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A crowd of over a thousand people sang Happy Birthday to Sweden's future queen when she turned 28 on Thursday. Crown Princess Victoria was greeted by a huge throng of well-wishers as she went for a walkabout at her family's summer estate to mark her big day.
The pretty royal, who was clearly delighted by the reception, was wearing a green summer dress for the occasion. And a crown of flowers was soon added to the ensemble as exited children thrust gifts and floral tributes into her arms.
King Carl Gustav and Queen Silvia also added their voices to the rendition of Ja Ma Hon Leva, the Swedish version of Happy Birthday. There were some more serous moments too, though, as the princess invited her fans to join her in two minutes silence in memory of the victims of the London bombings.
The festivities to mark Victoria's birthday have grown from a spontaneous celebration some years ago to an annual tradition in Sweden. After her meet and greet with members of the public, the birthday girl presented the Victoria Stipendium award to Olympic gold medallists Christian Olsson and Stefan Holm. And no sooner had the two athletes received the £2,000 prize than they showed some of their host's generous spirit by donating it to her fund for disabled children.
Sweden wasn't the only country celebrating a royal birthday this week: Far away in the Pacific the Sultan of Brunei was also marking his big day. Thousands of ministers and dignitaries turned out for what was a characteristically lavish bash when their ruler turned 59 on Friday. |
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