Crown Princess Victoria and her family visited Gripsholm Palace in Mariefred ahead of Sweden’s National Day on Tuesday, 6 June 2023.

2023 marks the 500th Anniversary of King Gustav Vasa, or Gustav I, who was elected on 6 June 1523, which ended the Kalmar Union and the beginning of Swedish independence.

The Swedish Royal Court released the photos the day before, with Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Estelle wearing traditional national costumes.

Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel will host the traditional Open Day at the Royal Palace from 10.00 am, with Prince Carl Philip present during the Changing of the Guard at 11.30 am.

Gripsholm Castle

Gripsholm, known as Gustaf Vasa’s castle, was first built during the second half of the 14th Century and donated to a Cartesian Monastery in 1498.

However, the monastery was dissolved during the Swedish Reformation in 1527, so Gustaf Vasa began rebuilding Gripsholm in 1537 as a royal residence and part of a fortified defence system across Sweden during a turbulent time.

Gripsholm became a castle fit for a Renaissance King and Gustav Vasa’s official residence which still has the best-preserved architecture and furnishing from his reign.

Gustav Vasa and his second Queen Margaret Leijonhufvud raised their large brood of children at Gripsholm and, with its rural setting, it became a favourite family home.

He ensured his children received the best education possible with his sons learning Latin, German and French, geography, rhetoric, theology and history, as well as the manly arts of horsemanship and

Out of eleven children, only nine survived to adulthood, including King John (reigned 20 December 1537 – 17 November 1592) and King Karl IX (reign 4 October 1550 – 30 October 1611).

Gustav Vasa’s eldest son, from his first marriage with Katarina of Saxe-Lauenburg, King Eric XIV ascended the throne after his death and reigned from 13 December 1533 until he was deposed by his brother John on 26 February 1577.