Broad skepticism towards royal family
Has the rice from Princess Madeleine’s wedding even been picked up? Can’t you still hear the echo of hooraying Swedes? Be that as it may, Swedes in general are skeptical towards the royal family.

“The confidence (in the royal family) is low, the Swedish people has not been swayed,” says researcher Lennart Nilsson. A new study from the SOM-Institute shows that on a scale from -100 to +100, the confidence in the royal family is as low as +5 now. “It is very low and the trend points further downwards,” Nilsson, Associate Professor and Senior Researcher at the SOM-Institute, says. But in spite of the low number, only a fifth of the Swedish population wants to do away with monarchy, according to the study. Following the publication of the book “Carl XVI – The Reluctant Monarch” in 2010, the confidence in the royal family hit an all time low. After that, the King went out and told the gathered press that he and Queen Silvia had “turned the page”.
“But the Swedish people have not ‘turned the page’,” Nilsson says and continues that the fact that the examination of the royal house, which has gotten much more critical, probably has something to do with how Swedes feel about the royal family.

But even though the royal family as a whole is not very popular, Crown Princess Victoria as an individual, is. Her popularity is sky high, which partly has to do with how Swedes feel she does her job. “The wedding with Prince Daniel has also had a positive effect. She never backed down, she wanted to marry him, and that got her respect from the Swedish people,” according to Nilsson.

Not familiar with the love story that captivated Swedes for a very long time? See Once upon a time...