#Swedish facts

[raincitygirl76]

For anyone getting excited over Hillerska being shut down by the school inspectorate, hold your glee. Lundsberg Skola is the Swedish boarding school Hillerska seems to based on. After years and years of warnings and fines re bullying and hazing, Lundsbergs was shut down by the school inspectorate on August 28, 2013.

It was supposed to stay shut down for a minimum of 6 months. Instead the school hired expensive lawyers, appealed, and were allowed to reopen on September 6, 2013. So it only took 9 days before they found a loophole. One can assume Hillerska will do likewise and everybody (except the third years) will be back in class in the second half of August when the new school year starts.

At Lundsbergs, the headmaster was fired and the entire board of governors resigned after the shut down. But they soon regrouped, hired a new headmaster, appointed new alumni and parents to the board, and debuted a shiny new anti-bullying policy. Whether it actually worked is unlikely. But the parents are mostly alumni themselves. They would’ve gone through the same brutal hazings and wouldn’t think they’d be such a big deal.

Here’s the Wikipedia page, scroll down to the Controversy section for the details on the abuse and bullying that the school was turning a blind eye to. The final investigation, the one that triggered the (temporary) shutdown, was when the younger boys were burned with hot irons by older boys at an initiation. One boy was burned so badly he needed to be hospitalized. The hospital called the local police, who called the school inspectorate. Note: that boy’s parents were not the ones to notify either the police or the school inspectorate.

Also scroll down to the Alumni section for a look at all the rich, influential and famous people (including multiple Swedish royals across many generations) who went there.

[hanna-kin]

The Nobel Prize Banquet

Today it's the Nobel day, a day that honours the memory of Alfred Nobel by celebrating remarkable scientific discoveries in medicine, physics, and chemistry by awarding the scientists behind these discoveries. In addition there is also the peace prize, the literature prize and the economy prize.

The Royal family is an important part of these celebrations.

The King hands out all the prizes but the Peace Prize and the day is filled with celebrations which the royal family is a huge part of.

It's an honour for the chef that gets to compose the three course meny and over all it's considered a very very important and grand night.

Getting an invitation is of course an honour too. The guests are a mix of scientists, politians and other important people and every year some university students get to attend.

The whole event is broadcasted on TV and we get to see alot of behind the scenes everything from the flowers and the florist's work, the music, the food, ans of course the dresses.

Crown princess Victoria this year.

This is something that the royal family in young royals would attend too. Especially the queen and prince Ludvig. Crown Princess Victoria attended her first once she had turned 18 so I don't think Wilhelm would attened until then and Simon definitely wouldn't.

Princess Sofia who is married to Prince Carl Philip only got to be part of it until they were engaged. Same with Prince Daniel who is married to the Crown princess.

Maybe Kristina would be more modern but there is no way Simon would be a part of the celebrations during Wille’s first years.

[st-rbiter]

art fight attack for @filurig ‼️🪶

[raincitygirl76]

Is tipping a thing in Sweden? At restaurants, in taxis, coffee shops, food delivery, etc? Just curious.

If you don’t know the answer yourself, please feel free to reblog in hopes of this question reaching someone knowledgeable. Thanks.

[raincitygirl76]

This is fabulously interesting. I urge you to click on the cut!

Some thoughts on the hierarchy at Hillerska

A few days ago, @raincitygirl76 made a really intriguing post about how the show is about the class system (find it here!), mainly focusing on Hillerska’s impact as an employer and the types of students who go there.

That inspired me to go off on a tangent and make a separate post about the hierarchy. I’ve been using Agnes Hellström’s book about the real boarding schools (‘Att vara utan att synas: Om riksinternaten Lundsberg, Sigtuna och Grenna’, 2013) as a fanfic reference, so I’m also using that here. It was written  back when the schools were still allowed to charge for tuition, and I’m sure things have improved since then. However, much of the content is pretty consistent with what Lisa has said about doing research for YR and what we see in the show.

