Naturally a very solemn occasion and it was attended by the whole Swedish Royal Family as well as the Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson, the Swedish government, international politicians and diplomats as well as others directly affected by the tsunami and the general public.
King Carl Gustav held a speech were he spoke about himself loosing his
father in a plane crash when he was a child. He said he wish he could be
like a king from the fairy tales where he could end the story with "and
so
they lived happily ever after", but he said he couldn't since he is just
a mourning human being as everybody else. Other speeches were held and
various touching poems were read.
Benny Andersson's Orkester opened up with "Tröstevisa" (Song of Solace)
after a poem written by author Barbro Lindberg. BAO also accompanied Louise
Hoffsten when she was singing 'Have a little faith in me'.
Among the other artists performing was Rickard Wolf, Maria Stellas and
Robyn.
These pictures from Euronews:
Click here to see a picture from picture agency Getty Images
Thanks to Robin Andersson, Niklas Albinsson-Collander, Ian Cole and Pieter Wever c/o ABBAMAIL
First four pictures c/o Pieter Wever (thank you).