Sweden plans SEK 4 million royal birthday budget exception

Sweden’s caretaker government plans to allocate SEK 4 million for Crown Princess Victoria’s 50th birthday next year, even as its proposed budget is meant to avoid new political ambitions. Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson says the allocation could be withdrawn if other parties object.

Svantesson defended the exception in an interview with SVT on Tuesday. She said the celebration mattered to many Swedes and argued that measures could proceed with agreement across all eight parliamentary parties, or a large majority.

Asked whether every party had backed it, she said she had not taken part in that discussion and assumed they would agree. Opposition would mean reconsidering the money, she said.

The government’s budget principles generally carry 2026 spending levels into 2027. They allow specified adjustments, including those needed to keep essential public functions running, while temporary programmes expire as planned.

Those principles have been discussed with all parliamentary parties. That does not establish their agreement to the birthday allocation, which remains a planned spending item rather than an approved grant.

The budget proposal is due in Parliament by 12 November. More detail on the allocation is expected when it is submitted.

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