King and Queen of Sweden pose on red carpet at ABBA voyage premiere

Members of the Swedish royal family looked glamourous tonight as they arrived at the ABBA Voyage premiere.

King Carl XVI Gustaf, 76, and his wife Queen Silvia, 78, walked the red carpet before the event opened at the ABBA arena in London.

They were joined at the event by a host of celebrities including Myleene Klass and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, while ABBA themselves also posed on the red carpet.

Queen Silvia opted for a patterned blue suit for the occasion which she paired with heels.

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, 76, and wife Queen Silvia, 78, walked the red carpet before the event opened at the ABBA arena in London

Queen Silvia opted for a blue statement suit for the outing yesterday, which she paired with dangly earrings and a colourful bag

She sported dangling earrings and a colourful clutch bag, wearing her dark hair loose around her shoulders.

The Queen completed her look with simple glowy makeup and a pop of pink lipstick.

Meanwhile, her husband opted for a smart blue suit, black and white tie and smart black shoes.

They attended tonight’s premiere ahead of ABBA’s long-awaited concert tomorrow in London as avatars of their 1970s selves.

ABBA themselves also posed on the red carpet at the premiere of their virtual concert. The ‘ABBAtars’ at the voyage concerts feature their real voices and there will be live musicians but the band will not be on stage

The 90-minute concert is to feature the quartet’s real voices and live musicians but the band will not be on stage.

Those who attend the concerts will see holograms of the Swedish popstars looking as they did at the height of their fame.  

Ahead of tonight’s premiere, Bjorn Ulvaeus, 77, said: ‘We put our hearts and souls into these avatars and they will take over now.

Concertgoers will see the ‘ABBAtars’ singing hits from the 1970s and 1980s as well as their most recent comeback album at the ‘ABBA Voyage’ show in London.  

The Swedish royals looked the part as they arrived for the premiere of the ABBA Voyage concert together at the ABBA arena in London

The reunion was announced in September last year, after the group’s singles ‘I still have faith in you’ and ‘Don’t shut me down’ were released.   

Two months later they released the 10-track album ‘Voyage’ two months later and announced plans for the high-tech concert at a specially-built London arena. 

The show will run seven days a week until early October in the purpose-built theatre ABBA Arena in east London. 

Bjorn was asked if ABBA would ever perform together again for real in concerts and said: ‘ABBA has no plans. It is what it is.’

As King Carl walked ahead of his wife on the red carpet before the ABBA Voyage premiere, she smiled behind him

It’s not the first ABBA-related event that King Carl and Queen Silvia have attended this week after they went to the Polar Music Prize ceremony yesterday at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, founded by the late Stig Anderson, manager of ABBA.

They attended the international award with Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel, as well as Prince Carl Philip.  

The award is often described as the Nobel Prize of music and celebrates two laureates, one contemporary and one classical, for significant achievements in the music industry. 

This year saw the American musician James Newell Osterberg Jr, otherwise known as Iggy Pop, 75, honoured alongside Ensemble intercontemporain, a leading contemporary music ensemble based in Paris. 

The 2022 laureates were presented with their prizes by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at the gala prize ceremony.

Queen Silvia and King Carl stood on the red carpet ahead of tonight’s event. King Carl completed his outfit with a white shirt and silver tie