Wedding procession of the royal couple in an open carriage through Stockholm
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Date | 19 June 2010 |
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Venue | Storkyrkan |
Location | Stockholm, Sweden |
The wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden and Daniel Westling took place on 19 June 2010 in Stockholm Cathedral. It has been described as "Europe's biggest royal wedding since the Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981." Westling thereby acquired Victoria's ducal title, becoming a Swedish prince and Duke of Västergötland. In time for the wedding, a joint monogram of their initials was created.
Victoria is the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. As the firstborn of the family, she was designated heir apparent in 1979, (SFS 1979:932) ahead of her younger brother. Westling was Victoria's personal trainer at Master Training. In July 2002, Victoria and Westling were pictured kissing for the first time at a birthday party for Caroline Kreuger, a close friend of Victoria's. Westling and Victoria's engagement was announced on 24 February 2009. The wedding was set to take place in Stockholm Cathedral on 19 June 2010, the 34th anniversary of her parents' marriage and a traditional wedding date of the Swedish Royal Family (several past House of Bernadotte family members had married on that date). The chosen year 2010 also marks the 200th year since Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, from whom the Royal House of Sweden descends, became heir presumptive to the Swedish throne.
On 17 September 2009, the cathedral parish of Stockholm announced that there would be a restoration of Stockholm Cathedral during the period January–April 2010, and costing 12.4 million Swedish kronor. The wedding itself cost about 20 million kronor which was paid half by the Swedish Royal Family and half by the Swedish government from tax money. This was criticized by some Swedish citizens.