Disclaimer: I’m not Swedish, just a Nordic neighbour, and these are just my own impressions. If I’m wrong about something, please feel free to add on to this or correct me!

Keep reading

[hanna-kin]

Hiii I’m going to Stockholm on Friday and wondered if you have any tips for the trip? Tack!!

How nice!

I don't live in Stockholm so I'm not an expert but I always think Gamla Stan is a nice visit and if you want the Royal Palace. I would honestly just walk around there in the narrow streets and alleyways. Especially if the weather is nice.

The Royal palace also have some exhibitions if you are interested. You can find more information here

There's also Fotografiska museet if you like photography. It's a photography museeum and they usually have a few photographers featured at once. I love to visit l. Here's some more information There’s an entry fee though.

If you like shopping there are alot of options. I would check out drottninggatan. Åhlens city and NK but once again just walking around is very nice.

There is also Mall of Scandinavia if you only want to go shopping but it's not something I recommend really. It's a mall, it's big by Swedish standards but that's it.

I think you can get around with walking alot but of course that does take some time and effort but it's definitely possible depending on where you live. Last time I was there I walked to gamla Stan and the royal palace and back again with no problems.

I would make sure to make time for a traditional Swedish fika at a Café. That's an absolute must and you are right in time for our "Semmel" season

Semla is a traditional Swedish pastry that was traditionally eaten before the long fasting but now we eat them just for fun.

The traditional one is a wheat bun flavoured with cardamom filled with almond paste and whipped cream.

Every café will have them, traditional versions and more new conceptual versions like vanilla semla (no almond paste) chocolate, licorice, croissant, semmel wrap etc.

Or you can always go for a cinnamon bun or a danish pastry or anything really.

There's also a the classic princess cake which is a sponge cake with jam, vanilla custard and cream with a lid of marsipan.

I cannont recommend dammsugare though, which is a small pastry that tastes like arrack with marsipan on top. I can't get behind it but is popular and if you like arrack you might like it.

I would avoid chains for this so stay out of espresso house.

As for food that are many many options, everything from McDonald's and other fast food chains like Max (Swedish version of McDonald's basically) to fancier options. It all depends on what you are in the mood for. Some placed demands reservations fsr in advance but these places are usually quite hyped and expensive so not something I would look for on a trip.

If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask. I'm always happy to help! And any swede is welcome to put in their own recommendations.

[babkaboy]

a few weeks ago my queen @sputnikan recommended me Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez saying “it reads like a star wars fanfic” and not only was she right but the book itself destroyed me into pieces and what a better way to get the brainrot out of me by drawing a bunch of scenes but with these space mfs. anyways if you enjoy paranormal shit, horror stuff and messed up father/son relationships please read that book

[canisalbus]

Feel free to ignore this if it doesn't spark your interest but worth a shot. Can I ask what breed of dog Jesus was in your dog world?

I think dog Jesus predates most of today's dog breeds. Realistically he'd probably be some kind of mutt, probably with vaguely Canaan dog looks. But European depictions of Jesus have always been very localized, and I tend to think that in Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque art he'd usually appear as a Spaniel of sorts, although it varies from piece to piece. Gun dogs more often than not.

[raincitygirl76]

And this is the last of my posts reblogged from @skamenglishsubs . Weren’t they awesome?

Subtext and Culture, Young Royals, Season 2, Episode 6

Final episode, and we're picking up the morning right after last episode. The curtains are still closed though, good for them!

Subtext: The something Simon needs to take care of is of course the situationship with Marcus.

Subtext: Real subtle music choice there, show. This is where August decides to solve the problem of Simon going to the police in his own twisted ways.

Lost in translation: August meekly asked for some changes to the speech last episode, whereas Wilhelm just changed it without asking for permission. Here's what it says, with his changes: Hillerska 120 years Your Majesty, dear mom. And dear Hillis. It's an honour to be standing here today speaking to you - not only as Crown Prince, but as your classmate. Hillerska welcomed me during a very difficult but meaningful time in my life. (He's scratched out "Eders" at the top, which is an archaic way of saying and spelling "ers", which in turn is a special version of the plural second person possessive pronoun "er", which is only used in a formal address like this.)

