Officially, King Carl XVI. Gustaf (76) at the head of the Swedish royal family. But secretly it is Queen Silvia (78) and Crown Princess Victoria (45) who score points in terms of sympathy in the country and thus ensure the continued existence of the monarchy. The documentary "The Power of the Queen - Sweden's strong women" (9.8., 8:15 p.m., ZDF) by royal expert Julia Melchior traces these two strong women. Exclusive recordings of the royal family, funny and touching anecdotes as well as interviews with the family, companions, historians and experts provide particularly personal insights.
"A strong woman in the royal family must be independent, be able to speak well and be passionate. She must be interested - in people and in her job," summarizes the Swedish royal family correspondent Jenny Alexandersson at the beginning of the documentary the characteristics that Silvia and Victoria worked hard and meticulously.
The chief hostess at the time, Silvia Sommerlath, met the then Crown Prince Carl Gustaf at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. He became king in 1973 and made her his queen in 1976. Strictly speaking, to the king's wife, from whom children and representation are generally expected. Power is not associated with this role, but influence is. And Queen Silvia knew how to use this with diligence, courage, poise and diplomatic skill.
She set new standards and, above all, always considered herself a working mother. That made her very popular because: "Women's empowerment has been a really big issue in Sweden for a long time and the royal family is a role model on this point," Alexandersson explains in the film.
Silvia's daughter Victoria is the first woman in more than 300 years who will one day ascend the throne of Sweden. As a teenager, Victoria was heavily burdened with these future responsibilities. Her mother was open about it and publicly asked for understanding for her daughter's anorexia.
She has long since caught herself and, after years of struggle, was finally allowed to marry her dream man Daniel Westling (50) in 2010. The two interpret their jobs in a similarly modern way as Queen Silvia. Prince Daniel goes along and keeps the heir to the throne free. As the first prince of a ruling house, he took parental leave. Nevertheless, the balancing act between job and family is not easy for a crown princess. "I feel the same way as most of the others. Both together are difficult. But my role and my tasks are just infinitely important to me. Luckily I have a very understanding husband. We're really trying to pull this off together," says Victoria in the movie.
Crown Princess Victoria is one of Sweden's most popular public figures and Daniel and the children are part of her success. "She's probably one of the most popular people in Sweden, if not the most popular. When she does something and champions an idea that's important to her and talks about it in her persuasive way, it has an impact," says Jan Eliasson, Sweden's former foreign minister. Even opponents of the monarchy in the Kingdom of Sweden are fans of Victoria.
With appearances like the almost legendary one when Victoria was a surprise guest at the "Gay Gala" in 2013, she consolidated her status. "It has never happened before that a member of a royal family came to a gay gala to present a prize. Not in the whole world," explains Anders Öhrmann, editor-in-chief of "QX" magazine and organizer of the "Gay Gala". At first people didn't believe it was her, he recalls. "They thought this was a drag queen impersonating Victoria. But then they realised, oh my god. The Crown Princess is at our gala. I was standing backstage, looking through the curtain and I saw them cheering. I had Goosebumps and tears flowed," admits Öhrmann.
Afterwards there was "a Victoria effect across the board". She "contributed significantly to the normalization of the whole LGBT issue," he enthuses in the documentary. "I believe that Victoria can influence society. While she has no political influence, she does have power because she is so popular."
Victoria will also be followed by a queen in Sweden with her daughter Estelle (10). And the training has already started for them. "It is important to them [the Swedish royals, ed.] that Estelle is not thrown into this life overnight," explains journalist Sara Ericsson. "She's been to various events, birthday parties and other big events. But she's allowed to be a kid too," says Ericsson. Some of the events are shown in the documentary - and in fact the generation after next of "Sweden's strong women" is already doing brilliantly...
In the coming week, ZDF will show another documentary about royal women. "Monaco's unfortunate princess - the curse of the Grimaldi women" (16.8., 8:15 p.m.) investigates why Princess Grace (1929-1982), Princess Caroline (65) and Princess Charlène (44) despite their apparently lives so privileged are tragic figures.
