Hard working Victoria gets her prince trained

The Local always thought that Crown Princess Victoria looked like a jolly good egg, and this week she proved the point as she put in fourteen hour days during a trip to Hungary. But having such a diligent girlfriend seems to be putting the pressure on her boyfriend, Daniel Westling, and this week it was rumoured that he had started ‘prince training’.

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This week, Victoria was doing her bit for Swedish trade with Hungary. The princess was visiting Budapest with Swedish trade minister Leif Pagrotsky, and even this Social Democrat politician was smitten:

“She is an enormous resource for Sweden,” he gushed to Expressen, adding that the princess is “ambitious, sets about her work with great resolve, and gives a good impression.”

And if heaping flattery on other countries is the essence of diplomacy, Victoria certainly seemed to carry it off with aplomb. Her fourteen hour programme on her first day in Budapest appears to have been spent praising Hungary’s charms.

“I wish I could spend longer here and see more of this beautiful country, but I’ll have to view this as a taster,” she said smoothly, as she urged Hungarians to get a taster of the Swedish food that she was there to promote.

But keeping the flag flying abroad is more complicated than it looks, and this week Aftonbladet reported that Victoria’s boyfriend, Daniel Westling, had started lessons to turn him into royal material.

The paper quoted a source saying that Daniel, who owns a gym in Stockholm, had started English lessons and other special courses to prepare for life as consort to Sweden’s future queen. Aftonbladet did not specify exactly what, apart from English, Daniel was studying.

It was also reported that Daniel has already told his family in Ockelbo, north of Stockholm, that he will marry Victoria. This was backed up by ‘friends’ of the couple, who told Aftonbladet that they were ‘completely convinced’ that there would be a wedding.

“She is completely prepared for it,” said one, adding that “Daniel is a great guy, with both feet on the ground.”