“I’ve never felt so over 70 before.” That says the Swedish queen Silvia in a podcast interview. Together with King Carl Gustaf, the now 76-year-old monarch has been quarantined in recent months because of the corona virus. This self-chosen isolation made Silvia think a lot about the vulnerability and loneliness of the elderly.
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“Before the outbreak of the coronavirus, I had so much to do, to organize, to visit and to give speeches and so on,” the queen looks back at the beginning of this year. “But suddenly the king and I were quarantined in Stenhammar for several months.”
Silvia says she found it scary that so many elderly people have died from the virus. “And I was sad to see that all the elderly who died became just numbers in the statistics. Old people were alone with their fear and pain. ” As a result, the queen was also confronted with the facts about her own situation and that of her husband. “You can easily imagine the pain that lonely and isolated elderly people feel. I understand that the authorities meant it all well, but people have suffered. ” The queen did not want to answer the question whether the authorities have responded well to the corona crisis.
Silvia made her statements in an Alzheimer Life podcast. The royal is very concerned about the fate of people who suffer from this disease. Her mother also suffered from Alzheimer’s. She thinks it is important that a lot of attention is paid to the disease. “I think anyone can get Alzheimer’s,” she says. “If I get the disease myself, I hope I get support from my environment and I hope that I will be surrounded by people who understand what the disease is doing.” Silvia advocates good care facilities for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s. Above all, she emphasizes the importance of people being supported by their loved ones.
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