We have all seen a lot of news, headlines, and broadcast shows mentioning the British Royal family, especially with Queen Elizabeth II announcing that she will retire from duty in the next two years. However, we do not know what has the Scandinavian royals have been doing and what they are up to lately.
If you are interested in learning more about the Scandinavian royals, this article is practically made for you. In the text below, you will be able to read about what they have been up to, as well as some interesting facts about the Royal families. Let’s take a closer look into the lives of these monarchs:
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The Danish Royals Are One of the Oldest in the World
The royal houses of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway have always had close ties, especially since they have arranged various marriages between their families. The Danish Monarchy is, in fact, one of the oldest ones in the world – since they have existed for over ten centuries. Yup, that is a long time. The Danish sovereignty is not only related and closely connected to other Scandinavian kings and queens but with a lot of other royal houses in Europe that you might have heard of.
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The Norwegian Royals Originate from Denmark
The Norwegian kingship can be traced back to the year 890, however, during the history of this royal house, Norway was first united with Denmark (from 1380 to 1814), and then with Sweden (from 1814 to 1905). They also shared a king with the Swedish people.
In 1905, they chose to dissolve the union they had with Sweden, hence the Norwegians decided to choose Prince Carl of Denmark as their reigning king. Once he was chosen, Carl of Denmark decided to take the name Haakon VII and he led the country for almost fifty-two years.
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The Scandals Tied to King Carl of Sweden
Wherever he went, scandals seemed to follow King Carl XVI Gustaf. However, the biggest one of the countless scandals was revealed at the end of 2010. In a book published by Sarah Bradford titled “The Reluctant King: The Life and Reign of George VI, 1895-1952”, she exposed him as being an extreme party boy.
The book states that King Carl often attended a wide range of sex parties, as well as that he had an affair with a popular Scandinavian actress called Camilla Henemark back in the ‘90s. And as reported by various news outlets, he was often a frequent guest at various strip clubs at the capital of Sweden, Stockholm.
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Norway’s Crowned Princess Raised Her Children As a Single Mom
When the Crowned Prince of Norway, Haakon Magnus met Mette-Marit at a rock concert in the ‘90s, she was working at a restaurant as a waitress and she was raising her son Marius Borg Høiby by herself. Although Marius is not a part of the royal family, he is one of the most popular and loved members of the Norwegian monarchy. He was recently featured in a TV shows titled “SKAM” (Shame).
However, he was seen there with snus. If you are unfamiliar with it, snus is Scandinavian tobacco (learn more about it here on snushjem.no or snuslageret.no) that is placed between the gums and teeth or under the tongue instead of being smoked. The fact that he used snus created a huge media frenzy, with people having mixed feelings about him consuming it. Some people thought that it is better to use tobacco in that way instead of smoking it, but some people think that he should not be seen with it at all.
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The Controversial Life of Prince Henrik
Now, scandals are not only tied to the Swedish and Norwegian royals, but to the Danish royals as well – who had their fair share of shameful behavior in the last decades. The husband of Queen Margrethe II, Prince Henrik led a very controversial lifestyle that most Danish people never fully accepted. The French-born prince often chose to go to France in order for him to reflect on what was happening in his life.
He often gave controversial statements about him feeling humiliated, pushed aside, and degraded by the Danish monarchy, especially because they did not accept him as an equal to his wife, who still reigns over Denmark today. Also, in 2015, he stated that he cannot attend Queen Margrethe’s 75th birthday celebration due to a serious illness, however, several days later, he was seen walking down the most popular squares in Venice, Italy.
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A Swedish Prince Marring a Reality TV Celebrity
Speaking of scandals and shameful behavior, the Swedish Prince Carl Philip married a former reality TV star and model Sofia Hellqvist back in 2015. When you think about it, everyone deserves to marry whom they want, however, there are reports that she worked as a topless model and yoga coach before marrying into the Swedish family which created a lot of worries for Swedes.
At first, a lot of people chose not to accept Sofia since she seemed too scandalous to be in the royal family, however, now, she is widely loved by thousand of Swedish people. The couple now has two children and they run a charity organization for children who have reading and learning disabilities.
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King Harald is The Most Active 82-year old King
It is a well-known fact that Norwegians love being active, but their King also loves leading an active lifestyle and he did, in fact, participate in the Olympic Games 3 times! King Harald V has always loved sports including rowing, sailing (which is the category he represented Norway in the Olympics three times), and he still enjoys sailing even today, when he is 82-years old. He also enjoys surfing and skiing, and if there is a ski event happening, he will show up and cheer for the athletes.
Conclusion
As you can see, the Scandinavian royal families have been quite busy in their lives – and as you can see, they might be more interesting than the British royal family after all.
