Di.se had an article a while ago, which I found fascinating, and wanted to discuss. They have basically taken the potential wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and her boyfriend, Daniel Westling and calculated what they estimate to be the cost of the wedding, and the profits.
Let’s take a look at their calculations:
They’re anticipating a profit of 2.5 billion Swedish Kroner (approx. $416,604,190). This is based partially on the feedback from the trade association, which claim that a lot of their members are planning to make and sell wedding related paraphernalia, such as china, wedding dresses, wedding TVs, wedding sofas… you name it, they’re probably planning on selling it.
Furthermore, they’re anticipating that a royal wedding will take place in Stockholm, for security reasons. They’re thusly calculating with 12,000 tourists for the wedding. We all know what tourists means… hotels, restaurants, transportation as well as entertainment venues will get their benefits financially.
Not to mention the PR effect it probably will have. Around 3,000 media people were accredited to the Danish royal wedding in 2004, and they’re clearly hoping for similar numbers in Stockholm. It’s also factored in how this will serve to sell more magazines & newsletters.
In terms of costs, they’re comparing it with the wedding of Frederik and Mary in 2004 (15 million Danish Kroner), and anticipating that the wedding of the Swedish Crown Princess will surely be bigger, and more expensive than the Danish counterpart. But not by much, because it is still the Swedish taxpayers who will, indirectly, have to foot the bill.
The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs created quite the fuss earlier when they asked for extra funds for a potential royal wedding. Media caught it, and were certain that now they would finally have the wedding they’ve been waiting for since Victoria turned 18. Only to get shot down.
The Swedish king said he didn’t know about any wedding plans for any of his three children… and it was mentioned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked for money without having asked the Court, as they often ask for money for unexpected happenings, so that when the wedding (no matter which of the royal Swedish trio are first down the aisle) comes – they won’t have to ask for such a large sum.
A profitable wedding… there’s the difference between a monarchy and a republic. I don’t suppose you’ll end up with postcards with wedding pictures of the Bush daughters?