Lost in translation: The second cue card has more changes: Hillerska isn't just the place where we are taught to be good citizens so that in the future we can shoulder the responsibilities that has been imposed on us. It is also a home. Hillerska became a home to me, just like it was for my dear mother, and my brother before me... and for many of you. You have become family. The school motto is "take responsibility for your legacy" "feel your responsibility for the legacy", be proud of your history, pass on the traditions to the next generation.

Cinematography: The show normally only uses these fourth wall breaks to bookend each season, but all occasions have been when Wilhelm has been making a public speech or felt observed. Here he's practising a public speech, and the show uses the fourth wall break to really bring home this point.

Culture: The show says that this scene takes place just a couple of days after the Valentine's ball, which puts us in the middle of February. But we can tell by the blooming cherry tree in the background that this scene was actually shot in mid April. This is absolutely not what February looks like in the Stockholm area in Sweden, which made me super confused about the timeline.

Subtext: It absolutely is about Wilhelm, but Marcus got it completely wrong anyway, Simon doesn't like Wilhelm because he is a prince, he likes him despite him being a prince. Oh, and it's a nice touch to separate them physically with an electric fence, to really show their distance.

Subtext: No, the person who feels like a victim here is actually Marcus. He doesn't fit in with the rich kids at the school, and now he thinks that they "stole" Simon away from him. Whatever, who cares, he has served his narrative purpose, byyyeeeeee!

Subtext: Loyalty is a huge theme in this episode, so we start this cursed subplot with a nice long opening shot of the motto of the Forest Ridge house, to remind us of how important loyalty is to the upper classes.

Subtext: Everyone tries to manipulate Wilhelm by invoking his dead brother, of course August does the same.

Subtext: So why does Alexander side with August? Wilhelm actually treated Alexander like shit, he threw him under the bus to protect Simon last season, and he feigned ignorance in the first episode of this season when Alexander came back to school, which means the Forest Ridge oath doesn't mean much to him. Alexander feels completely betrayed, because Wilhelm should have been loyal to his house brothers. August on the other hand promises him loyalty. If Alexander takes the blame, then the future king of Sweden, August, will owe him a huge personal favour, and that's just worth a lot more to him and his family than the minor inconvenience of a criminal trial. He's got money, and the full backing of the royal court, he's never gonna go to jail, jail is for poor people!

Subtext: ...like Simon, and his unemployed substance-abusing dad. Simon would not be treated gently by the justice system for dealing drugs, Wilhelm can't really intervene on his behalf, and the royal court wants Simon gone, so they won't help out either, which is why August's threat is very, very real.

Subtext: August has constantly been trying to impose upper-class values on Wilhelm, all the way since season 1, and that includes all the lies and secrets and cover-ups. He truly believes rug-sweeping is the best way of handling the situation, and can't really understand why Wilhelm won't play the game like the rest of them do.

Subtext: We know that Wilhelm's love language is touch, so August touching him is a violation that he reacts very strongly to, punching his arm away.

Culture: Clay pigeon shooting or trap shooting started evolving as a sport over 150 years ago, when upper class shooting clubs realized what a bother it was having to collect a ton of live pigeons when a gentleman simply wanted to practice hunting for a bit, so they developed cheaper clay targets instead. The birds are made out of an easily breakable hard clay, and the launcher is controlled with a foot pedal. The shotgun is loaded with birdshot, which is pretty harmless for humans at long range.

Subtext: A nice little throwback to S1E1, when August told Wilhelm that they could get away with anything, including murder.

Blink and you miss it: August glances at Sara, so Detective Felice quickly figures out that it was her before she admits it.

