Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Princess Sofia of Sweden has decided to pitch it on the front lines, relaxing her royal duties to serve at a Stockholm hospital, where she will be supporting doctors and nurses, disinfecting instruments, and cleaning.
The Princess, a 35-year-old mother of two, will soon be volunteering at Sophiahemmet University, where she serves as the honorary chair, after completing a three-day emergency online training course, PEOPLE magazine reported.
“In the crisis we find ourselves in, the Princess wants to get involved and make a contribution as a voluntary worker to relieve the large workload of health care professionals,” said the Royal Court in a statement, Royal Central reported.
Pia Hultkrantz, spokeswoman for Sophiahemmet Hospital, said Princess Sofia will be providing support for medical professionals.
“They’re going to relieve the health care professionals during this crisis so that those who are trained to care can actually do it,” she said. “In other words, anyone who attends this training will not have any patient-close care. They can disinfect equipment, do shifts in the kitchen and cleaning. Regardless, none of the course participants will work directly with corona patients.”
As of Wednesday, Sophiahemmet Hospital has yet to have any COVID-19 patients.
According to Royal Central, Sophiahemmet Hospital has a long relationship with the Swedish Royal Family, dating back to 1884: “At that time, Queen Sophia of Sweden and Norway sponsored the nursing education that was offered at the university. Princess Sofia became Honorary Chair of the institution in 2016, following in Princess Christina’s footsteps who had been its Honorary Chairwoman since 1972.”
Other royals are pitching in, too. Exiting royal Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle delivered meals last week to families impacted by COVID-19 in Los Angeles.
“The royal duo joined Project Angel Food, an organization dedicated to providing food to those impacted by serious illness, to make two food deliveries,” Fox News reported Thursday. “The distributions took place on Easter Sunday and again on Wednesday.”
“In honor of the Easter Holiday, the Duke and Duchess spent Sunday morning volunteering with Project Angel Food by delivering meals to our clients,” said a statement from Richard Ayoub, the executive director of Project Food Angel. “And on Wednesday they quietly continued delivering meals to relieve our overworked drivers. It was their way to thank our volunteers, chefs and staff who have been working tirelessly since the COVID-19 crisis began.”
“They were extremely down to earth and genuinely interested in every single person they met,” Ayoub told PEOPLE magazine of the couple. “They engaged with our chefs, they engaged with clients — they just wanted to make sure that people felt the love and appreciation. Their goal was really to just honor our chefs and staffs and volunteers by being of service.”
“There’s obviously a great deal of love and selflessness between them. They both are individuals who want to know about others. Our clients are clients who are often forgotten. They really wanted to go visit these people,” he added.
Sweden's Princess Sofia has announced she is reducing her Royal duties so that she can volunteer at a local hospital.
She has already completed intensive training to prepare for it.
In her new role, she will be disinfecting, cleaning, and working in the kitchen. pic.twitter.com/OaaxuFoi67
— Goodable (@Goodable) April 17, 2020
Related: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Deliver Meals To Struggling Los Angeles Families