, who is a lesbian and doesn’t even sleep in the same bed as her husband...”