In the summer of 1906, while he was European Mission President, Heber J. Grant made a tour of the missions. After his return to Liverpool he related this story to the elders there, and one of them wrote this account for publication in the Millennial Star:
An Audience with King Oscar II.
While attending the conference of Swedish Elders held recently in the city of Stockholm, President Grant suggested to a party of sight-seers who were with him that it would be interesting to call on his majesty King Oscar II and greet him pleasantly. All agreed to the enjoyment of such a pleasure, but the question was, how could it be accomplished? Kings are not easily approached, as they are usually hedged in by many formalities which are not easily overcome. “However, we can only try,” said President Grant. They had heard of the many gracious things which the Swedish monarch had done and his tendency at times to lay aside formality, so they took courage.
On the afternoon of July 4th the party went by tram-cr out to Rosendal Palace, the king’s summer residence, located a short distance from the city. It is a small, modest building situated amid green lawns and trees. As the party strolled up the pathway leading to the palace, they were surprised to see the lack of guards or of restrictions. People came and went along the road a few rods from the front door. Children played on the grass, and with the exception of a tent some distance away among the trees around which were a few soldiers, there was no sign of police or guards.
The party seated themselves on the benches in front of the palace, while President Grant wrote on a slip of paper in pencil a brief note addressed to his majesty, and stating that a party of fifteen Americans would like to have the pleasure of greeting him, as a pleasant remembrance of their visit to Stockholm. With this note President Grant and Elder August Carlson [president of the Swedish Mission] advanced to the front door where they were met by a watchman, to whom they introduced themselves and stated their business. They were informed that the King was engaged, and the guard thought it would be impossible for them to see him. They urged their case earnestly and said they were willing to wait until they could see him. The guard introduced them to a chamberlain who announced them to the King, asking them to await the answer.
In a few minutes he returned and said if the party would come to the palace the King would see them.
A motion from President Grant’s hand told the remainder of the party who were reclining by the roadside and talking about a “wild goose chase,” to advance. Reaching the palace, they were told to stand by the steps and the King would come out and speak to them. Immediately the tall form of his majesty appeared. He was dressed in plain black, and wore a soft black hat. He came up to within a few feet of the party, who bared their heads and greeted him.
“Good day, gentlemen,” said the king. “Are you all from Utah?”
“Yes; all of us,” was the reply.
“Are you all Mormons?” was the next query.
“We are all Mormons, your majesty.”
Elder Carlson then introduced President Grant as an Apostle of the church, whereupon the King raised his hat and looked keenly at President Grant, as if much surprised. President Grant looked the King straight in the eye, and thanked him for the high respect he had shown our party by granting them the honor of this visit.
As the King spoke in Swedish, Elder Carlson addressed him in that language, saying, “We desire to express our hearty thanks to your majesty for the liberty we have in this beautiful land to preach and spread our holy religion without being hindered.”
The King bowed and said, “Liberty! yes, that is best. I do not desire in any way to hinder any from worshiping God as their conscience leads them. Our constitution guarantees such freedom to all, and it is my desire to have that law respected. By this I do not say that I believe in your teachings. I have my belief, and you have yours, and that is as it ought to be.”
“We understand that,” said Elder Carlson, “and it gives us pleasure on this, America’s greatest day – America’s day of Independence – to have the great honor of meeting your Majesty.”
The King replied, “That is so; to-day I the 4th of July, America’s day of Liberty. Were you all born in Sweden?”
“About half of us were born in Sweden,” was the reply; “the others were born in America. We can all speak English, but only about half of us can speak Swedish.”
The King turned to Miles L. Jones, and speaking in English said to him, “You were not born in Sweden.” Elder Jones replied, “No, your Majesty.”
“Have you been in Sweden before?”
“No, your Majesty.”
President Grant then said, “This is my fourth visit to your beautiful country.” Others of the party stated that they had visited Sweden before.
“Are you all missionaries?” asked the King.
“All but four.” Brother Andelin and Sister Clark were introduced as singers, and Brother Clawson as a pianist.
The King then asked Sister Clark how she liked Sweden, and if she could speak Swedish, to which she answered that she could not speak Swedish, but she thought Sweden was a beautiful country.
