Sweden's King holds memorial for COVID victims

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife Queen Silvia attended a church ceremony to honour victims of coronavirus on Thursday.

memorial was held at chapel of Drottningholm Palace just outside Stockholm on one-year anniversary of first death of pandemic in Scandinavian nation.

Although king and queen participated, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel could not attend as y both tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in day.

royal court said in a statement that Crown Princess and her husband have mild symptoms and "are feeling well considering circumstances."

Sweden has stood out for its comparatively mild response to pandemic.

country avoided lockdowns and relied inste on citizens' sense of civic duty to control infections.

As of Thursday, more than 13,100 people h died of COVID-19 in country, far more per capita than Sweden's neighbours but lower than in larger European countries that did implement strict lockdowns or curfews.

monarch - Sweden's he of state whose role is purely ceremonial and has no political power - said in December that he believes his country h failed to protect elderly in care homes from effects of pandemic.

His comments followed conclusions by an independent commission that looked into Sweden's handling of pandemic.

It said that elderly care in Sweden has major structural shortcomings and authorities have proved unprepared and ill-equipped to meet pandemic.