This morning, Pope Francis met with Queen Silvia of Sweden, the wife of King Carl XVI Gustaf, in the Vatican.
Queen Silvia, was accompanied by her youngest daughter, Princess Madeleine of Sweden, her husband, Christopher O’Neill, and their young daughter, 14-month-old Princess Leonore.
Queen Silvia speaks Spanish fluently. Therefore, despite there being a Swedish interpreter present, the two spoke in Spanish. At one time, she worked at the Argentine Consulate in Munich.
Part of the Queen’s visit to Rome involved her personally leading her delegation to a one-day seminar on human trafficking and the exploitation of women which was being held in the Vatican’s Casina Pio VI, seat of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
In a briefing at the Holy See Press Office following the audience, journalists were informed that the Queen gave the Pope a set of prayer books used by the royal family, as well as a photographic portrait and a vase with the Royal Coat of Arms.
The Holy Father gave the Queen a copy of the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium in her native German–she was born in Heidelberg–and a pontifical medal.
