The picture went viral and shook Queen Silvia’s position – The road from one scandal to another

Queen Silvia turned 82 on 23 December 2025. Victor Ericson/The Royal Court of Sweden

Sweden’s Queen Silvia, who turned 82 in December, has represented the country impeccably and for a long time alongside King Kaarle Kustaa. However, life has not always been smooth sailing.

Walther Sommerlath and his Brazilian wife Alice Sommerlath (née Soares de Toledoja) had their daughter Silvia in Heidelberg on 23 December 1943.

Silvia, who studied as an interpreter, was responsible for the training of the Olympic hostesses at the Munich Olympics in 1972. At those games, she met Sweden’s Crown Prince Kaarle Kustaa. I heard a “click”.

Positive noise

Kaarle Kustaa became the king of Sweden at only 27 years old in September 1973. His girlfriend Silvia was from a noble family, but the background was not considered quite right. However, as king, Kaarle Kustaa was allowed to choose his spouse himself.

The relationship was kept secret for four years. Silvia even came to meet the king wearing a wig. The concealment was successful for a long time, until in the summer of 1973, Silvia sat in Kaarle Kusta’s car while he was filling up his car at a Shell gas station in Ölanti. A picture taken of the situation revealed the existence of a girlfriend.

In 1976, things finally started to happen quickly, when the couple’s engagement was announced in March and the royal wedding was celebrated on June 19. The Swedish people welcomed Silvia with love, she was like a breath of fresh air.

The couple had three children: Victoria (1977), Carl Philip (1979) and Madeleine (1982). Carl Philip was born as crown prince, but in 1980 the order of succession to the Swedish crown was changed, and Victoria became crown princess. The king has said that he would not have wanted the order to be changed.

Negative publicity

The queen did not know Swedish at first. Even in the coming years, his language skills and pronunciation have been criticized.

One of the biggest and most numerous uproar directed at Silvia personally started in 2002, when Arbetaren revealed that Walther Sommerlath, father of the Queen of Sweden had been a member of the German Nazi Party.

In 2010, TV4’s award-winning documentary An expensive fact revealed Sommerlath’s Nazi background and the factory operations he took over from the Jewish owner. Silvia’s father allegedly made his fortune in a factory that the Nazis took from its Jewish owner. Silvia, upset about the matter, wrote a letter to the CEO of TV4, it was reported Svensk Damin in an article from a couple of years ago.

In 2011, Silvia started her own research to find out more about the Nazi case. In 2012, Victoria and Daniel’s first child, Princess Estelle, was born, making the Queen a grandmother. In the same year, Silvia opened up about the Nazi scandal related to her father that shocked her.

– I was very surprised that my father joined the Nazi Party at a very early stage, in 1934, a year after Hitler came to power. It has affected my family deeply. Racism was and is, a terrible thing, Silvia said in a video published by the royal house at the time.

The king’s faults

In 2012, the satirical image of the artist Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin published by the social-democratic magazine Tiden combined two separate uproars: Nazis and women’s rumours. In addition, in 2013, several magazines published the same picture. In the picture, the king and famous Swedes enjoy pizza on top of a naked woman.

You can see the picture from here.

The woman is the Army of Lovers singer Camilla Henemark, who is claimed to be the king’s mistress. The queen, on the other hand, is seen in the picture squatting on the floor with yellow rubber gloves in her hands. He washes the swastika exposed from under the corner of the carpet with a brush.

In 2010, the fairytale wedding of Crown Princess Victoria was good. Otherwise, Silvia allegedly described 2010 as “crap”. In the same year, first of all, Madeleine’s lover was caught cheating. Then the book appeared Den motvilige monarkenin which it was claimed that the king was in a relationship with Camilla Henemark in the 90s. The book also talked about parties where women had acted as entertainment. The book caused a huge scandal. The media chased both the king and Henemark.

Kaarle Kustaa had a playboy-like reputation from a young age. The royal heir naturally piqued the interest, and he seemed to like the jet set life a lot, told the 2023 The two faces of the king -document. Henemark also got a voice in the documentary.

Still, Silvia has steadfastly remained by her king’s side. Although Kaarle Kustaa still rules, it is clear that Crown Princess Victoria is the most popular person in the court in Sweden.

Cosmetic surgery claims

One thing that has been discussed in the media for a long time is the queen’s cosmetic surgeries. Despite the rumors, no actual confirmation has ever been received. In 2004 Expressen’s according to Elisabeth Tarras-Wahlberg from the court’s communications, however, she dismissed the claims about cosmetic surgery.

– The media has speculated about this, but we have never received any confirmation from the Queen.

According to the article, Silvia, who was 60 at the time, would have started the operations after her 50th birthday. According to the newspaper’s source, the queen would visit Brazil every year for operations, always before the Nobel celebration.

Instead, in the spring of 2025, it was reported publicly that the queen was undergoing kyphosis surgery.

Sources: Aftonbladet, Over, Göteborgs-Posten, Swedish Dam, Expressen, Swedish Hovet, The Two Faces of the King documentary on HBO, Hello!.