Three of the world's top news organizations snubbed Sweden's royal wedding Saturday between Crown Princess Victoria and her former personal trainer, Daniel Westling.
The Associated Press (AP), the French News Agency (AFP) and Reuters declined to cover the lavish ceremony in Stockholm because of restrictions imposed by Swedish state broadcaster SVT (Sveriges Television).
In a joint statement, the news organizations said a royal wedding is an event of historical importance and should not fall under restrictions normally applied to sports and entertainment events.
The news organizations said SVT had barred them from immediately sending video of the wedding and had imposed a 48-hour limit on its redistribution.
The Swedish Royal Court provided descriptions of the extravagant ceremony in a series of news releases that were made public, Saturday, before the wedding.
The court said the ceremony would be conducted by Archbishop Anders Wejryd, who said the groom will be known as Prince Daniel. It said a 300-member Swedish choir would pay tribute to the royal couple.
The Royal Court also said after the ceremony, the couple would travel through town in a horse-drawn carriage that was first used by Prince Gustaf Adolf and Princess Sibylia when they married in 1932.
The court says the couple's wedding banquet at the Hall of State would be a "floral extravaganza" and "one of the biggest events ever held at the facility.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