Blink and you miss it: Simon is actually smiling and enjoying seeing August humiliated by Wilhelm.

Subtext: Also a throwback to season 1, when Sara gave Simon shit for "always wanting to give people a second chance". Now she's doing the exact same thing, and August is ironically just as unworthy of it as Sara and Simon's dad was.

Subtext: Another theme this season has been about people protecting themselves, while claiming to protect others, so here's Sara accusing August of doing exactly that.

Lost in translation: Simon says "Snälla, jag orkar inte", which can't be directly translated, because English is missing the incredibly useful Scandinavian verb orka. It means having the physical or mental strength or stamina or energy to do something. When it's negated like here, it can range in meaning from not having enough stamina to run a long race, or not having enough strength to lift something heavy, or not being able to eat more food, or not wanting to deal with a person, or not having the energy to handle a stressful situation. If you no longer orkar something, you're done, you're finished, you're too tired, you're too weak, you've had enough.

Subtext: Again, Wilhelm's love language is touch, so he's trying to comfort Simon the only way he knows.

Culture: Kaggeholms Slott, the main shooting location for the show was built in the early 1700's, so this is some kind of detail from the earliest years of the main building.

Blink and you miss it: Simon hasn't eaten a single clementine this season because Rosh has been hogging all of them!!!

Culture: Linda's tag says "Sjuksköterska" - nurse, so she obviously works in healthcare. She's also wearing scrubs, so she must have taken off directly from work to accompany Simon to the police. Also note that being a regular nurse in Sweden is a pretty low status job because you'll just be a grunt worker at some hospital or care home, so this fits the social class of the Eriksson family.

Cinematography: I think this is the last amount of colour Simon has ever worn, signalling that he's not feeling himself, he's completely defeated.

Subtext: Damn, I got hungry just looking at this food. What's going on here is that the school is hosting the royal family and treating them to a nice private fancy dinner, and they've even got their own china monogrammed with the school logo. By the bottle we can also tell that Wilhelm is being served alcohol, it's a cider from Danish Somersby. And from the background dialogue, we also learn that both his parents went to Hillerska at the same time, where they presumably met.

Subtext: If it's so important to be able to talk about your emotions, why is your son so bad at it? It couldn't be the case that he learned to suppress his feelings instead from his parents, right?

Subtext: Oh look, it's the theme of the episode yet again! In Forest Ridge the loyalty is explicit in the house motto, and it's of course a big part of the girls' house as well.

Subtext: Well that's a big fat lie, the most obvious secret is the one Stella is harbouring, but they're all keeping lots of little secrets from each other. Good thing Sara learned to keep her mouth shut at least so as not to out Stella.

Subtext: Colour theory for the show tells us that red symbolizes the love between Wilhelm and Simon, and here Wilhelm is deciding between his love for Simon, or fulfilling his royal duty. Since he's currently facing away from the red light, and looking at Erik's old cigarette case, he's leaning towards duty.

Subtext: Colour theory is in full swing over at Simon's place as well, him and Ayub are having a late night videochat about Simon having to decide between his love for Wilhelm or his principles. However, his lava lamp turns red just as the scene ends, showing us what his final decision is.

Blink and you miss it: Sara cleaned out her room and left the Manor House, but she left behind the riding pants the other girls gave her for her birthday.

Culture: If you've read my post on royal names and titles, you know that Ludvig ought to be a prince, and ought to be styled "His Royal Highness", so I'm not sure why he's consistently being referred to as Duke Ludvig in this season. Oh, and if the reigning monarch is a king, he and his queen are styled "Your Majesties" together. But if the reigning monarch is a queen, only she is styled "Your Majesty", while her husband is styled "Your Royal Highness", because blatant sexism.

Subtext: August really thought he'd be their equal for this event, but he's always being put in place and shown he is less than.

Cinematography: Spot the character who really doesn't want to be in this photo shoot!

Subtext: Back in season 1 when August said he knew everyone's name, he wasn't joking, he actually does remember people's names!

