Status: 31/08/2023, 20:03 p.m.
By: Susanne Kröber
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In the big TV interview on the occasion of his 50th birthday, Prince Daniel talks about life in the shadow of his wife Victoria, who is in the public eye as the future Queen of Sweden.
Stockholm – Daniel Westling (49) was a trained leisure educator and fitness consultant, as well as a partner in a gym, when Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden (2001) came into his life in 36. The two fell in love, and eight years later they got engaged. At the latest with the wedding on June 19, 2010, to which numerous royals such as Prince Albert II (65) and Charlène of Monaco (45) were invited, Prince Daniel's life changed radically. Now he was the future Prince Consort, the man behind Victoria.
"I know my role": Prince Daniel does not quarrel with his position in the shadow of Victoria
A role that many a husband of a reigning monarch has struggled with. Prince Philip (99, † 2021) is said not to have always been satisfied with his position in his 73-year marriage to Queen Elizabeth (96, † 2022). Prince Henrik of Denmark (83, † 2018), husband of Queen Margrethe II (83), even criticized the title "Prince Consort" for decades and called for equality. "I don't accept this, I will never accept it! Why should I stand under my wife?" he said on Dutch TV, among other things. Prince Daniel doesn't seem to share this opinion.
"I know my role. Most people want to hear and see Victoria, and I feel comfortable with it and think it's fantastic," Prince Daniel said in the big TV interview "Prins Daniel 50 år" (50 years of Prince Daniel), which he gave to Swedish journalist Carina Bergfeldt (43) in the run-up to his 50th birthday on September 15. "I stand behind it and enjoy it and try to contribute, but I don't have a problem with my role and the situation as a whole."
That's why Carina Bergfeldt fought for years for an interview with Prince Daniel
Since May 2010, the Swedish journalist Carina Bergfeldt has had the desire to conduct an interview with Prince Daniel. The trigger was an article in Svenska Dagbladet, in which Daniel spoke about his role alongside the future Queen of Sweden. "It's not a problem for me to take one, two or ten steps behind her and still maintain my self-esteem," Daniel explained at the time. Bergfeldt writes on Instagram that she was in a relationship with a man at the time who was having problems with a successful woman by his side. "I thought this Daniel Westling sounded like a UFO." 13 years and numerous inquiries later, the journalist's dream came true and she was accepted for the big birthday interview with Prince Daniel.
Prince Daniel owes his modern attitude to his parents
But where does this self-image come from, for which Prince Daniel is facing a wave of sympathy not only in Sweden? In the TV interview, the husband of Crown Princess Victoria suspects that his upbringing is responsible for his feminist attitude. "My father was on parental leave in 1970 after the birth of my older sister," says Prince Daniel – an absolute exception at the time. In addition, his father Olle Westling (78) had always emphasized that men had certain privileges that were denied to women at that time. "It was important for my dad to point out that he had the chance to study, but mom was the smarter of the two."
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All eyes are on Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel stays in the background – an everyday situation for the future Prince Consort. © IMAGO/TT
For once, his TV interview puts Prince Daniel in the spotlight, even if he admits that he doesn't like to see and hear himself on television. The father of Princess Estelle (11) and Prince Oscar (7) probably won't mind that another royal will be in the spotlight on his milestone birthday. On September 15, Prince Daniel will be 50 years old – but only King Carl Gustaf (77) is allowed to celebrate. Because the Swedish regent ascended the throne on the very day on which his current son-in-law saw the light of day. Sources used: svenskdam.se, Instagram, svd.se