Queen Silvia Royal Drama Eyes More Seasons After Cannes Premiere

Queen Silvia was crowned in Cannes with a world premiere screening for the upcoming royal drama series. German actress Alicia von Rittberg (Call My Agent Berlin), who stars as the titular Silvia Sommerlath, and Swedish actor Edvin Endre (Vikings), who plays Crown Prince Carl Gustaf, were in town for the premiere. A grand piano was in situ in the auditorium for a live performance of Dancing Queen, the megahit that ABBA performed at a pre-wedding gala for the royal couple.

The royal romance is destined for Prime Video in German-speaking territories and the Nordics and SAT.1 in Germany. Beta Film is selling it internationally. SVT has taken a second window in Sweden.

“Royal love stories are working tremendously well,” Justus Riesenkampff, EVP Nordics & Benelux at Beta Film, told Deadline. “We’ve had a lot of classic period pieces, but people are intrigued in these modern royal stories. Queen Silvia has a lot of elements that will also resonate with the younger audiences. It is an ideal setup and also has the potential for future seasons.”

Silvia met Carl Gustaf, the Crown Prince of Sweden, when he was a guest at the ill-fated 1972 Munich Olympic Games, where Silvia was working. Season 1 focuses on the early years of their relationship, from the day they met until the eve of their marriage.

“At first glance, it’s a classical royal story; a noble person marries a commoner,” said Carsten Kelber, Producer at German label Pyjama Pictures, which produces with Sweden’s Unlimited Stories. “But in this story it is very different and there are a lot of surprises that lie within the main characters and their backgrounds,”

He added” “A lot of the usual tropes or patterns are turned upside down in this story. The genre is clear, it’s a romantic drama, but it’s also a very modern view on relationships and female empowerment.”

The royal couple remain married and a regal drama that includes many characters still alive has echoes of The Crown as well as Dutch series Máxima, which Beta also distributes. The Queen Silvia producers notified the royal family the series was happening.

Miguel Alexandre (Gran Paradiso) directs from a screenplay he penned with Lisa Hofer (Black Island) and Pauline Wolff (VAKA). As with shows that have gone before such as The Crown, the series covers real-life historic milestones, but the conversations and drama that took place behind closed doors is where the writers’ skills come into play.

Kelber said: “What happened in the car on the way to the event? What did they talk about, what was his or her take on what was happening? This is the fun thing to think about. It is, of course, fictional freedom. Our director likes to call it ‘poetic truth.’”

The setup lends itself very naturally to a big European drama involving producers from Sweden and Germany. “The story takes place both in Germany and Sweden and they move back and forth and there are both Swedish and German characters in it; it’s very seamlessly a [Swedish-German] coproduction,” said Frida Wallman from Unlimited Stories.

Given Season 1 takes in four years of a relationship that has lasted over half a century, the hope is for multiple seasons. “I would hope for many,” Kelber said. “Each phase of this marriage is so interesting.”