Nono tiaras and no rigid protocols, at least for one afternoon. The sweetest tradition of the year takes place at the Royal Palace in Stockholm: Queen Silvia of Sweden as a “full-time grandmother”surrounded by the irrepressible energy of her nine grandchildren. The occasion is the arrival of the Christmas fir treesdonated as usual by the Agriculture students of the University of Umeå, but the real protagonists are them, the little (and not so little) Bernadottes, who transformed an official event into a chaotic and wonderful family portrait.
Silvia of Sweden’s nine grandchildren make the Christmas tree: Ines is also there
At the center of the scene, catalyst of every glance, there is her: Princess Ines, just 10 months oldmaking its absolute debut in the Christmas celebrations. Wrapped in a lovely red and green tartan dressCarl Philip and Sofia’s latest born passed from arm to arm, very much cuddled by everyone. There she was watching over her with almost maternal tenderness Estelle, the future queen: at 13 years old (she will be 14 in February), Victoria’s eldest daughter confirms herself as a judicious and smiling teenager, perfectly at ease in the role of older cousin and godmother of the little girl.
Silvia of Sweden with her grandchildren for Christmas 2025 (Photo by Jonas Ekströmer/TT/Shutterstock)
The glance is spectacular. If Nicolas is now the tallest in the grouptowering even over its larger cousins, the prize for liveliness once again goes to little Julian, unleashed among balls and decorations. It’s a moment of pure complicity between cousinswho grow up very close not only under the spotlight, but also in their private lives, between hockey games and playing in the garden.
A full-time grandmother
For grandmother Silvia, this afternoon among fir trees and laughter has double value. It is a breath of fresh air that sweeps away the clouds of recent news: in Sweden, in fact, the echoes of the controversies linked to Princess Sofia’s past and her New York contacts with Jeffrey Epstein in 2005. But within the golden walls of the Palace, while Ines gazes enchanted at the lights of the tree and the grandchildren team up, gossip stays outside the door. Only the magic of Christmas remains and the pride of a grandmother who, for one day, had her “magnificent nine” all to herself.
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