My paternal grandfather Gustaf T. was a journalist at a local newspaper (in Borås, Sweden). He also often took his own photos to go with his articles. Unfortunately, the notes in his private albums are usually very brief with few details about when, where or who.
For Sepia Saturday's October theme "Special Times", one album page with three photos on it came to mind for me. The only note is Royalty at Levene.
I could see that the photos must be from the early 1950s, and that they included members of the royal family. But I've never known the occasion, nor been sure who of the princesses it is who is in focus here, or why. So I decided to try some googling...
Levene is a small village in the province of Västergötland (the same province where my grandfather lived; as do I). The vicar there (Tell Törnblad) happened to have connections in some noble families in Stockholm, and the royal family came to choose to send three of their princesses to him in the small remote countryside village for summer confirmation teaching; including having the ceremony in that church rather than in Stockholm. The first to have her confirmation at Levene was princess Margaretha, the oldest; in 1950. But she is not the one coming out of the church in my grandfather's photos.
Googling a bit more, I found an online photo (No 4 below), which is clearly from the same occasion as in the photos I have: the confirmation of Princess Birgitta, in July 1952.
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| "Royalty at Levene" |
Princess Margaretha, older sister
Prinsessan konfirmerades i Levene 1700-talskyrka.
Högtiden bevittnades av Kung Gustaf VI Adolf,
Drottning Louise samt prinsessorna Sibylla och Margaretha.
Foto: Historisk Bildbyrå / Svenskt Fotoreportages samling
Princess Margaretha is very tall and striking-looking in these photos. And I like her whimsical dress. Princess Sibylla seems to have more of a standard pretty face and it looks like she's wearing a shirt-waist style dress. Whatever their looks & clothing styles, I'm sure it was rather exciting to have royalty visiting the small town. :)
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine the logistics and security involved if this were happening today...!
ReplyDeleteHow old were the princesses at their confirmation? In the German protestant churches, confirmation is usually at the age of 14.
Meike, Princess Birgitta was born in January 1937, so she was 15 at her confirmation. Whether that was the usual age back then I'm not sure. In my day and where I lived, it was at 14. Since then it seems to have changed back to 15, though. But can probably vary a bit (?)
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