Oh, and there's a little lost in translation here as well. August says "Tack för senast", which is a ubiquitous Scandinavian politeness phrase which means "Thanks for last time". You're supposed to use this every time you talk to someone after having gone to some event together, and especially if it was something that the other person hosted and invited you to.

Blink and you miss it: Nils and Vincent are hilariously taking the absolute piss out of August for enjoying standing in the receiving line for the jubilee.

Subtext: Easy there, Don Corleone! August simply overpaid for the horse, thinking Sara would love him for yet another material thing, but what she really wanted him to do was to change and come clean about the sex tape. The horse isn't gonna sway her from leaving him.

Cinematography: As I was taking screencaps for this post, I stumbled on this scene showing Sara leaving Hillerska, but my only question is who the hell that dude is? Why is he in the shot? Why is he there? Is he an extra who is supposed to be there, or is he a random person who was just happening to wait for the real world bus right here right now? It doesn't make any sense in universe, because every goddamn adult in the vicinity is busy with the jubilee thing. Why is this guy not attending? WHO IS HE? I NEED ANSWERS!

Subtext: Through the magic of literary analysis our couple grew closer and came to understand one another better, so Simon chose to compromise his principles out of love for Wilhelm. Oh, and there totally is another way, but it requires Wilhelm to compromise his duty...

Culture: I've already gushed about how good the costuming is on this show, because Wilhelm is wearing an impeccably tailored school uniform that fits him perfectly, while Simon is wearing an ill-fitting second hand uniform. You can tell because Wilhelm's uniform is showing the correct amount of shirt sleeve outside his jacket, between one and two centimetres, while Simon's jacket is completely covering his shirt sleeves.

Subtext: This piece of perfect poetic cinema is of course a mirror to the ending of season 1 when Wilhelm tells Simon that he loves him. This time, Simon says it back for the first time.

Cinematography: I know it's a coat room and not a closet, but close enough, and when Jan-Olof tries to hurry Wilhelm along and get him to stop talking to Simon, Wilhelm responds by literally coming out of the closetcoat room, foreshadowing the end of the episode.

Subtext: Literally as the next speaker, figuratively as the next crown prince.

Subtext: Oh no. Oh no. Oh no no no no! Sara hasn't talked to Simon since the shooting range scene, so she doesn't know why Simon never reported August, or that August threatened to take revenge by reporting where the drugs originally came from. I guess we need to setup some season 3 drama?

Blink and you miss it: Wilhelm appears to change his mind at the exact moment the principal says "replace".

Subtext: We've seen Wilhelm struggle all season with his duty, and not being able to put on a public persona, but in this moment it's on full blast, and a look that tells August to sit the fuck down again, because this is his job, he's not gonna be replaced any time soon.

Subtext: This is one of the lines that Wilhelm added to his speech, and it's the complete opposite of what he thought of Hillerska in the very first episode, where he saw it as some kind of punishment to have to live there for three years.

Subtext: Oh look, the tradition theme™! Let's just kick it, stab it, and drown it, while the cameras are rolling!

Cinematography: Cue the camera panning to the people experiencing said mass panic.

Subtext: The MVP of the season, Boris my man, enjoying the fruits of his labour. The unsung hero we all deserved! I bet though he's been secretly plotting the downfall of the monarchy this entire time!

Subtext: Just like this song played at the end of episode 4, showing what Wilhelm was feeling, this time it shows what Simon is feeling for Wilhelm. It's also a nice parallel to season 1, where the Revolution song was used in both episode 4 and 6.

Subtext: The lyrics are a bit on the nose like most of this season, but Simon said the he loved Wilhelm, and in return Wilhelm shows Simon that he loves him, by coming out, and not keeping their relationship a secret any longer, which was the main conflict of the entire season.

