23 January 2014 – The Department of Foreign Affairs has announced that Sweden’s reigning monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf, is visiting the Philippines from January 24 to 26 as Guest of Honor at the Invitational Peace Jamboree of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines in their centenary year. This is the first visit of a Swedish monarch and Head of State of Sweden to the Philippines.
His Majesty will call on President Benigno S. Aquino III, who is the country’s Chief Scout by virtue of Republic Act 7278. Vice-President Jejomar C. Binay, concurrently the National President of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, will fête the King of Sweden for dinner together with officials of the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Scout Foundation. Vice-President Binay led the Philippine delegation to Sweden when it hosted the World Scout Jamboree in 2011.
The Swedish monarch will visit the projects of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines in Tacloban in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), and other related projects of the Swedish Government implemented through the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
His Majesty’s commitment to the Boy Scout movement has been lifelong. From being a scout himself as a young man, His Majesty has served as the Honorary Chairman of the World Scout Foundation (WSF) since 1977. The WSF raises funds for various scouting projects worldwide, including the Ticket to Life project in the Philippines.
Aside from the WSF, King Carl XVI Gustaf is actively involved in issues related to nature and the environment, personally instituting the King Carl Gustaf Environmental Competition and the “Royal Colloquium," an international environmental symposium held annually in Sweden with participants from all over the world. The King has been chairman of the Swedish branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) since 1988.
King Carl XVI Gustaf is one of the longest serving monarchs in Europe, having celebrated the 40th anniversary of his accession to the throne in 2013. Under His Majesty’s reign, the Swedish monarchy has evolved to be seen as the world’s most modern monarchy. King Carl XVI Gustaf is second cousin to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and is related to the reigning monarchs in Europe. He is married to Queen Silvia Sommerlath and has three children: Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine. END