On Saturday, tens of thousands of Swedes descended upon the heart of Stockholm to commemorate 50 years since King Carl XVI Gustaf assumed the throne.
Six horses led the royal procession as the 77-year-old monarch, wearing a sober suit and tie, and Queen Silvia, 79, who was dressed in canary yellow, were applauded by the crowds under a sunny sky and to the sounds of military bands.
In celebration of Carl Gustaf, who became the world’s youngest monarch at the age of 27 in September 1973 following the death of his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf, the audience cheered as they passed and waved Swedish flags.
The king has had the longest reign in Swedish history and the second-longest in all of Europe, trailing only his cousin Queen Margrethe of Denmark, who ascended to the throne in 1972.
Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus Bernadotte, who was born on April 30, 1946, was only nine months old when Prince Gustaf Adolf perished in a plane crash in Denmark.
Traffic in central Stockholm was shut down because police expected crowds to reach several hundred thousand during the day. However, celebrations continued despite the tight security because Sweden last month upped its terror threat level in response to a string of Koran burnings that infuriated the Muslim world.
Christina Flodin, an administrator aged 59, was among admirers of the king, who Friday oversaw the changing of the guard at the palace ahead of a gala banquet for business and religious leaders and other Scandinavian royals.
