According to a press release from the Swedish Royal Court today, Daniel Westling last month began his “royal education” supervised by the Deputy Master of Ceremonies, Brigadier Jan-Eric Warren. The course will last for about one and a half year and among its topics is the organisation of the Royal Court, including ceremonies and the cultural heritage connected to the monarchy. He will also learn about political science, the work of the Parliament and the government, state and municipal administration, Swedish history and cultural life.
Most royal spouses-to-be take part in such educational programmes and one wonders if the Royal Court has decided to make a specific announcement about it as some sort of counter-weight to the claims made that Westling does not have the “right” background and education to be Prince of Sweden.
The Royal Court’s press release: http://www.royalcourt.se/kungafamiljen/aktuellahandelser/aktuellahandelserutanbild/introduktionsprogramforherrdanielwestling.5.1a6f639212652d9b15a80008510.html (in Swedish)
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Thank you for the translation; it seems like a thorough preparation, although I have to wonder whether knowing more than the average Swede already does about topics like political science is really necessary for the consort to a ceremonial figurehead in waiting who is decades away from the position.
ReplyDeleteI'd actually never heard of formal educational programs for European royal spouses-to-be (aside from language classes). If you have any information on the subject, it would be much appreciated.
You may be right that a future prince consort of a largely ceremonial monarchy wil never really get to "use" his knowledge in political science, but yet I believe it will be an advantage to him to know how these things work and that he will be better able to handle his role if he knows its limits and possibilities(what he or his future wife can do and what they cannot do).
ReplyDeleteMore directly useful is probably the knowledge about the Royal Court and its cultural heritage. This is something he and hiw future wife will be more directly in charge of than the governance of Sweden.
This is the first time I have seen details about such educational programmes made public, but the Crown Princesses of Norway and Denmark underwent similar programmes. The then Lord Chamberlain, Lars Petter Forberg (who now has a position at the court in Qatar), was in charge of Crown Princess Mette-Marit's "royal education", which included many of the same topics as Daniel Westling's. It is also my impression that Crown Princess Mary's education programme was quite similar, but as she was a foreigner her course naturally included language classes and more information on Denmark.