One look took the young Kaarle Kusta when he went – Sisko helped keep the relationship a secret

Kaarle Kustaa and Silvia were married in the summer of 1976, four years after their first meeting. PDO

Sweden’s King Kaarle Kustaa, 80, and Queen Silvia, 82, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Midsummer’s Eve, June 19.

The couple’s love story began in 1972 at the Summer Olympics in Munich. Silvia Sommerlath worked as the race hostess of the order committee, 26-year-old Crown Prince Kaarle Kustaa was in the race audience.

The encounter between the pair has been called lightning drenching. Through the binoculars, Kaarle Kustaa’s eyes were fixed on the beautiful employee. The bachelor life of the playboy prince who enjoyed himself in nightclubs and drove luxurious cars was over.

Sometimes years of secrecy required special measures. Once, Silvia heard a car approaching and thought the press had found her. The queen has said that she jumped into a bush to hide. Sometimes also to Kaarle Kustaan, among others Bridget-sister helped to hide Silvia who came to the village.

Silvia’s background as a merchant’s daughter was not considered suitable for the future king’s spouse. Kaarle Kustaa and Silvia managed to keep their relationship hidden for a long time, until they were filmed secretly at a Swedish gas station.

In September 1973, Kaarle Kustaa ascended the throne. The 27-year-old king was the youngest monarch in Europe at the time.

When the young king’s relationship with a Brazilian-German woman was revealed, Sweden plunged into the Silvia boom. At the 1976 Winter Olympics, the king and Silvia, who worked as protocol chief, were openly photographed together.

In March of the same year, Silvia’s nameless ring was already decorated with a ring. The engaged couple, laughing in front of the TV cameras, spoke openly about their love at an event organized in the royal castle.

The wedding was celebrated three months later, on June 19, 1976. Kaarle Kustaa has told a simple reason for choosing the wedding day.

– We simply looked at the weather calendar. It seemed like the safest day for the weather, the king laughed in a televised interview for Silvia’s 80th birthday in 2023.

The marriage took place in Stockholm’s Great Church in the presence of 1,200 guests. President of Finland Urho Kekkonen sat in the place of honor Silvia’s parents Walther and By Alice Sommerlath alongside.

Silvia, who became queen with the consecration, was dressed in a Dior silk wedding dress, Queen Sofia’s lace veil and Queen Josefina’s camediadem.

The same tiara was worn 34 years later by the couple’s first-born daughter, the crown princess Victoriawhen he was ordained a gym entrepreneur of Daniel Westling with on the same date. Victoria and Daniel will celebrate their sixteenth wedding anniversary on June 19, 2026.

Abba, who won the Eurovision Song Contest two years earlier, also participated in Kaarle Kustaa and Silvia’s party. At the televised gala dinner organized on the eve of the wedding, the band performed for the first time Dancing Queen – song. Despite the doubts, Abba has denied that the song was written in honor of the new queen, but felt that the premiere of an existing song suited the celebration perfectly.