H.M. King Carl Gustaf Christmas Speech 2014 H.M. King Carl Gustaf Christmas Speech 2014 Dear Swedes here at home and abroad. Everyone in Sweden! I hope you are enjoying the holiday season. With the possibility of resting and spending time with family and friends. Let Christmas be a time for reflection when we see each other a little extra. Together with my family, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! There are some of you who do not celebrate Christmas, but is yet to brighten up this dark season with candles and communion. To you I wish you all the best! While many of us have been looking forward to these days there are others who feel the opposite. When Christmas is reminiscent of those you have lost and lost. There are also those who do not have anyone to celebrate Christmas with. And those who leave especially bad right during this festival. When everyone should instead get a sense of security, happiness and warmth. When I look back on 2014, a year that has contained both the joys and trials for us Swedes. At the beginning of the year, we are eagerly follow our talented athletes at the Olympics. Perhaps our most successful Winter Olympics ever. 15 medals combed we are home! Even in the Paralympics went better than expected. The Queen and I had the privilege of sharing the Swedish Olympic joy in place in Sochi. And do you remember what a nice summer we had? Heatwave throughout the country. It made me think of my childhood summers. Sunshine almost every day. So you often remember it. This summer also reminded us of our smallness before nature. Floods in western Sweden. The huge forest fire in Västmanland. People who had to flee from water and fire. People who hovered in suspense about what would happen to the house or family farm. Some had to watch their entire life’s work lost. This year there have been elections to the European Parliament, the Riksdag, county councils and municipalities. It has meant changes in the governance of our country - as it should be in the democracy that is Sweden. Now, however, we are in a position where the parliamentary future may seem uncertain and we’ll have an extra election in March. It is my hope and belief that this unusual situation will resolve itself for the good of Sweden. I’m glad that turnout has increased. In more people to vote. It is a right that we should be afraid of. In a world where it can not always be taken for granted. There has also been a year in which we strengthened our ties to other countries. A few weeks ago came the Queen and I returned from a state visit to France. It felt very special to be there. The first was the very many years since the last state visit, and partly so have our family strong ties there, by my French ancestor, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, who 200 years ago was elected as the new Swedish crown prince and who helped created the new Sweden. If we for a moment attach to look beyond our borders, there are many events that worry and frightening. In many places in the world around raging war and there is unrest, poverty and oppression, despite the fact that more people are given the chance to live a better life. During the fall, the whole world followed the Ebola epidemic harvests life and spreading fear. I feel the pride and admiration for the Swedes who help fight the disease on the spot. We also remember that it is ten years since the tsunami disaster, which occurred in Southeast Asia. This morning, on Boxing Day, when parents snatched away from their children, and children from their parents. Sisters from brothers. Friends and relatives of each other. The terrible tsunami also shook our country, despite the fact that the tsunami washed over the country many hundreds of mil away. Tomorrow we commemorate the tenth memory of all those who took the tsunami. And reminded once again of how fragile life is. How powerless and small we really are, we humans. How we are sometimes left without answers. When life makes abrupt shifts and everything turned upside down. But after all. As we continue. Help and support each other. Comforting and listening. Looks bright in life again. Now suffer in 2014 to a close. The royal family during the year we welcomed a new little princess. I have a grandfather for the second time, ate little Leonore. And shortly thereafter, we were celebrating Princess Estelle’s second birthday. As soon as the time go! 2014 is also the year when our son Prince Carl Philip became engaged to Sofia Hellqvist. To our great joy. Now we will have soon a new year in the calendar. With it, new expectations, hopes and plans. Next year will surely be just as eventful as the year that soon passed. 2015 is still largely a blank slate. But I can record at least some of the events. World Ski Championships in Falun, extraordinary elections in March, wedding in June, the World Athletics Championships in Beijing this summer. The big climate conference in Paris in December. Where world leaders will try to get ahead of the key questions on how we can better take care of our planet and our climate. For our children and grandchildren. In this context I would like to emphasize that Sweden is a pioneer when it comes to combining innovation with sustainability and the environment. We live in a country that is rich in resources, such as forests and fields. Renewable raw materials that play a major role in the day will also do so in the future. Along with research and education, we are building Sweden strong and attractive. So here on Christmas Day, I want to finally express my gratitude to all Swedes. All people who live in our country. All who are born here. And who has come here to create a better life. I want to thank you all for the good work you are doing for Sweden. Because you make Sweden a good country to be proud of. Creating community - where we all - together - are important. I look forward to meeting next year with you! Finally, again, wishing I and my whole family you all a Merry Christmas. A Good Weekend. And a Happy New Year!
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 21:17:52 +0000
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