Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden is having low-key birthday celebration amid pandemic

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden celebrates her birthday with much grandeur on the 14th of July every year. However, the heir apparent to the Swedish throne is having a low-key celebration for her 43rd birth anniversary this year in wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The birthday of Crown Princess Victoria, officially called Victoriadagen, is celebrated publicly in presence of thousands of people at the Swedish family's holiday home Solliden Palace on the isle of Oland. The tradition started at the royal's second birthday in 1979 won't be take place this year to follow social distancing measures implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19 illness.

Swedish royal court took to its Instagram account to announce the schedule for this year's birthday celebration. A picture of the crown princess was captioned: "Today, H.K.H. The Crown Princess is 43 years old. The Crown Princess celebrates her birthday at Solliden on Öland. The public's traditional courtship outside Solliden has been canceled this year due to the pandemic."

At the previous birthdays of the princess, the gates of Solliden Palace were left open to well-wishers who could congratulate Victoria in person after obtaining an entrance ticket. In the early afternoon, the royal used to descend the stairs of the palace with her husband, Prince Daniel, her children- Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar, and her parents, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.

This year, the birthday celebrations will commence at 12pm with the Swedish Armed Forces firing salute from the country's salute stations. In the night, the princess's special day will be marked with a televised concert from Borgholm's castle ruins. It will be broadcast at 9 pm on SVT1.

As per the traditional celebrations, the royal family used to be driven to Borgholm Castle to attend the concert, during which several Swedish artists used to give a musical performances. An important part of the show was the princess presenting Victoria Scholarship to its recipient, which will be awarded virtually this year to American-born Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis.

The crown princess will only be joined by her husband and children for her birthday celebrations. Her parents, King Carl XVI Gustaf, 74, and Queen Silvia, 76 have decided to skip the concert out of safety concerns. Her brother Prince Carl Philip will be joining her with his wife Princess Sofia, but her younger sister Princess Madeleine and her family will be missing the celebrations as she is in Florida, reports Royal Central.