Nothing has happened in 141 years with the king and the Swedes

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter Kadhammar

   

Published: Less than 10 min ago  

 

This is a commenting text. Analysis and positions are the writer's. 

 

The Queen and the King during their visit. Photo: Krister Hansson 

  

COLUMNISTS  

 

SVEDALA-MALMÖ. The strangest thing is that nothing has happened for 141 years.  

 

There, the king and queen are standing in front of the tiny little children waving flags. There is the brass band with its dashing men in blue uniforms and white caps. There are the nervous local potentates who are about to give little speeches of welcome that no one hears, maybe not even the king and queen.  

 

And above all, the summer sun is baking and everyone is warm except the royals: they cope with the heat routinely. 

 

Here in Svedala, the king and queen will take the Pågatåget train to Malmö, a gesture of goodwill towards the local railway, which is celebrating its jubilee. So both the railway and the king celebrate years, the railway line 40 and the king 50 on the throne. 

 

That is why he is in Skåne. Each county he and the queen will visit, a long journey in gracious celebration, and the king - he seems relaxed and downright happy even if he constantly lingers in waving while Silvia waves and smiles, waves and smiles, seeking eye contact with high and low . 

 

When they stand there on the red carpet, they have Svedala's station building straight in front of them and to the right is the red brick building that once housed Åbjörn Anderson's Mechanical Workshop. The letters remain on the facade, as does the year 1882.  

 

It was the same year that August Strindberg published "Det nya riket", a wonderful pamphlet about royal houses and society, about the snitching class and the public lie.  

 

And the book begins with the king inaugurating a railway.  

 

Then it was Carl the XVI Gustaf's ancestor Oscar II. 

 

I look at the year on the wall and at the king and the modern train whose heavy thump as it rolls past drowns out the words of the municipal councilor in Svedala. "For a long time... city... countryside... we build... all of Sweden..." 

 

It's eerie. Has nothing happened in 141 years? 

 

 

Photo: Krister Hansson / Krister Hansson Aftonbladet

 

Strindberg wrote about "the newspaper Aftonbladet, which at the time still had some reputation left", and that when His Majesty was about to inaugurate a blunt railway, the Swedish people hurried to appear and the Governor gave a speech.

   

On this day, June 20, 2023, the governor's name is Anneli Hultén, an old social democrat who is as subservient to the king as they have always been, because even for socialists the king is a power that stands above the real power.  

 

And just as touchingly awkward as 141 years ago is today's royal courtship. The red carpet in Svedala was not enough and they have spliced a bit. If in the 19th century people spoke of king and fatherland, today they worship Astrid Lindgren and swear to nature, which we are still killing. The little children sing Ida's summer song.  

     

On the train it says "Together for a sustainable future".  

 

When the king and Silvia, after a short journey (there are healthy jokes that the train was on time), arrive at Malmö Central, another brass band awaits and another shock of representatives of the Swedish People who stand behind the police's plastic tape and wave flags and film with their mobile phones.  

 

When the king and Silvia exit the central station, the cortege is not yet in place. The king looks confused in the way only a king can. He and Silvia stand by the street as if they were waiting for the bus, and they are joined by a stately man in a light blue uniform from Strindberg's time, and by Governor Hultén and her husband Sten Ljunggren, who is titled Mr. Governor (Herr Landshövding).

 

It looks like they are waiting for the bus.  

 

But there the horse-drawn carriage finally arrives and the king and Silvia carefully step up and when she is safely seated, Silvia waves. The king looks as if his legs hurt  

 

They go for a spin in town, not too long, not too short, no more than 15 minutes and according to a well-tested route. The court has had people in Malmö who have tested the streets and measured the width so that the landån can comfortably get through.  

 

Then it comes to Stortorget where the Swedish people are waiting. Honor guards in dark blue uniforms and gold bridles sweat on the steps to the governor's residence. Once again the king and queen are alone, they carefully step out of the carriage and stand for a short moment at a loss until the governor and husband rush forward. Now it will be seen in the Swedish People's amateur photographs at a large exhibition in the square, then lunch will be served in the residence with local potentates, then schoolchildren will sing, dance and drum from the main stage.  

 

And the king speaks, he says:  

 

- It is a beautiful country you have,Mr. Governor( Herr Landshövding!)  

  

"Not even the young people who suddenly unfurled a slogan that screamed in capitals "KNEAGERS HATE THE KING" could not break the even gray atmosphere", writes Peter Kadhammar. Photo: Krister Hansson / Krister Hansson Aftonbladet

 

No, sorry, that's what the king said in the New Kingdom 141 years ago. In the square in Malmö, Carl XVI Gustaf says: 

 

- Madam Governor... when the Queen and I looked out of the train window, we were struck by how beautiful and magnificent the open landscape is. 

 

For 50 years now he has been king. When he ascended the throne in 1973, Sweden was a small stagnant country marinated in upstart complacency and poorly hidden insecurities. The Swedish people were shy and voted every three years for the Social Democrats.  

 

The people are still shy, even if they increasingly prefer right-wing populists. The cheers were low and unspoken, no one sang along to the King's Anthem even though the text was shown on the big screen and when the festivities ended with the national anthem, only the Home Guard's band from Eslöv could be heard. 

 

Not even the young people who suddenly unfurled a slogan that screamed in capitals "KNEAGERS HATE THE KING" could break the uniformly gray mood that had been over the country since 1882. The cry of the revolutionary youth "we hate the monarchy" was quiet and faint before they were whisked away by friendly police officers. 

 

- Thank you very much and have a good day, said Carl XVI Gustaf and yet another jubilee party was over in the Kingdom of Sweden.