The Royal Court

Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine visit summer grazing areas in Gävleborg county

Kronprinsessan Victoria och Prinsessan Madeleine tillsammans med brukaren av Svedbovallen, Anders Henningsson. Foto: Markus Dahlberg/Scanpix

Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine here with one of the users of Svedbo pastures, Anders Henningsson. Photo: Markus Dahlberg/Scanpix

On Monday 15 June, Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine paid a visit to the summer pasture forests in Gävleborg county. The journey began at a Hälsingland farm, and continued on to a shieling (summer pasture area) museum, ending at Svedbo pastures.
At the Hälsingland farm, Pallars Farm in Långhed, guide Gun-Marie Swessar spoke enthusiastically about the beautiful farm with its exquisite blue murals, which have adorned the walls since the mid 19th century. One of the walls featured a painting of Haga Palace in blue; on another, there was a painting of the Royal Palace in Stockholm.

The next stop was Harsen shieling museum, where Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine got to walk along the old shieling way. In the cottage, Cecilia Bruce spoke about how life used to be for the shieling lasses, when they lived alone in the shacks. How they made cheese, butter and whey cheese, and looked after the cows and frightened off the bears.

The last visit of the day was to Svedbo pastures, where Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine each adopted a calf, and helped out with the milking. To finish, the princesses were invited to take a meal of potato porridge with pork and traditional forest fare, before returning home.

Both Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine declared the day a success.