Per and Marie to get Medal from the King of Sweden!
Written by tevensso on January 28, 2003 to Roxette.
STOCKHOLM (UPDATED) - 
This Friday, January 31, Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson will receive the King’s Medal of the Eighth Size with Royal Blue Ribbon, from His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf, the King of Sweden. The medal is to be awarded for outstanding achievements with Roxette, in Sweden as well as internationally.
While this particular medal is usually given out to athletes who have outdone themselves in any area, this year it is given to performers, actors, directors and such. The King announced the names of those who he would be bestowing medals today, which is Karl’s namesday in Sweden. In addition to Per and Marie, the creator Lasse Åberg, Princess Christina fru (Mrs.) Magnusson, and Hans-Åke Bergström, manager of the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm, will receive medals.
“It is, of course, a huge honor to receive such a distinction”, says an honored Marie Fredriksson in a press statement released by her manager. “It’s nothing one could have dreamed of when we first shared a rehearsal space in Halmstad in the ’70s.” “I am so happy”, says Per Gessle, who with his typical sense of humor added… “but my Mom is even happier!”
The ceremony will be held at 3 pm in the Royal Palace in Stockholm with Her Majesty Queen Silvia also in attendence.
Since this is indeed considered to be a great honor, Marie is expected to attend, even if the timing could have been better. Marie has been in seclusion for several months now, recovering from the operation to remove a brain tumor, and undergoing chemo and radiation therapy to prevent any further cancer.
“Marie does not want to step [from this seclusion] directly into a media circus,” explains Marie Dimberg, her manager. However, since the event is to be held inside the palace, security controls are already in place. “We’re working on making arrangements,” Dimberg reveals to TDR.
(Judith Seuma and Stellan Quist contributed to this article.)
- Royal Court of Sweden (In Swedish)
Other articles with the same topic
- Roxette live in Yekaterinburg: the set list (March 5, 2011)
- Samara was a smash (March 4, 2011)
- Roxette tour moves south to Samara, Russia (March 3, 2011)
- North America and Australia on the Roxette radar for later this year (March 2, 2011)
- Roxette live in Kazan: a promising start to the World Tour (March 1, 2011)
55 comments
Sascha said on January 28, 2003 09:49:
Fantastic! An outstanding honour for the king-couple of pop! Maybe Marie’s first public appearance?
IceAngel said on January 28, 2003 10:35:
CONGRATULATIONS PER AND MARIE!!!
I CAN’T THINK OF ANYBODY ELSE WHO DESERVES IT MORE!!
YOU ARE BOTH AN INSPIRATION! XXXX
roxlad said on January 28, 2003 10:55:
They desrve it ’cos after Abba no one else managed to be a big export as Roxette was (and hopefully will be again). They opened the doors for many Swedish artists...
LookSharp81 said on January 28, 2003 11:02:
Congratulations Marie & Per !!!
A Medal from the King of Sweden for the Kings of pop...
Thats great... you are the right persons for this.
ROX ON!
Twilight-Ghost said on January 28, 2003 14:22:
Per and Marie surely deserve that medal.
Congratulations Per and Marie!!!
Roxette-atic said on January 28, 2003 16:01:
Hands up for Marie and Per!!!! Like someone said; I wonder if Marie will show up. Hope that she feels good enought to do it.
exceland said on January 28, 2003 16:10:
WELL DONE PER AND MARIE! I LOVE YOU! YOU DESERVED IT LONG AGO! WELL DONE!
GTiG said on January 28, 2003 16:18:
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
And just to make this extra special, the ones who usually gets all the credit for opening the door for swedish music export, ABBA, didn’t get any medal... to bad for them, ’cos they to deserve one, but very good for Roxette!!!
bobi said on January 28, 2003 16:44:
congrats to Per and Marie. They must be excited and honoured to be recognised by their country in such a manner.