Blink and you miss it: Wilhelm is always comparing himself to his brother and trying to live up to his memory, so after making this choice, he quickly glances skywards as if to check in with him. Yeah, you're alright kid. Erik would be so very proud of you. I'm not crying, you're crying! Damn allergies! I swear, this goddamn show. 😭😭😭

Cinematography: Finally we book-end this season as well with Wilhelm breaking the fourth wall and staring at us. But this time we see a hint of a smile as he's doing it, because this time is the first time he's really in control of his life, doing what he wants, and not just doing what he's told or what he's expected to do.

[muppet-facts]

Muppet Fact #1172

The Swedish Chef had his own cereal called Cröonchy Stars in 1988. It was distributed by the Post Cereal Company and discontinued one year after release.

Source:

Jim Henson's Red Book. 11/6/87 “VTR Chef Commercial – Cereal.” (Archived). https://web.archive.org/web/20110220055747/http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2010/11/06/11061987/.

[cloud-ya]

he's scared of strong wind

[myokk]

Sebastian had a few days leave from duty so he visited Eloise😇😇

[raincitygirl76]

I only just found out that the Swedish word fin doesn’t literally mean beautiful in a physical sense only. And I am so DAMN happy to have that explained to me.

I saw a post a while ago about how Simon and Wille never focuses on complimenting each other's looks. Like they obviously think the other one is attractive, but their focus when appreciating the other is never based on the other's look. That the only time it happens is when Wille calls Simon beautiful out on the football field. However, as a swede I wanna point out that what Wille is calling Simon is "fin", which indeed means "beautiful", but it also means so much more than that. When calling a person fin, "du är så fin", it would better translate to "you are so kind/such a beautiful person". So what Wille is actually telling Simon is that he is a beautiful and genuine person, plus pretty. Like it can mean all those things. So Wille saying that Simon is so "fin" is even more beautiful than him simply calling him beautiful. In a time when he really needed someone, Simon showed up, looked like an angel and helped him as if he was one, and all Wille wants to do is to tell him that he is such a beautiful person for doing this, who also happens to look beautiful while doing so. Like, I just love how even the one time he might compliment Simon's looks, the thing he focuses on is how Simon is just an amazing human being for helping him when he needs him. For being there when he needed someone the most.

[raincitygirl76]

Wisdom of Tumblr, is it possible to link to every post which one Tumblr user has tagged with the same tag? Because I could’ve sworn there was a way to do that, and that I’ve done it before. But when I try to do it today, I’m only able to link to the most recent post that person gave that tag to.

@starvalisedham has some super interesting posts about how Swedish surnames work in general, and how Swedish noble surnames work in particular. All tagged with #edvin Ryding. But I can’t reblog any of those posts, for some reason. I was hoping to be able to link to all of them instead, as an alternative to Reblogging.

It’s not the end of the world if I can’t. LOL There aren’t THAT many posts, so I can just link each one individually. But it’s bugging me that I could swear I’ve done it before with a completely different Tumblr user and completely different tag.

Edited to Add:

Thanks to the brilliance and helpfulness of @skibasyndrome I now know how to do this. Voila all the links in question!

And here's HOW you do it, once again courtesy of @skibasyndrome

Example:

URL.tumblr.com/tagged/the-tag-you-want

Actual Coding I typed in so I could create the link above. Please note you use the code "%20" instead of spaces when you're typning tags. Since the original tag was Edving Ryding, rather than a space, I typed in Edvin%20Ryding for the relevant tag. And got all that user's posts with that tag.

https://www.tumblr.com/starvalisedham/tagged/edvin%20ryding

[hanna-kin]

How do gymnasium programmes work in Sweden? If you wanted to take the natural science programme but also wanted to study art is that possible?

Hi!

There are many many many different programs. Some are more practical for those who doesn't plan to attend university (decorater, hair dresser, plumber for example) and some for those who plan to go to uni like natural science and social science.

You apply for whatever school you wish to attend and which program you want to go to.

