Local residents are preparing for a royal visit this weekend. A delegation of senior diplomats from Sweden and Finland will visit Philadelphia, Chester and Wilmington this weekend to celebrate the 375th Anniversary of the first permanent European settlement in the Delaware Valley. Among those visitors are King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden.
The King and Queen will first stop by at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philly Saturday morning. They will then travel to Mother’s Arc in Chester before heading to Wilmington for several events in the afternoon and night.
The King and Queen will travel on the Kalmar Nyckel, a replica of the original vessel that brought the first Swedish and Finnish settlers to the Delaware Valley. The colony they settled in would ultimately become the city of Wilmington. Volunteers have been spending 10 to 12 hours a day working on the ship.
“This whole shipyard has been abuzz for the last three weeks in preparations for this jubilee day,” said Luke Snyder of the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation.
Snyder is chief mate on board the ship.
“If you would have asked me if I would be a chief mate on board of a tall ship that sails like it would’ve in the 17th Century and then be on board with royalty, I would have never dreamed this,” said Snyder.
CLICK HERE to view the full list of events during the royal visit.
