Official Sweden is gearing up to celebrate an extravagant royal wedding on Saturday. Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist, a former reality television star and yoga teacher, are to tie the knot at the royal palace in Stockholm.

Linda Nordlund, however, will not be hanging out the bunting. “It gives a bitter taste to the very concept of democracy,” said the 28-year-old president of the Young Liberals – and a convinced republican.



Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist at the Royal Palace in Stockholm Photograph: PPE/SIPA/REX Shutterstock

“It feels strange to live in a society that tells the world about the importance of equal rights for women and minorities, but has a constitution that says some people are not equal and are born into privilege.”

In an egalitarian country where multiculturalism is celebrated and atheism is the norm, the white, patriarchal, Protestant and unelected institution at the pinnacle of society seems to stand for everything on which Sweden has emphatically turned its back.

The tabloids are devoting page after page to the royal nuptials, and Swedish public television will broadcast the wedding for nine uninterrupted hours, but opponents of the monarchy are growing in number and support for the royal family is at a record low.

Police anticipate large crowds to line the route of the royal procession on Saturday, but elsewhere public displays of affection are hard to find. Partying will take place in front of the television rather than out in the streets, said Liv Sander of Svensk Damtidning, a weekly that devotes much of its coverage to the royals. “People don’t like to admit they are interested in the wedding.”

Recent surveys suggest that barely half the population want to preserve the monarchy, down from nearly 70% 12 years ago, and more than a quarter of all Swedes are abolitionists, according to the SOM Institute for opinion research in Gothenburg. The number of people professing confidence in the Royal House of Bernadotte has fallen dramatically in recent years and is almost on a par with those who are unhappy with it.

The change in attitude accelerated after the publication in 2010 of a book that not only broke the taboo of criticising the royal family, but also provided a mountain of sordid detail on the king’s alleged womanising and partying. The book also drew attention to links between the royal family and the Nazi party during the second world war.

Thomas Sjöberg, the book’s lead author, said he had endured slander, betrayals and a smear campaign as supporters tried to rally around the monarch. “But in some respect the king has now turned a page,” Sjöberg said. “I think the glory days of his spectacular private life are gone.”

Carl XVI Gustav is 69 and has ruled Sweden for 41 years. The abdications of Juan Carlos in Spain last year, and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Albert II of Belgium in 2013, have fuelled speculation that he might step down in favour of his daughter Victoria, whose popularity ratings are higher than those of any public figure.

Red carpets are rolled out at Logardsterrassen terrace outside Stockholm Palace in preparation for the wedding of Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist on Saturday. Photograph: Anders Wiklund/tt/AP

“If we saw a change like that it would increase confidence in the royal family,” said Professor Lennart Nilsson of the SOM Institute and a specialist on attitudes to the royals. The wedding on Saturday, however, and the imminent birth of another royal baby to Princess Madeleine, are unlikely to do much to reignite royalist enthusiasm, Nilsson said.

Sweden’s Republican Association points out that political parties on the left, including the ruling Social Democrats and Greens, have the abolition of the monarchy in their manifestos, but they do not campaign for it because it is a vote loser.

“It is difficult for people to stand up and call for a republic,” said Magnus Simonsson, the association’s general secretary. “The royal family has a strong influence in society, and it can be quite hard on people who don’t show them support.”

For Nordlund, who grew up in a family of staunch royalists, monarchy belongs only on television in programmes such as Downton Abbey. “It is embarrassing that so much of the Swedish media is just sucking up to the royal family,” she said.

“How does monarchy suit a society that strives for equal opportunities and meritocracy? How is blood more important than competence or qualifications?

“For me it is revolting that a democracy does not choose its head of state,” she said. “It is a connection to a past that we should not remember fondly, when we were not a democracy but a dictatorship ruled by cruel kings.”

Rehearsals for the the wedding procession at Skeppsbron outside the Royal Palace in central Stockholm. Photograph: Tt News Agency/Reuters

Most young people, however, don’t really feel too strongly, she said. They treat the royal family much like they do the Kardashians. “This is the first summer weekend after so much bad weather, and I expect a lot of partying in Stockholm,” Nordlund said. “But I am certain there will be no royalist ecstasy.”