You can't really tailor a program to be a mix of neutral science and art but each year has courses thst you choose yourself. You can for instance choose to add another language, photography, dance, music, art etc. And you also has the opportunity to take advanced courses in English or Maths for instance. So that makes it possible to choose some special courses. Those might not be available at your own school though.

For instance I studied photography and had to travel to a high school nearby one afternoon a week.

[raincitygirl76]

This is a wonderful take on Kristina. Because she didn’t emerge from the womb fully-formed as the character we know now. She gradually BECAME this fiftysomething woman who is utterly consumed by her role as figurehead to a nation. I wonder how often she heard “being a princess is a privilege, not a punishment” from her parents when she was a girl. How did the king her father reply if she ever said she hadn’t asked for this? The barely suppressed rage in her voice when Wilhelm utters the same complaint to her and she says, “No one has ever, ever asked for this!” is suggestive, just to echo @amyriadfthings

Maybe Kristina too was a neurotic, unhappy, sensitive kid who wasn’t thrilled about her career choice being decided at birth by other people. And she too threw up and had panic attacks when she was nervous. Maybe she is so insistent on Wilhelm learning to control his emotions because she sees herself in her younger son, and she knows she got over this rebellious patch and moulded herself into the metaphorical Viking warrior we know.

And how much bullshit did Kristina have to endure because she was a future Queen rather than a future king? Fun fact, the real Sweden had agnatic primogeniture from 1809 (the Napoleonic era) until 1980. Meaning daughters and granddaughters of kings had zero succession rights, unlike countries which practiced male preference primogeniture (where a princess could inherit the throne if she had no surviving brothers).

Obviously Young Royals takes place in a make believe alternate Sweden with a made-up dynasty. But I wonder if Parliament in YR-Sweden switched to male preference primogeniture when Kristina was a child, when it became obvious she would not have any younger brothers. In which case she’d have no choice but to see being first in line as an honour, rather than a burden. If they changed the law just so she could inherit, perhaps on urging from her father, the king, who desperately wanted his only child to succeed him. And if she loved her dad, she wouldn’t want to disappoint him.

And I wonder if Kristina’s name became a burden to her as well. Being named after Sweden’s last Queen in her own right, the 17th century Christina. The real Christina became Queen in 1632 at the age of 5, and had a succession of regents until she was 18. She openly refused to marry, embraced androgyny in the way she dressed, and had many poorly-concealed romantic relationships with other women.

In the 17th century people struggled to define Queen Christina. In the 21st century she would probably be considered a lesbian. She finally caused the biggest scandal of her reign in 1654 when she converted to Catholicism, abdicated the throne in favour of a male cousin, and moved to Rome.

Obviously Young Royals Kristina has far less political power than her 17th century namesake. But I doubt it’s an accident Lisa Ambjorn named her after such a transgressive example of a female Swedish monarch. Our Kristina is bound up by convention and her sacred duty to the monarchy. The real Christina abandoned her duty, just as Kristina’s son threatens to abandon his duty.

So yes, our Kristina underestimates Wilhelm, underestimates his commitment to Simon, dismisses Simon as an “unfortunate romance” Wille will grow out of once he’s no longer 16 and prone to infatuation. She compares it to her own unfortunate romance around his age, a romance she doesn’t seem to recall with fondness.

She forgets that Wilhelm attached himself like a limpet to his desk when Jan-Olof ordered Malin to physically drag him out of Hillerska, and dared Kristina to survive a public scandal. Because there WOULD have been a public scandal if a classmate of Wilhelm’s had managed to get his taxpayer-funded bodyguards on video manhandling him out of Hillerska and into a waiting car on his mother’s orders.

THAT’s why Jan-Olof got Kristina on the phone. Not because he had an epiphany, but because his and Kristina’s Plan A had spectacularly failed thanks to a skinny but determined teen. Wilhelm and Simon were on the outs in 2.02, but for all their bickering, Wille refused to be parted from Simon. And thus Kristina blinked first in her stare down with her son.

