As the actual wedding day, June 19 this year, falls on Midsummer Eve, the festivities have been brought forward by almost a week. The celebration will begin with a thanksgiving service, “Te Deum,” in the Palace Church.
The entire royal family is in attendance, as are Norway's King Harald and Sonja, Princess Benedikte from Denmark, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Speaker Andreas Norlén and other Swedish officials.
In the afternoon, a row on the royal sloop Vasaorden across Stockholm's waterways awaits - similar to the wedding day in 1976 - followed by a horse-drawn carriage through central Stockholm.
The procession finishes in Kungsträdgården where the City of Stockholm is offering an open concert “in the name of love.” Among the artists performing music from the past 50 years are Eah Jé, Eric Gadd, Grymlings, Jill Johnson, Lina Hedlund, Sabina Ddumba and Tensta Gospel Choir.
The festivities then conclude with a golden wedding concert at the Royal Opera - and thus the circle can be said to be closed. It was during a live gala at the opera the night before the wedding in 1976 that ABBA sang “Dancing Queen” for the first time and Kjerstin Dellert made the king laugh out loud and blush at the revue couplet “O, min Carl Gustaf”.
