Swedish News - all wedding

Honeymoon in Polynesia “Thank you for giving me my prince” 500,000 viewers in the streets. The Wedding Banquet. The Menu. The Wines. The Wedding cake. Entertainment. The Wedding Gown and the tiara. The King’s declaration of love. Madeleine partied the night away. Princess Märta’s 40 suitcases.  

• Honeymoon in Polynesia
  Victoria and Daniel slipped away almost unnoticed from their wedding reception in the small hours of Sunday morning to board a Dassault Falcon 7X jet, which then took them from Stockholm to Tahiti’s capital Pateete via Iceland and Vancouver. From there they were reported to have travelled by yacht to one of French Polynesia’s smaller islands.

• “Thank you for giving me my prince”
  After the wedding, the Crown Princess couple traveled through Stockholm in a horse-drawn carriage and a sloop, a procession that was flanked by 22 war ships and sailing ships, and included a flyover of 18 fighter aircraft. Then awaited the people’s rejoice below the Palace. It was a moved Princess who received the people’s acclamation. “Dear friends,” she began, “I would first like to thank the Swedish people for having given me my prince. We, my husband and I, are so incredibly happy and very grateful that so many of you would like to be here and celebrate together with us. It’s a huge experience. This is our biggest day so far in our lives. Your support means more to us than you could ever believe. Today is a day that we will carry with us in our hearts throughout our lives.” After this celebration with songs, King Carl Gustaf gave the traditional fourfold cheers for Crown Princess Victoria and, now, Prince Daniel. “Dear Stockholmers and all the people around the country. It is a wonderful day and a wonderful sight to see everyone gathered here," the King said.

• 500,000 viewers
  Hundreds of thousands had gathered in Stockholm to follow the wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel. All over the city huge TV-screens had been mounted so that anyone who wanted could see the wedding as well as the cortege. Stockholm Police estimates that half a million people followed the cortege, add to that the 3 million people who watched the wedding on TV.

• The Wedding Banquet
  The wedding banquet was held in the Hall of State at the Royal Palace of Stockholm, the finest ceremonial hall in all of Sweden. It had been renovated for the wedding, the paintings on the old ceiling above the banquet table had been restored: Pale blue clouds on a summer day. The silver throne and all the benches had been removed to make room for a long table, the main table, for 98 guests that ran the length of the hall, ending with a table of honor in a T-shape for the bride and groom and their closest relatives, numbering 16. Other guests were seated at 38 round tables on either side of the main table and in three of the adjoining Halls of the Orders of Chivalry. A fourth Hall of the Orders of Chivalry functioned as a mobile kitchen to complement the kitchen that had been specially constructed for the evening in the Inner Courtyard of the Royal Palace. The bridal couple was seated under the Hall of State’s canopy of blue velvet, featuring the greater national coat of arms and the lesser national coat of arms on the canopy roof. The canopy was designed by Jean Eric Rehn. The coat of arms and other details were made in Paris in 1751, where they were ordered for the coronation of Adolf Fredrik in 1751.
  A show of pink flowers in varying shades formed the floral paintings in the eight blind windows and added warmth to the austere atmosphere of the huge hall. The floor was covered with a light blue carpet. 
 
The tables were laid with the finest tablecloths, porcelain services, glasses and cutlery that Sweden can create. The Royal Table was magnificent, both light and airy as a Swedish Midsummer evening.

• The Menu
  So what was served then, at the Wedding banquet at the Royal Palace of Stockholm? Try Norway lobster and sirloin of veal from Stenhammar. The menu got six out of five possible stars by famous restaurant proprietor Leif Mannerström. The Norway lobster came from the Swedish west coast and was served with summer truffles and truffle caviar, citrus marinated farmed cod on a bed of flowers with cucumber jelly and chilled green pea soup with Kalix whitefish roe. Says Mannerström: “You have to have whitefish roe when you’re in Sweden. You can see how they’ve really thought this out, how they’ve adapted the menu to make it suitable for as many people as possible. Clever.” Also included on the menu were Landö char with herb coating, poached quail egg, green asparagus and beetroot from Gotland, served with a nettle and ramsons sauce. “Perfect, they’ve covered all of Sweden! The beets sound superb,” was Mannerström’s verdict. The sirloin of veal from Stenhammar came with roasted shallot crisps, potato gratin with Allerum cheese, tomato terrine, carrots cooked with thyme in a white cabbage and tarragon gravy. For dessert, strawberry mousse with a rhubarb center and vanilla ice cream in white chocolate.

