French State Visit to Sweden

The once postponed trip to Sweden has finally taken place for French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron. Here’s all what took place over the short visit.

Day 1: January 30th-Stockholm

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King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden officially welcomed the Macron’s at Stockholm Palace. I personally thought Queen Silvia looked so cute in this outfit; it gave me some retro 70’s vibes with the print of the dress, plus the beret. I love the dedication to the French look here!

The King, Queen, and Macron’s were joined later on for lunch by other members of the Swedish royal family, including Princess Sofia, Prince Carl Philip, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel.

Here are some closer looks at the outfits:

Princess Sofia wore a dress from Philosophy with a similar throwback vibe as Silvia’s. I loved it.

Crown Princess Victoria wore a lovely red coat dress from Pär Engsheden. While I thought all of the royal ladies here looked great, I did think their outfits looked a little uncoordinated together.

Later in the afternoon, the King and Queen split up with the Macron’s. King Carl XVI Gustaf and Emmanuel Macron visited the Swedish Defence University where they both gave speeches. Part of this visit is focused on the relationship between Sweden and France but also defence and security.

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Queen Silvia and Brigitte focused on the arts and culture side of the visit, with a visit to Moderna Museet, a modern art museum. While there, they attended a discussion on how to bring in younger audiences as well as ‘strengthen exchanges‘ in art.

They also visited Rinkeby School, where they learned about how the school altered their teaching methods in order to improve graduation outcomes for the school.

However, the event we were all waiting for took place that evening, when the King and Queen hosted a gala dinner to celebrate the state visit.

Queen Silvia repeated the purple gown she wore to the Nobel Prize ceremony in 2022. The colour is bright and fitting for a queen certainly, but the skirt is not my favourite so I wasn’t over the moon with the re-wear. That being said, we love recycling outfits here at The Royalty Nerd, so I’m not complaining too much.

Queen Silvia made it up to me by wearing the Cameo suite! The Swedish royal family has a historical connection to the French (more on that in a later post!), and so I was definitely expecting jewels with French connections for this dinner. The Cameo tiara is believed to have first been owned by Empress Joséphine, the first wife of a Napoleon Bonaparte.

There are a lot of jewels in the collection with links to France that could have been worn but I’m so glad she went for the Cameo. I always love seeing it and the accompanying jewels.

Crown Princess Victoria knocked it out of the park for me! This is one of my favourite gowns she’s ever worn and it’s actually an H&M creation. I’ve been waiting patiently for her to wear it again.

She also reached for a tiara with French connections: the Napoleonic cut steel tiara. This tiara does not have a single jewel on it, it shines because it is highly polished cut steel, as the name might suggest. It’s not my number one favourite tiara in the Swedish collection, but definitely in the top five.

She also wore a brooch from Princess Sibylla. I’m not sure if the stone has been confirmed, but to me it looks like an opal.

Princess Sofia also looked lovely that evening in a Lars Wallin gown and her wedding tiara.

It was expected that Sofia would wear her wedding tiara because for whatever reason, she rarely wears anything else. The big question is what topper she will wear with it, and for the dinner she chose the pearls. I’m a pearl lover myself, so I thought it was an excellent choice.

Princess Christina, the King’s sister, also attended. She wore my very favourite tiara in the Swedish collection as well! This is the Swedish aquamarine kokoshnik. I was very pleased to see it, not just because it’s my favourite, but because Christina has worn the button tiaras a lot lately and I could do without those for a little while now.

All of the ladies here looked wonderful!

Day 2: January 31st- Stockholm

The second and last day of the trip began with the King, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel attending a business forum with Emmanuel Macron.

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Crown Princess Victoria wore an Andiata pantsuit for the visit. Oddly, it’s difficult to find any pictures of the four of them together, but I swear they were all there!

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This was the last event of the trip to take place in Stockholm. The King and Queen joined the Macron’s on their flight to the Swedish province of Skåne, as seen here in this very movie poster -esque photo.

Day 2: January 31st-Lund

Again, the couples split up. First, King Carl XVI Gustaf and President Macron visited the European Spallation Source, which is a research centre dedicated to scientific study based on the world’s most powerful neutron. I’ll be honest, a lot of this is lost on my very much NOT scientific brain, so here is a link that goes into more detail.

They received a tour, where they took a look at the ESS accelerator. This is a major part of the neutron facility.

Afterwards, they visited Alfa Laval, also in Lund. Alfa Laval showcased their environmental work to the King and President for the visit, including their work on fossil fuel free steel heat exchangers and pumps.

Meanwhile, Queen Silvia and Brigitte Macron visited Barnahus in Malmö.

Barnahus is dedicated to helping children that have experienced or witnessed violence in the home. Children’s welfare is a cause that Queen Silvia has been focused on for years.

They also visited the Friends foundation, which is dedicated to ending bullying in schools as well as online.

The King, Queen, and the Macrons reunited at Lund University to attend a Student’s Evening at the Studentafton, which is a forum for students at the school. This isn’t just a place for students to air grievances, they have hosted royalty, politicians, and other major players in Swedish society such as musicians, writers, and Nobel prize winners.