It had been more than 30 years since the last Swedish royal wedding and Swedes had been waiting impatiently for a grand royal bash in Stockholm, the 700 year-old capital city. The city was resplendent for this most auspicious of occasions and there was a huge turnout for the pomp and ceremony. 

Crown Princess Victoria was born in the Royal Palace situated in the Old Town (Gamla Stan)  area of Stockholm and was brought up at Drottningholm Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the best preserved 18th century palace in Sweden. Daniel Westling, her beau and Stockholm gym owner, meanwhile is from Ockelbo in the province of Gästrikeland.

The couple married at Storkyrkan in the heart of the Old Town, just a stone’s throw from the Royal Palace. The church pre-dates the palace by some 400 years and when the palace was completed around the beginning of the 18th century, the church was given a make-over as it was considered too ‘medieval’. Storkyrkan is a wonderfully impressive, peaceful and meditative place to be and well worth a visit.

Following their betrothal, the royal couple have now taken up residence in the Haga Palace, built in 1802, in Hagaparken just north of Stockholm. It is here that Victoria’s father King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden was born and raised with his two sisters. There had been some controversy over the choice of residence as the palace was until recently open to the public and some of the local joggers and dog owners were less than pleased that the building was to be cordoned off by security, what with the royal couple moving in. Hagaparken is wildly popular with Stockholmers the year-round for its lakeside beauty spots, forests, jogging paths, views over Brunnsviken (lake) and relaxed atmosphere.

With the Swedish family having several royal residences, Daniel will have to get used to a bit of travelling. The royal family spends the summer on the beautiful island of Öland on the east coast of the country at Solliden Palace, a gorgeous building in the Italian country house style. Wintertime, the couple usually head for the ski resort at Storlien, 700 km north-west of Stockholm, and not far from Åre, perhaps northern Europe’s finest ski resort.

To experience Sweden and Stockholm in ‘royal wedding-mode’ again you’ll have to wait until Victoria’s siblings Madeleine and Carl Philip get married. But you shouldn’t wait, come anytime.