Cheers,
Vixzter said on January 28, 2003 17:37:
Would this be an equvilant to an OBE or whatever the British monarchy gives out?? if so will we have to call them Sir Gessle and Lady Fredriksson?? ;)
Anyways....tis cool :) someone appreciates them :)
daniel_alv said on January 28, 2003 17:46:
no.... we wont call then sir.... we don’t do that in Sweden....
Agus said on January 28, 2003 17:52:
Well... Instead of ’Per for president’, now we’ll say ’Per for Sir’ :)
purplemedusa said on January 28, 2003 18:34:
Could someone explain the “NameDay” thingy? Such a tradition is totally foreign to me.
cayenneh said on January 28, 2003 20:37:
congrats Marie & Per, this is great :)
purplemedusa, about the name day thing. it’s that there are name days for almost every typical name. like now when it is Karl’s name day, everyone who is named Karl has a name day :) tomorrow it’s someone elses name day. it’s not a big thing or anything, it’s just a tradition to celebrate name days :) this is not a very good explanation, but i hope u got it ;P ..btw mine name day is on july 2nd ;)
zeeshan said on January 28, 2003 21:44:
CONGRATLUATIONS Marie and Per!!!!!!!! You more-than deserved it. The king of sweden will award the king of pops!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Zee
Santi said on January 28, 2003 23:16:
I just saw the other day the video of Atertaget and the Royal family was there in Borgholm (the place where LTYH video was shooted) dancing to GT songs :D They seemed big fans :p
It was said Per taught one of the princess some chords on guitar :)
Anyway, I just can say: ZORIONAK MARIE eta PER!!! ;)
It sounds like a big thing :)
Ps: and it will be nice to know something about or at least spot Marie Fredriksson... finally.
Fernandinha said on January 28, 2003 23:26:
Go Marie, go Per you do deserve this and too much more!!!!
LittleSpooky said on January 29, 2003 04:00:
Congratulations to the both of you. This is an honour that you both richly deserve!! Both of you have made an impact in many people’s lives all across the globe.
I wonder if other countries could follow suit with something else as well...(?)
maRUSia said on January 29, 2003 06:35:
I’m just so happy.
Per and Marie deserved well
I love you Roxette
tevensso (moderator) said on January 29, 2003 10:55:
Yes, it is apparantly His Highness Himself who does it. :)
Jud (moderator) said on January 29, 2003 11:29:
i don’t mind if we dont get to see Marie, who cares, most important is that she is there and she gets the medal herself!! This must be such an important achievment and she can’t send somebody to get it in her name.
Hotblooded said on January 29, 2003 12:09:
Let me add my congratulations to Per & Marie. No two people deserve it more, well done!
I’m from Sydney, Australia and I would never have given a stuff about Sweden and it’s culture etc... if it wasn’t for them so they are more than worthy recipients!
:)
tove said on January 29, 2003 15:55:
how cool! they truly deserve it ..
congratulations Per and Marie !!
coyboyusa said on January 29, 2003 16:35:
imagine how uplifting this will be for marie...she’s a performer who loves music and to be acknowledged on this level in her home country ... its gonna do so much to speed along her recovery...i hope people show some restraint and just leave her be when she’s there ...papparazzi should be shot!
Michaela said on January 29, 2003 18:47:
Congratulations P&M!! A highly deserved honor.
We are all anxiously awaiting fabulous new tunes. You both are simply intoxicating!
Cheers!
-Michaela
San Francisco
UKroxer said on January 29, 2003 19:15:
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !!!!!!!!
Well done Per and Marie!! Truely deserved!
ROX ON! xx Ollie xx
I hope Marie is making steady progress, as she’s always in all of our thoughts. It would be fantastic to see her and Per claim their well earned awards!
Nati80 said on January 30, 2003 01:25:
Cogratulations Per and Marie!!! You really deserve it. This is a nice way to encourage them to keep on working. And especially to encourage Marie to go on with the treatment. I’m so glad there is someone else who appreciates their work. I LOVE YOU PER AND MARIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jud (moderator) said on January 28, 2003 09:21:
who needs Rockbjornen or Grammisar :DD
Congratulations!