A stroke of luck for the royal family

Silvia of Sweden turns 80 - A stroke of luck for the royal family

After King Carl XVI Gustaf's (77) 50th anniversary on the throne and Prince Daniel's 50th birthday, the Swedish royal family is celebrating another milestone one day before Christmas: Queen Silvia turns a proud 80 years old today, December 23. As a middle-class foreigner, she managed to become a universally respected queen and take on a strong role within the monarchy. Her recipe for success: she brought a sense of family and a talent for organization with her and found her fulfilment, among other things, in her commitment to difficult social issues.

These early experiences shaped her

When she was born on December 23, 1943, it was anything but foreseeable that she would one day become Queen of Sweden. Silvia Renate Sommerlath was born in Heidelberg as the fourth child of the merchant Walther Sommerlath (1901-1990) and his Brazilian wife Alice Soares de Toledo (1906-1997). But even in her childhood, she had experiences that would later stand her in good stead as a queen. She had three older brothers and therefore had to learn early on to assert herself: "Because I was the youngest, I always had to fight to get attention, to get people to see and hear me," the Queen once told the Swedish newspaper "Aftonbladet".

She was also influenced by her childhood in Brazil. When she was four years old, the family moved from Heidelberg to São Paulo. Silvia grew up there for ten years. Although she herself had a happy childhood, she experienced a lot of misery in the city. These impressions of poor, begging people were an initial motivation to later become involved in charitable causes.

When Silvia was 14 years old, she returned to Germany. She completed her A-levels at the Luisen-Gymnasium in Düsseldorf and then trained as an interpreter in Munich. She has a talent for languages, speaks six languages fluently and is also proficient in Swedish sign language. After her training, she initially worked at the Argentinian consulate in Munich. At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, she worked as head hostess - and met a very special man.

This meeting changed her life

Because among the people she looked after was the Swedish Crown Prince at the time. An encounter that would change her life from the ground up. The unlikely couple fell in love - against all conventions of the time. She was three years older, a commoner and not Swedish, so not really the perfect candidate. That's why they kept their relationship a secret at first. It was only after Carl Gustaf became king in 1973 that he was allowed to marry a non-noble woman.

The wedding on June 19, 1976 in Stockholm's Storkyrka made Silvia Sommerlath Queen of Sweden and gave her a role in the public eye. Since 2011, she has been the longest reigning Queen of Sweden. And Silvia knew how to fulfill her role and win the hearts of the Swedish people. With her likeable, charming manner, but also with her commitment to family and charity.

Her role as queen

Silvia focused on her growing family in the early years of her marriage: Crown Princess Victoria (46) was born in 1977, followed by Prince Carl Philip (44) in 1979 and Princess Madeleine (41) in 1982. The royals became the country's model family, regularly appearing at Christmas, for example, baking together or in the snow.

It was important to Silvia that her children grew up as normally as possible despite their special royal status, which is why she broke with many a tradition at court. For example, the royal children attended public schools. She also never made a secret of her problems - for example, she was open about Victoria and Carl Philip's dyslexia and also spoke about her eldest daughter's anorexia.

Her decision to remove the young crown princess from the public spotlight and pressure at the time and send her to America for the time being may even have saved the future of the monarchy: Victoria returned healthy and happy and now has the best prerequisites to take over her father's demanding office one day.

As a family person, Silvia now enjoys her eight grandchildren in particular. "The grandchildren are the dessert in life that you can just enjoy," she said, and tries to spend as much time with them as possible. She likes to pick the little ones up from school, for example. And just a few days before her birthday, the Queen was seen decorating the tree with her grandchildren.

Silvia interpreted her role as wife of the king by supporting her husband. Although the eyes of the public were usually on her during appearances, she never stole the show from the King. Even during the scandal surrounding Carl Gustaf following the publication of the book "The Reluctant Monarch" (2010), she officially kept her composure and thus probably prevented the royal family from coming under serious threat. "I don't regret marrying him - marrying the person I love," she emphasized, remaining gracefully silent about his alleged wild past.

Committed to children

However, she also managed to develop her own profile and campaign for projects that are important to her. Silvia brought issues to the fore that had previously received little attention among royals. In 1999, for example, she founded the World Childhood Foundation, which is primarily dedicated to protecting children from sexual abuse. In 2019, she opened the "Childhood House" in her hometown of Heidelberg, where abused children are cared for.

She is also dedicated to the topic of dementia: after her mother fell ill with it, she founded the "Silviahemmet" (Silvia's House) foundation in 1996. She is internationally recognized as an expert on these topics and is often consulted. She is also the patron of more than 60 organizations and has received several awards for her commitment.

One of the most recent honors she received was honorary citizenship in her home city in May 2023. Heidelberg's Lord Mayor Eckart Würzner praised her as a "great ambassador for the city and the region". In June, Silvia also received an honorary doctorate from Stirling University in Scotland for her decades of commitment to dementia patients.

Incidentally, a big party is not planned for her milestone birthday. As in the past, the Queen will probably enjoy her special day in private with her family. And she is probably looking forward to next year, when Madeleine and her family will finally move back from Florida to Sweden. Then all her loved ones will be together again.

The Queen on TV

SWR is showing the documentary "Silvia - Born to be Queen" by Leontine von Schmettow (on December 25, 8:15 pm) to mark the day of honor. The ZDF media library also has the documentary "Silvia. Sweden's German Queen" by Julia Melchior.