Susann Lindqvist

The air of royal love is slowly easing its grip around the city and we now have a more normal degree of love in the air again. The TV podiums at the Opera terrace and the roadblocks are all gone, and those living in the Old city (Gamla stan) can once again park their cars on the street outside their apartment (restricted since May). But it is not all gone. A lot of people have been queuing to enter the church - Storkyrkan - to get a souvenir from the flowers and decoration as a memory.

The preparation for the big day had been going on "forever" and last Friday the final rehearsal with horses and canon salute was seen and heard from the centre of the city. And on Saturday it all happened, the man of the people got his princess. Royalist or not did not matter that day – it was all like a fairy tale.

I´m of course referring to the wedding between HRH Victoria and her soul mate Prince Daniel. Watching the live TV broadcast from the wedding, I was hit by how they were looking at each other. Their eyes were sparkling of love and I was drawn to it like a magnet. It was impossible to stop watching and I could not stop crying and I could not ….(I can feel the tears in my eyes when writing this now).

But I was most definitely not alone shedding a tear or two that day. At the coffee machine on Monday it was quite clear that this LOVE weeding had not left anyone unaffected whether watching it live as they entered the streets in a horse caravan or on TV.

Tears wouldn’t stop falling as I was watching and yesterday I had to sneak out early from the office to watch the TV summary again as I missed Prince Daniels and his father’s speeches Saturday evening. Our new Prince Daniel made a fantastic LOVE speech to his princess Victoria and has now set a new tradition for grooms going forward and of course, new tears were falling again…

I bet I was not the only one hit by their LOVE boom or...?