Photo: Clément Morin/The Royal Court of Sweden

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia have continued their tour of Sweden’s 21 counties with a visit to Blekinge County.

The visits are to celebrate the King’s 50th anniversary on the throne.

Upon arrival, Governor Ulrica Messing and her husband Torsten Jansson received the King and Queen before visiting the Blekinge museum, where Their Majesties viewed an exhibition created by students from Saltöskolan about Sweden’s history. They also saw a photo exhibition of previous visits to the county.

Next, the royals travelled to Admiralty Park, where they were welcomed by the municipal board chairman and listened to a performance by students from the Culture School.

The park has around twenty different kinds of trees, including the oak, which is Blekinge’s landscape flower. His Majesty also unveiled a new oak in the park.

Afterwards, the King and Queen walked to Stortorget, where they attended an anniversary program with musical performances in Fredrick’s Church.

His Majesty spoke during the program and said: “Here in Blekinge, you really have everything you could wish for – deep forests, coastal scenery with a fantastic archipelago and many lakes. The city is not only a piece of incomparable cultural heritage – but a living and important component of Swedish business life and Swedish defence. With the current security situation in Europe, the military city has also taken on renewed importance. And in Kallinge is the Blekinge air fleet, F17. This county’s strategic position has certainly not played out its role.”

An anniversary lunch was then hosted by the governor and her husband at their residence, with around 40 guests from the county.

To conclude their time in Blekinge, the King and Queen visited Bryggareberge to learn about Orlogsstaden Karlskrona, which is celebrating 25 years as a world heritage site.

King Carl Gustaf ascended the throne on 15 September 1973. He is Sweden’s longest-reigning monarch.