Princess's honeymoon gift 'not a bribe'
Swedish anti-corruption prosecutors have said that Crown Princess Victoria’s decision to accept free use of a billionaire’s private jet for her honeymoon did not make her liable to prosecution for taking bribes.
“The Crown Princess has inherited her position and it would therefore not seem relevant to compare her duties to those of someone who had been elected or appointed to carry them out,” Chief Prosecutor Gunnar Stetler wrote in a decision released on Friday morning.
“There is no reason to believe that a crime subject to public prosecution has been committed. An investigation will therefore not be commenced,” Stetler added.
Stetler also said that no investigation would be launched into the conduct of Bertil Hult, who lent the royal couple a plane, a yacht and a house for their honeymoon. Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel flew to Tahiti on his Dassult Falcon 7X private jet, sailed on his yacht in the Pacific Ocean, and reportedly spent several weeks at his house in Colorado.
A number of complaints were made to prosecutors by members of the public, and at the beginning of August Stetler announced that he would consider whether the royal couple and Hult had a case to answer.
Hult is the billionaire founder of EF, a multinational company that organizes language-learning trips.
The Royal Court has previously dismissed criticism of the honeymoon:
“It was a private trip and a wedding present from an old friend of the Royal Family,” Ulrika Näsholm, information secretary to the Royal Family, said when the initial complaints were made public.
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“The Crown Princess has inherited her position and it would therefore not seem relevant to compare her duties to those of someone who had been elected or appointed to carry them out,” Chief Prosecutor Gunnar Stetler wrote in a decision released on Friday morning.
“There is no reason to believe that a crime subject to public prosecution has been committed. An investigation will therefore not be commenced,” Stetler added.
Stetler also said that no investigation would be launched into the conduct of Bertil Hult, who lent the royal couple a plane, a yacht and a house for their honeymoon. Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel flew to Tahiti on his Dassult Falcon 7X private jet, sailed on his yacht in the Pacific Ocean, and reportedly spent several weeks at his house in Colorado.
A number of complaints were made to prosecutors by members of the public, and at the beginning of August Stetler announced that he would consider whether the royal couple and Hult had a case to answer.
Hult is the billionaire founder of EF, a multinational company that organizes language-learning trips.
The Royal Court has previously dismissed criticism of the honeymoon:
“It was a private trip and a wedding present from an old friend of the Royal Family,” Ulrika Näsholm, information secretary to the Royal Family, said when the initial complaints were made public.
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