Sweden: Princess Madeleine’s husband Chris O’Neill misses National Day festivities
NordenBladet – Christopher O’Neill, the husband of Princess Madeleine of Sweden, has not been able to participate in the National Day* festivities in Sweden today. The father of three was scheduled to attend this year’s celebrations but had to cancel last minute.
Chris O’Neill was supposed to join his wife, Princess Madeleine of Sweden for the National Day festivities at Skansen, central Stockholm this afternoon. After the National Day concert, Chris would also be joining the Royal Family for the reception at the Royal Palace. However, the Swedish Royal Court has taken his name off the calendar.
Princess Madeleine travelled to Sweden earlier this week with her youngest daughter, one-year-old, Princess Adrienne. The Princess was in Sweden to launch her children’s book “Stella och hemligheten”. Meanwhile, her husband would continue to work and leave their home in Florida for Sweden with the other two children, Princess Leonore and Prince Nicolas later in the week.
However, Chris had to cancel his plans to fly with the two oldest children to Sweden. Princess Leonore and Prince Nicolas have fallen ill and are, therefore, not able to fly. Both children have a high fever and an inflammation of the middle ear, the Royal Court has confirmed to Expressen.
Christopher, Princess Leonore and Prince Nicolas will travel to Sweden as soon as the children feel better and can make the long flight. Princess Madeleine and the children will spend most of the summer months in Sweden while Chris O’Neill will alternate between his job in Florida and Sweden.
In the past, Chris O’Neill often was unable to make it to the National Day celebrations due to work commitments. This year he had cleared his agenda for the important event, but sadly his plans had to be cancelled.
The husband of Princess Madeleine is scheduled to join the family for the birthday celebrations of Crown Princess Victoria on the 14th of July in Öland, Sweden.
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* National Day of Sweden (Swedish: Sveriges nationaldag) is a national holiday observed in Sweden on 6 June every year. Prior to 1983, the day was celebrated as the Swedish Flag Day (Swedish: Svenska flaggans dag). At that time, the day was renamed the Swedish national day by the Riksdag.
The tradition of celebrating this date began 1916 at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium, in honour of the election of King Gustav Vasa in 1523, as this was considered the foundation of modern Sweden.
Some question the validity of this as a national holiday, as it was not observed as a holiday until decades later. However this event does signify the end of the Danish-ruled Kalmar Union, so in a sense it is a marking of Swedish independence, though the event occurred so long ago that it does not have as strong of a presence in the social consciousness as does, for example, the Norwegian Constitution Day, Syttende Mai.
In 2005 it became an official Swedish public holiday, replacing Whit Monday. This change led to fewer days off from work (more working-days) as 6 June will periodically fall on the weekend, unlike Whit Monday, which was always celebrated on a Monday. This has in turn led to complaints from some Swedish unions.
Featured image: Princess Madeleine of Sweden and her husband Chris O’Neill (Bengt Nyman (CC BY 2.0) via Wikimedia Commons)
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