King Charles III welcomed King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at home at the Château de Windsor, this May 1, 2025. The King of Sweden did not arrive. The Swedish sovereign, accompanied by Queen Silvia, brought a tree as a crowning gift. The two kings, also cousins, planted this oak in Windsor together.
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King Carl XVI Gustaf offers a tree as a crowning gift to King Charles III
Next Tuesday, May 6, King Charles III, 76, and Queen Camilla, 77, will already celebrate their second anniversary of coronation. In May 2023, monarchs and heads of state around the world went to Westminster Abbey to attend this grandiose and exceptional ceremony. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden had attended the ceremony with his eldest daughter, Princess Heiress Victoria.
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King Carl XVI Gustaf, 79, and Queen Silvia, 81, went to London on Thursday, when they have to ensure several commitments this Friday, notably to the Royal Society. This May 2, the King and the Queen of Sweden made a stop at Windsor, where King Charles III and Queen Camilla awaited them in the garden. Swedish sovereigns arrived with an oak (Quercus Robur) which comes from the Park of Solliden, their summer family villa located on the island of Öland.
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King Charles III and King Carl XVI Gustaf planted this gift together in Windsor park. The King of Sweden used a special shovel that had been used in 1908 by his great-grandfather, King Gustave V, when he had planted a tree offered to King Édouard VII in Windsor. Queen Camilla and Queen Silvia then watered the new tree together.
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In addition to the friendly relations that Charles and Carl Gustaf have forever, the two monarchs are also cousins. King Carl XVI Gustaf is a descendant of Queen Victoria from the United Kingdom. The mother of the Swedish sovereign was born princess of Saxe-Cobourg and Gotha, daughter of the last Duke, himself grandson of Queen Victoria. The King of Sweden is therefore cousin with the other monarchs of this family, that is King Philippe of Belgium and the former King Simeon II of Bulgaria. Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the Windsor have not been a branch of the family of Saxe-Cobourg and Gotha but they are now a younger branch of the royal family of Greece, itself a younger branch of the Danish royal family.
Nicolas Fontaine
Editor
Nicolas Fontaine was designer-editor and author for many Belgian and French brands and media. A specialist in the news of royal families, Nicolas founded the Royal Stories site of which he is the editor. [email protected]
