Gregor Nowinski: How did you two actually meet?
Daniel Westling: Are you going first?
Crown Princess Victoria: Do I go first? We met…I knew about Daniel from before, through friends. So we met in a very natural way and we quickly became friends. Then our relationship quite simply deepened into a very close friendship. And then it was love.
Gregor Nowinski: It took seven years…
Crown Princess Victoria: Yes, more.
Daniel Westling: More.
Gregor Nowinski: Daniel, how does it feel to begin dating the country’s crown princess? What thoughts go through your mind?
Daniel Westling: Well, as the Crown Princess just described, we became friends first. And then we started getting together outside my work, too, so to speak. And of course it’s about two people falling for each other, which led to love, and now almost nine years later, it’s time for our wedding.
Crown Princess Victoria: It’s high time for our wedding, I’d say.
Daniel Westling: It’s mainly about two people falling in love. I fell in love with Victoria the person.
Gregor Nowinski: What qualities did you appreciate in her?
Daniel Westling: How long have we got for this? I think the Crown Princess is a fantastic person, of course, with a very warm personality. The image that I think most people have of her is the right one. A warm, down-to-earth person who has a great deal to offer, and is unselfish. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe her, and I really mean that.
Gregor Nowinski: And Crown Princess, what did you see in Daniel?
Crown Princess Victoria: It’s a bit difficult to say…no, I’m only joking! He’s a person with a really fantastic sense of humor. Energy…Daniel is incredibly energetic. He’s also a dedicated person, which is something that attracted me as well. He’s sociable and very friendly. When he meets other people, I have a feeling they find Daniel easy to get on with, and that’s something I felt, too. He’s someone I have great fun with. I’d say that Daniel and I laugh a lot and have a great deal in common. We have a lot of fun together. I hope you agree.
Daniel Westling: Yes, I’m sitting here nodding.
Gregor Nowinski: What about his ability to get on with the Crown Princess’s parents? Were things perhaps a little tense at first?
Crown Princess Victoria: Yes, but at the same time not really because Daniel is himself and has both feet on the ground, and he’s also good at conversing with people, whoever they are. And Daniel, I think you felt – although this was a different situation, of course – but in your job you’re used to talking to people from different backgrounds and social classes. So it felt as though you were really at ease with the situation all the same.
Daniel Westling: And your parents are warm, easy-going people. So things went pretty smoothly.
Gregor Nowinski: And now Daniel is to become Prince Daniel, which means having a new role. How do the two of you feel about this role? I’ll start with Daniel.
Daniel Westling: Right now, ever since New Year, I’ve been familiarizing myself with the way things work here at the royal court. I’ve met a lot of wise people who’ve been training me in certain areas. For me, this is a time for watching and learning and getting to know my role. And this will take time, so I hope people will take that into account – that so much of what is happening is new to me.
Gregor Nowinski: What kind of things are you learning?
Daniel Westling: Well, all kinds of things, from political science to history, plus an awful lot of what is happening here in-house, so to speak. I want to understand how this organization is structured and how things are done here. There are many skilled people here, which is something I’m very happy about.
Gregor Nowinski: Daniel, about supporting the Crown Princess in her role — what are your thoughts? What will you be doing?
Daniel Westling: The Queen’s main duty is to support her partner — in the Queen’s case this is the King and in my case it’s the Crown Princess — and support the things they do, and if I can do that as well as the Queen does, I’ll be more than happy. That’s the long-term goal. Then of course I have my own areas of interest, some of which we share. Our Wedding Foundation is an example of this, and it is all about combating exclusion. A great number of people feel marginalized in our society, and if we can help reduce such feelings, that would be fantastic.
Gregor Nowinski: Crown Princess, what’s it like meeting Daniel’s family in Ockelbo
Crown Princess Victoria: The first time, I was a bit nervous.
Daniel Westling: You were more nervous.
Crown Princess Victoria: Yes, I probably was. But visiting Daniel’s family is always tremendously enjoyable. We have great fun together, and I always get such a warm welcome there. It’s such a pleasure visiting Ockelbo. It’s a quiet, peaceful place where you can recharge your batteries and just be yourself. I didn’t find going there strange at all. Rather, it was a case of being introduced to an incredibly nice family.
Gregor Nowinski: Your wedding is going to be a huge event, not just for yourselves but also for the country as a whole. We’ve read a lot about what’s going to happen, but what ambition do you have to maintain a core that is private in the midst of it all?
Crown Princess Victoria: Well, it’s been decided that our wedding is going to be a state affair, and we’re really happy about that. And it’s fantastic to see all the support we’ve been getting and to see how people all over Sweden are so enthusiastic about celebrating the occasion. But of course we also want to feel that this it’s our wedding, too. I think we will, though. I don’t think the one necessarily excludes the other. It’s Daniel I’ll be standing beside at the altar and I think we’ll be very aware of this and what it means to us. I’m not worried about that.
Daniel Westling: We’ve talked a lot about how it should be inclusive and how everyone should be able to enjoy our big day. And we’re happy and proud that Swedish society has chosen to highlight the occasion and that it sees this as an opportunity to promote Sweden and Stockholm as a tourist destination. We think it’ll be a great day. The City of Stockholm is making sure it will be huge.
Gregor Nowinski: The wedding itself — it’ll be decidedly ceremonial in character. Are you practicing at home?
Crown Princess Victoria: No, but I think that even if there’ll be certain forms and procedures, as you say, and much of it is of course tradition — and then a wedding naturally has certain established features — I believe the big moment we’ll be sharing with everyone else won’t prevent us from enjoying a beautiful moment together. I feel comfortable with that.
This interview consisted of excerpts transcribed from the TV4 broadcast on May 17, 2010.
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