Maria is the only friend I have who is a royalist. Since I moved here, I have met a few other Swedes who are also for the monarchy, but other than that, I don’t really know anyone who is for our current constitution. This, however, is not representative for the Swedish population, where about 60% is for the monarchy (though the support was about 80% a decade ago), and so I think Sweden will have a King as Head of State for many more years.

But to encourage my interest for the royal family, Maria brought a Swedish gossip magazine, where I could learn about the daily lives of the royal families from all over Europe (including Greek “Prince” Nikolaos, who does not seem to have realized that Greece abolished the monarchy in 1974), and a box of the Wedding Chocolates that was made specially for the Swedish Crown Princess’ wedding this summer. The box doesn’t seem to have been the expected success since Maria got it for 80% off the original price, but the Chocolates were great! They did not convert me into a monarchist though, but maybe if I got another box…