• The Wines
  The wines served were Pommery Champagne Grand Cru 2000 . Sancerre Les Pierris 2008 Domaine Roger Champault. Pommard 1:er Cru Epenots 2002 Louis Jadot. Château Simon 2007 Sauternes.

• The Wedding cake
  The Crown Princess Couple’s wedding cake was a gift from the Swedish Association of Bakers and Confectioners. It was a white four-leaf clover shaped cake, over 3 meters tall (over 9.8 feet), and made up of 11 tiers. An over 1 meter tall (over 3.2 feet) daquise base (a soft almond meringue made from almond flour) topped with chocolate crisp, followed by a fragilité base (a soft almond meringue made from almond paste). On top of this, was a champagne mousse with a wild strawberry curd center, followed by a layer of wild strawberry compote. Champagne mousse and daquise base were then layered, finishing off with champagne mousse. The cake was then decorated with 100 handmade roses and 40 lilies, made from caramel. On the top were edible triangular spirals in transparent gold and blue, as well as the newly minted Crown Princess Couple’s monogram, reproduced in cast caramel. More than 95% of the ingredients used to make the cake, were organice, the few exceptions include the wild strawberries. The cake weighed 250 kilo.

• Entertainment
  The artists performing during the special evening were The Romeo and Julia Chorus, the Roayl Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Gustaf Sjökvist, Roxette, Cotton Club and Carola.

• The Wedding Gown and the tiara
  Crown Princess Victoria's wedding dress was designed by Pär Engsheden. It was made of cream-colored duchess silk satin, with short sleeves and a turned-out collar, which followed the rounded neckline. The dress had a V-shaped back with covered buttons. The sash at the waist was buttoned up at the back. The train was edged with a border, fastened at the waist, and had the same shape as the veil. The train was almost five meters long. The Crown Princess's shoes were made up in the same fabric as her dress. The Crown Princess wore the cameo tiara (also worn by Silvia at her wedding). The word "cameo" means a precious stone decorated in raised relief. The tiara is made of gold, pearls and cameos. The central cameo depicts Cupid and Psyche from Greek mythology. The seven cameos were not originally carved for the tiara, as can be seen in their different shapes and colors. The Crown Princess therefore continued a tradition started by Princess Birgitta. She was the first Haga Princess to marry, and chose the cameo tiara for her wedding in 1961 to Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern. The tiara was most probably a gift from Napoleon to his wife, Empress Josephine in 1809. It was made at the Nitot studio in Paris, and the empress bequeathed it to her granddaughter Josefina who, on June 19 (note the date!) 1823, became the Crown Princess of Sweden when she married Crown Prince Oscar (future King Oscar 1).

• The King’s declaration of love
  In the middle of the dinner the King was going to hold a speech to the bridal couple when, to begin with he instead turned to Queen Silvia, spoke of their relationship and gave her a pink rose. June 19 isn’t only Victoria and Daniel’s wedding day, it is also the day when the King married Silvia (in 1976). Thus a day to be celebrated. “I want to congratulate you on this great day,” he said. “And thank you for the support and love you have shown me yet another year. Thanks to you and your devotion I look at the future with confidence and assurance.” Then he handed her the rose. Silvia looked surprised but flattered. And very much in love.

• Madeleine partied the night away
  The wedding party lasted all night long, but the one who seemed to enjoy it the most (or at least make the most of it) was Princess Madeleine. When Victoria and Daniel discreetly slipped off, she took over as the star of the dance floor. One of the guests, mezzo-soprano Malena Ernman, says it was a sight to behold: “When a song by the Black-Eyed Peas was played, then all royals came to the dance floor. They all threw off their shoes, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and everybody. Princess Madeleine was glowing, she looked happy and beautiful and danced better than any of them.” Princess Madeleine and the King and Queen left the party at 5 in the morning.

• Princess Märta’s 40 suitcases
  Talk about luggage! It took 5 sailors to unload Norwegian Princess Märtha Louise and her husband Ari Behn’s suitcases, the ones they had seen necessary to bring for the royal wedding in Sweden. Surprised viewers at Skeppsbron, saw the sailors working hard on carrying the luggage off the ship onboard, which Princess Märtha Louise and Ari Behn were staying during their sojourn in Stockholm, the luggage was then stuffed into a van. The royal Norwegian court refused to comment when asked if this is how the Norwegian royals always travel, but they did say that the suitcases were not only for Märtha Louise and Ari Behn – but for the entire Norwegian royal family.