“Yes, Sweden is a beautiful country,” said the King. ‘How long do you intend to stay here?”
Elder Carlson answered that two or three expected to stay for a year, and the others would leave the next day.
The King then turned to enter the palace, and said, “god be with you all. Adieu.”
The party replied, “adieu,” and departed.
Those composing the party were: Heber J. Grant, Serge F. Ballif, Alex. Nibley, Nephi Anderson, R. Eugene Allen, Miles L. Jones, August Carlson, George C. Smith, Bernard Newren, Axel A. Nylander, H.A. Andelin, Spencer Clawson, Jr., Willard Andelin, Arvilla Clark, and Arvid Nylander.
Whoa. Good for the king being so gracious. I find the idea of seeking an impromptu audience with the king because “it would be interesting” to be impertinent. Of course, I’m the type that would be annoyed with my best friend if she stopped by my house without any notice.
I was half expecting “I’m Elder Grant and this is Elder Carlson; we’re from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day…” [door slowly closes, King grumbles about the second time the Jehovah’s Witnesses have come this week].
Sort of reminds me of the time my companion and I visited the mayor of Kishiwada, Japan.
Despite having all those Swedes in the party, it sounds like they were expecting the English monarchy, and Oscar II was not like that. He was known for his tact and diplomacy, and for (usually) championing the common people, so this is an awfully wonderful story about him.
This was a fairly tense time for the monarchy, though, as they worked through the issues with establishing a separate government in Norway, and dealt with an increasingly militarized Europe.
Oscar II died the year after this meeting, and the kingdom passed to his son, Gustaf V, who refused to be coronated and never wore a crown. Gustaf managed the difficult task of keeping the country neutral through the coming decades and wars.
As a bonus, Arvilla Clark is a great-great aunt of my husband. This was not her first European tour; she was there in 1903 as well. She and Willard Andelin, both well-known singers, married the year after this trip (here’s a wedding announcement). H.A. Andelin was Willard’s brother Herman. Their parents were Swedish. I was delighted to meet some of the Andelin-Clark family a few years ago in Virginia.
I twice ran into a guy calling himself the Djiboutian ambassador to France while street contacting as a French missionary. I never tried to check into his story, but he had the demeanor and dress of someone who was more likely to be a real ambassador than someone who was somehow mentally impaired and just claiming it. Contacting him the second time and not recognizing him did become kinda embarrassing.
A delightful story, and one of true graciousness. (HokieKate: my reaction is more likely to be like yours.)
Cool story.
Great story.
My Swedish grandmother, Anna Lovisa Lindquist, is sharing this story on Facebook in Heaven.
Nephi Anderson also records this meeting in his diary. He doesn’t include any editorial remarks on being a Norwegian in favor of the dissolution of Sweden and Norway and meeting the Swedish king 😉
Oh, you remind me that I had intended to follow up on Nephi Anderson but forgot to do so. Thanks for taking care of that detail, sar!
Anderson may even have been the one to write this for the Star.
Wait, it’s *that* Nephi Anderson? The “Added Upon” guy? I had noticed the name but ruled him out since the elders were all born in Sweden or America. It really had me wondering how common the name “Nephi” was among Mormons of Scandinavian descent. I guess people can be imprecise about “oh, the non-Swedes are Americans,” though. Now I’m wondering if it would have been a political faux pas, given the recent dissolution, to have mentioned someone’s Norwegian origins to Oscar II.
Yeah, he’s THAT Nephi Anderson. He was on his way home from his second mission in the summer of 1906, after having served as associate editor for the Millennial Star. That’s why I wonder if he might have written this — it’s unsigned, as was most of what he wrote for the Star, and easily something he could have written quickly before catching the boat back to North America.
Yeah, I was wondering if Nephi Anderson had written this. There’s nothing obviously the same in the wording from my cursory comparison, but the diary doesn’t differ much from the newspaper account, in story or detail.
I think Anderson’s national and ethnic identity was fairly fluid, so he could have easily thought of himself as an American in this context, even while understanding spoken Swedish. And I imagine he wouldn’t have thought it very politic to bring up Norway 🙂