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Eliot Press, Bauer-Griffin
While giving the bride away is a mainstay in American weddings, Swedish wedding tradition dictates that the bride and groom walk down the aisle together.
Her decision has prompted the head of the Swedish church, Archbishop Anders Wejryd, to issue a public statement expressing his disapproval at the royal couple choosing to add the Anglo-Saxon tradition to their wedding ceremony. He said, "Being given away is a new phenomenon which occasionally occurs in the Church of Sweden. I usually advise against it, as our marriage ceremony is so clear on the subject of the spouses' equality. The couple know where I stand on this matter."
The controversy surrounds the church's view that walking down the aisle together shows that the spouses are equal and they take the act of the father giving his daughter away as sexist.
The church is hoping that this decision by the princess will not encourage other brides to do the same thing. Today, one in 10 Swedish brides are given away.
A priest and theologian, Annika Borg, thinks that modern Swedish brides are being influenced by the weddings they see in Hollywood films. "I think it's unfortunate that Sweden's future head of state has chosen to follow a practice that is not Swedish tradition. The idea of the couple entering the church together symbolizes that the man and the woman are entering the marriage of their own free will," she said.
"We've got a carefully worked-out position on this matter in the Swedish church, and in the future it is going to be very hard for us to resist requests from brides who want to be given away."
A spokesperson fro the Royal Court said Princess Victoria's decision was a symbolic one. "This has a bigger dimension. This isn't a father giving away his daughter to another man. The symbolism is that the king is leading the heir (Princess Victoria is the heir-apparent to the throne) to the nation's throne to the altar -- and to the man who has been accepted."
Princess Victoria's wedding will be the first royal wedding in over 30 years. The wedding is set for June 19th, her parents' 34th wedding anniversary. At King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia's wedding in 1976 the royal bride and groom walked down the aisle together.
If a Swedish royal wedding sounds familiar, you may remember that Princess Victoria's younger sister, Princess Madeleine, called off her wedding to Jonas Bergstrom in April because he had an affair with a university student while on vacation.
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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)
is that a macaroni necklace she's wearing?
I saw her in the back of a car almost 32 years ago when on my honeymoon in Sweden and Scandinavia.We were walking in front of the palace in Stockholm and a car pulled thru the gates.I knew it was the princess and she is a spitting image of her Dad the King.Congrats Victoria.
"Annika Borg?" Did they make that up?
If the bride wants her dad to walk her down the aisle its none of anyone else's business. Leave her alone and let her enjoy her special day the way she chooses to do so.
I would like King Carl Gustav to walk me somewhere.
If she wants her father to give her away that is her choice, it must have a certain meaning to her.
To call it sexist is a stupid opinion and stupid opinons should be kept to the self especially when it isn't any of your business. It's very wrong to label a tradition as taboo just because you don't agree.
I bet Archbishop Anders Wejryd who thinks this tradition is sexist would see nothing wrong with a gay marriage. Cretin
Don't say things just to say them. What we now view as a loving gesture from father to daughter originated as a symbolic transfer of property from the hands of one man to another. Recognizing the sexist history does not denigrate the ceremony or the institution. I think it's important to note how we have redefined it over the years, not only from giving women rights and opposing Christian judges to allow interracial marriage, but comparing dress color by culture, handfasting, how the man used to be the one to offer the dowry, etc.
Good for you, Princess! It shows you have a mind of your own and are not afraid of an archaic tradition.
They have the right to make their ceremony as they choose. Enough obeisiance to the principles of equality lie in her being heir to the throne rather than her brother by the older tradition of primogeniture through the male progeny. If one has a system of inheritance the eldest getting the main title regardless of sex is of far greater importance and more honorable than silly fussings about forms in the ceremony of wedlock. However some commenters are wrong, it is not in the common custom for the father to give the bride away in Sweden at present.
The archbishop is within his rights to remark about it. He is also wise in not making it anything to fuss greatly over. Those performing ceremonies have some rights too, just as the ultimate right of the couples to choose who shall preside over it is paramount.
Good for her!
The way her father is glaring over at the guy she is marrying Im surprised he wants anything to do with it! Everyone else is looking forward but him! Funny
It's about GIVING the daughter away? I always thought the Dad walked the daughters down the aisle to make sure they didn't make a run for it.
Anne, I agree. Archbishop Weird might feel better about it, if the Groom's mother gave him away also.
What is it with old men telling women what to do? Congress tells women who should have an abortion or not. Chinese don't want female babies? Women are told to get clitorectomys in some Asian countries? Now this young lady wants to have her father give her away. People in general and old men especially should keep their noses out of other people's business.
I didn't use the "tradition" of being given away in MY wedding. Since I was 30 years old, I didn't "belong" to my father and he didn't have the right to give me to my husband so HE could own me. I didn't use "I now pronounce you man and wife" either, as in man and cow, man and dog, man and car, man and house, man and wife. Phooey. Husband and Wife, pls.
Who gives a shit?