You’d think 2.02 would have taught her not to underestimate her only surviving child, but it didn’t. She assumes the things she was indoctrinated in childhood to believe are things Wilhelm believes too. And he does believe them, at first, but his belief is wallpaper-thin. It doesn’t take Boris much time at all to scrape through that layer of indoctrination and ask Wille what HE wants out of life.

Kristina’s worst decision ever = assuming just because Boris is the Hillerska school psychologist, he’ll parrot the monarchical party line about the importance of secrecy and tradition. You can work for a reactionary institution and not be a reactionary yourself.

Kristina’s second worst decision = not giving August ANY punishment for posting revenge porn of her son, a minor. I think Wilhelm would have felt a little less betrayed by his mother if he’d seen August face consequences from her. Even if they were merely social consequences.

P.S. A shoutout to the casting director,for casting Pernilla August in a small but vital role. Ms August does SO much to convey Kristina’s complexity with limited screen time.

And great tags from @opheliascamander

Sometimes you´re out grocery shopping and idly browsing the frozen veg section when you suddenly remember that the queen threw up after Erik´s death when Wille said he´s always been compared to his brother and Wille threw up when he realized he´s going to have to keep being crown prince.

And you think about similar reactions to stress of parent and child and you remember the queen told Wille to take three deep breaths when he freaked out over Simon´s date and how she sends him to therapy to control his outbursts (ugh).

And you think where did it all go wrong that she can´t ever connect with her son when she´s obviously got some experience in that department. I think we meet her so far into her own history of controlling her emotions that she´s unable and mostly unwilling to connect even when Wille is outright asking her to be his mom (gah!), because oh hey, those would be more emotions she would need to allow to break through, and those walls are staying. Maybe in her mind even for Wille´s own good, to teach him how it´s done.

And there´s certainly reasons for those walls and it´s probably part self-protection and probably people telling her from a young age she needs to have them, and probably also because she´s a woman on the throne, so people would probably insist a little extra on them. .

The most honest and raw I´ve seen her in the show is the moment she throws up.

(I usually question what she´s saying to Wille or August, no matter what warm or soft tone she´s using about what the court allegedly wants her to do, how it´s not really her, and how she actually supports Wille etc, as she´s been proven to manipulate Wille (and August in S2) into doing what she thinks is best for the institution she´s the head of. The one whose survival is always the priority, as per her own words.)

She´s shown to do royal business in what looks like pyjamas after all, the most casual and private of clothes, telling us there´s no separation, ever, that she´s always the queen. She rolls her eyes at her son after ending a phone call in which a rattled Wille sits among shards of glass negotiating with her (!), after she wanted to forcibly remove him from school. She doesn´t ever truly seem torn or conflicted, except that one time she throws up.

When her emotional core literally breaks its way out of her against her will.

No wonder she completely underestimates Wille and the depth and power for change his emotions hold after he´s finally allowed some therapy (that he could have used long ago just for growing up in that institution) and experienced actual emotional growth and healing instead of using it for control like she probably has. No wonder she and the court collectively underestimate Simon and what his love, what their love and connection mean to Wille. (Looking at you, Jan-Olof, allowing Wille a moment with Simon, you fool!) It´s simply been too long behind those impenetrable walls that she can´t even see it anymore. Until her son shows her. And you wonder if he´s even breaking through to her, or if she´s just been confirmed in her fears about his emotional unruliness and will dig in deeper inside her fortress. (Another time if feels like we see some honest emotion from her is of course in S1 when she´s visibly angry as she says that nobody ever chooses the royal life, so maybe Wille can relay Boris´ message about choosing how to live your life to her? Maybe she´s not beyond Boris´ wisdom. Anyway.)

The show shines such an unforgiving light on that institution that chokes all feelings and individual freedom out of you, especially over such a long time as with the queen, but I love love love how hopeful and defiant Wille´s journey of deliberate progress is in the face of it.

And I do hope he´ll continue therapy and never allows his own walls back up once they´re down.