There’s one less eligible princess in the world today! Victoria and Daniel are getting married!

Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland (Kronprinsessan Victoria, Sveriges kronprinsessa, hertiginna av Västergötland) and her long-time boyfriend – Daniel Westling announced their engagement yesterday. And it was about time! They’ve been together for seven years now, if I remember correctly.

This is of course big news in Sweden. When I went to the supermarket this morning, Victoria’s smiling face was staring at me from every front page of every newspaper. And the wedding is not even until 2010. Can you imagine how bad the coverage will get by the time the couple actually ties the knot?

Swedes are not as obsessed about their royal family as some other nations (yes, the British immediately come to mind) but most people do have a keen interest in what goes on at the Royal Castle, especially when it comes to royal gossip.

So, what about this guy Victoria will be marrying next year?

They met in 2002, and get this – he was her personal fitness trainer. Daniel Westling is not a royal. He’s just a gym owner, he runs a company called Balance Training in Stockholm.

I like the fact that Princess Victoria is marrying a commoner. A few years ago, when asked in an interview about royals marrying ordinary people, this is what she said:
“I think the general idea of Swedes is that it’s the modern way to marry someone that you love, not necessarily where she or he comes from.”

And I couldn’t agree more. A very sensible approach to a very important issue, which just goes to prove once again that Sweden is a very egalitarian society, indeed.

If you want to get your fill of all things Victoria, head to the Swedish Radio webpage. They have a special section devoted to the upcoming royal wedding. And as always with SR, it’s written in clear and concise svenska.

• förlovning (def. förlovningen, pl. förlovningar, def.pl. förlovningarna) – löfte mellan två personer om att de ska gifta sig senare – an agreement (promise) between two people to get married later on, an engagement.