Princess Charming

Trailed by a fleet of European media straining to document her every move, Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria--young, stylish, and stylishly late--came to L.A. to experience California and instead found more of Sweden. Chauffeured in a luxury Volvo and served up princess cake at a Nobel-laureate luncheon, the 24-year-old’s 21/2 days in L.A. last week were a whirlwind of Swedish-American diplomacy.

In Los Angeles, many women may act like princesses--on screen and in real life--but Crown Princess Victoria really is one. And one day she will be queen. Still, though a celebrity among the Swedish-minded, she is not well-known by your everyday American and wears no tiara to give herself away.

“I wonder who that is,” asked Miranda Mears, 18, a visitor from Woodstock, Ga. She watched as the princess--heavily guarded and immaculately groomed in a purple pantsuit--made her way across the Getty Museum courtyard.

“Maybe she is an actress?” offered another museum visitor.

With enormous brown eyes, long dark hair and latte skin, it’s an understandable mistake.

But the young princess, who is a Very Big Deal not only in her native country but throughout Europe, stands in line to be Sweden’s first female heir to the throne. In 1979, Sweden amended its succession law to allow, in order of birth, daughters as well as sons to wear the crown. The eldest of three children born to King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria is first in line.

Her debut visit to California was to promote Swedish design and to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Nobel prize, founded in 1901 by Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel. Her jam-packed schedule was enough to keep her chauffeur driving pedal to the metal from dawn ‘til dusk. Wednesday’s itinerary included eight stops. It began at 9 a.m. with a visit to UCLA and ended at 10 p.m. after a reception at Huntington Gardens.

Throughout it all, the princess remained poised and collected but mute. Struggling to define herself in the public eye, she did not speak publicly at the events she attended. Instead, the monarch-in-training smiled, waved and chit-chatted her way across the city.

That may not be the fullest use of her two years studying political science and history at Yale--the university of choice for bright young stars living in gilded cages--but it’s good for Sweden.

When she’s not on tour, Princess Victoria’s home is in the 600-plus-room Royal Palace in Stockholm, the political and cultural center of the Northern European nation of 8.9 million--just under the population of Los Angeles County.

Like most modern royalty, the princess’s primary role is to be seen and she is a walking advertisement for her country. Not that Sweden needs any help here. The country’s nordic good looks echo the buxom blond California aesthetic. And who doesn’t own at least something from IKEA?

The princess says her real interest is in international relations and conflict resolution, but she’ll have to work to find the chance to put those interests to practical use. Sweden is a constitutional monarchy, where Social Democrats rule. Much like the House of Windsor in England, members of the Swedish royal family are figurehead rulers.

Royalty in Europe being what Hollywood is in America, the tabloids there document the Crown Princess’ every move with Lady Di enthusiasm. And her recent visit to California was no exception.

Throughout the day reporters and photographers were lurking around every corner and along every walkway. They were at the Consulate in Westwood, at Frank Gehry’s office in Santa Monica, at the Pasadena Art College of Design. And of course they were at a reception for 500 Swedes and Swedish Americans at the Huntington Gardens. Most who attended were there to see the princess, who, in Cinderella fashion, was running late.

When the princess, pretty in pink, took the stage at the Huntington, attendee Kelsey Berglund, 11, of Woodland Hills pressed to the front of the crowd with her camera. Excitedly bouncing on the balls of her feet, Kelsey, a first-generation Swedish American, snapped as many princess pictures as she could, even though a post blocked her view.

Kelsey, dressed like a princess herself--in a burgundy gown, her light brown hair held in jeweled bobby pins--was in awe.

“Oh, my gosh. I like her so much. She’s kind and generous. She’s just perfect!” Kelsey said, breathless and wide-eyed. “Most people children look up to these days aren’t good role models. I could look up to a singer, but [the princess] will last longer.”

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The princess is acutely aware of her role as role model--and feeling the pressure. The most difficult part of her job, she says, is “trying to live up to people’s expectations. People put pressure on you, but above all you put pressure on yourself.”

The stress of trying to be all things to all people contributed to an eating disorder that was widely reported in the European press in 1997. Although she has fully recovered from anorexia, the stresses of living in the public eye continue.

She says she’s better able to cope these days, but, does she feel the pressure of her impending queendom?

“Absolutely,” she says.

She is often on a tight schedule, one that is determined months in advance and accessible to the public. The pace can be grueling and often leaves her fatigued--she came from Stockholm to Los Angeles via Tokyo, where she spent two weeks making the rounds.

“It’s a weird, pretty silly tiredness because you get so exhausted from what you feel you do is nothing,” the princess said during an interview. “It’s just the fact that you’re concentrating the whole time that exhausts you.”

She says she never understood why her parents were so tired when they came home at night until she started keeping the same sort of schedule. “You feel so watched in a role like this and you don’t want to do anything wrong. And there are no written rules for how to behave. So I’m just very blessed to have my parents to watch.”

Thursday. Another day, another outfit, another day filled with polite laughs and idle chatter. Dressed in a camel-colored skirt suit, the princess started her day with a trip to Universal Studios, then attended a genius meet-and-greet with Nobel laureates at the California Science Center. That evening, the last event of her day and her trip to L.A., she was the guest of honor for a Swedish design exhibition at Lampa & Mobler--a Beverly Boulevard boutique with arty lamps and furniture.

Stacks of flat-screened TVs showed videos by Swedish film directors, and gaggles of fabulous and funky girls worked the room. Celebrities with Swedish connections--Will Ferrell, Maud Adams--were also there, but the princess was definitely the star even if, again, she was running late. Fortunately, there was plenty of Absolut vodka on hand to calm the masses.

The princess arrived wearing a sleek red outfit. Interior designer Demitri Sgourakis made a beeline for the still-single princess as soon as she walked through the door.

“How often does a guy get to meet a real princess?”

Good point.

Unfortunately for Sgourakis, when he introduced himself, the princess did what she always does: she smiled, nodded ... and kept walking.