"Queen Sylvia" ditches the glass slipper for un-Cinderella royal romance

Premiering at Mipcom, the six-part drama about Queen Silvia of Sweden and King Carl XVI Gustaf swaps the fairy-tale glow for a hero who isn't actually on the throne.

Every royal romance ends up with Cinderella: the meek girl, the brave prince, the ball, and happiness.

NINE QUEEN SILVIA The new European aristocratic romance, which premiered tonight at the Mipcom international television conference, ditches fairy tales for a realistic take on an ordinary girl who finds her prince.

Produced by Pajama Pictures Berlin with Unlimited Stories of Sweden, this six-hour limited series follows the true love story between Sylvia Sommerlath, a German-Brazilian translator working at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and Sweden's Crown Prince Carl Gustaf, guest of honor at the games. Their first meeting is cut short by a terrorist attack - the Black September attacks on the Israeli team. Sylvia holds her own under pressure and the prince is beaten. But Sylvia isn't quite ready to trade her career for a crown.

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"Sylvia is not a woman who wants to be queen," director Miguel Alexander told The Hollywood Reporter. She was a very independent woman pursuing a great career and was not at all swayed by all this royal baggage. But she falls in love with a man who brings this suitcase with him.

"She was a powerhouse in her younger years, very independent," says German actress Alicia von Rietberg, star of Charité and Becoming Elizabeth, who plays Sylvia. "It was a struggle for him to adapt to the royal world and do it."

From 1970s Munich, the series continues to the couple's wedding in 1976, an event that became world-famous for its soundtrack. Swedish supergroup ABBA composed their song "Dancing Queen" as a wedding present for Queen Silvia and performed it live at a televised celebration on June 18, 1976, the night before the royal wedding.

Beta Films, which sells Queen Sylvia worldwide, tapped into the ABBA connection at Mipcom, hiring German-American singer Caro Kelly to perform a live version of "Dancing Queen" at the company's Beta Brunch sales event, celebrating the series' world premiere.

Swedish actor Edwin Andre (Vikings, Fortitude, Eddie the Eagle), who plays Carl Gustaf in the series, says Queen Silvia's "more realistic, grounded" take on the monarchy could also be a revelation to Swedes, who often look down on their King Gustaf.

"When [King] is portrayed, it's usually as a joke," Ender says. He is presented as a stupid, stupid, not so smart person. I don't think this is true. I think he takes his job very seriously. So for this role, I wanted to go in the opposite direction."

Ender points to the king's dyslexia as the root of irony. "Every time he gave a speech from a young age, he did it," she says. "People were brutalizing him in the press, and that's kind of the reason people don't take him seriously." He says the show's approach is "a lot of sympathy and ... making him as human as possible."

Ender describes the story of the two 20-year-olds as much a royal love story. At the end of the day, they're two young people sitting alone in a palace trying to figure each other out and wondering if they can go on this journey together… fear and being in love and all that. "And they're both trying to break free from their parents' expectations," adds von Rietberg.

As the show's producers are well aware, making a drama about a living king and queen is risky business. Alexander says Unlimited kept the Swedish court informed at every stage of production, but the royal family didn't ask to be involved. When asked about the show, King publicly said that making a series about them while they were still alive was "a terrible idea."

But Ender quickly dispels fears that Queen Silvia is a hatchet job. "Everyone involved has really approached this project with honesty, love and respect," he says. He calls the real-life couple "the world's most forward-thinking royals" who "really changed the monarchy in Sweden, made it more relevant and accessible."

However, the royal family will not be attending Queen Silvia's Mipcom premiere. The producers say the court was informed of the film's showing and responded with a curt "thank you and good luck". A screener was also suggested. No word yet on whether anyone is clearing a spot on the royal couch.

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