A boaty king - or not?

[jenku]

I found this postcard of the Swedish king and his MTB at my grandma's in law and thought about the thread about worthy kings...and could not resist to share it...

Please note that this is in no way to be connected to the question whether Swedes have less sense of humour than the Dutch...

PS: I have also changed the avatar from my boat to my cat, I understand that this is very fashionable these days....

 

[Lakesailor]

I wondered what Geoffrey Archer was doing these days. Drug-running seems a bit excessive.

 

[Bergman]

Well

Hes smiling so perhaps sense of humour test is ok.

But frightening likeness to Jeff Archer really must rule him out

Sorry

Not sure a mobo driver is quite the thing either, not for something important.

 

[jenku]

You are being so polite. In fact after having seen this picture I would never hand over the helm on my boat to him...

I am also in severe doubt that he ever skippers this MTB himself. Maybe his son does, there have been some paparazzi pics of him and some...eh...girls on a somewhat more nonedescript mobo in the Med....

 

[Bergman]

I always try to be polite - not always successful though

A further though has just occured to me.

If my my memories of history lessons long ago are correct the Swedish royal family are descended from Napoleons brother (Bernadotte ?)

Afraid that would be an automatic disqualification.

 

[Bergman]

R PS

Your cat looks to be in a bad mood

I hope I have not offended her (or him)

 

[jenku]

You are right about the Bernadottes. Didn't think of that actually...but then again Nelson was not fired on from the Swedish side while on his way to Copenhagen. Maybe the brothers did not like each other that much? Well, it all was a long time ago, and the recent one is married to a German woman which I am sure does not help that much either.

I think you'd better stick with the Dutch and I'll try to avoid this MTB of his while out sailing.

Oh and the cat is fine now after having had salmon for dinner.

 

[FergusM]

Bernadotte was actually one of Napoleon Bonaparte's Marshals, not his brother. He was never quite trusted by Napoleon, although he distinguished himself at Austerlitz and Wagram. When the heir to the Swedish king died, he was elected heir-apparent by the pro-French faction in the Swedish parliament in 1810 (he actually ascended the throne in 1818). To cut a long story short, as Crown Prince he did a deal with the British and the Russians and joined the war against Napoleon, and Sweden got Norway in the peace settlement in 1815 as a reward - so maybe Bonaparte wasn't so wrong to have his doubts about Bernadotte. Norway remained united to Sweden until 1905.

To get back to King Carl Gustaf XVI, the present king, where he is really lucky is in his wife. Queen Silvia is not just a cracker, she is a really nice woman who is well-liked in Sweden, and has been a real asset to the monarchy. When the King has dropped clangers, she has pulled him out of the sticky smelly stuff. She was a professional PR person at the Munich Olympics in 1972, which is where they met. Perhaps that is not a bad background for the spouse of a monarch in a democracy. British royal family take note!