The secret names Carl Gustaf and Silvia of Sweden use to travel without being recognized

Late July and early August bring most royal households’ official calendars to a halt. Once the institutional season wraps up, private vacation time begins, and the real challenge becomes slipping away from the palace without drawing attention. Along with the Windsors, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden have turned staying anonymous into an art form.

Everyday nicknames and aliases

King Carl Gustaf, Queen Silvia, and their children, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl Philip, and Princess Madeleine, along with their own families, all use nicknames and aliases when booking transportation for private trips. The names aren’t exotic or flashy. They lean on inside jokes that, at the same time, sound completely ordinary.

Their go-to aliases

© Getty Images

There’s no question the fake names give Sweden’s royals a real shot at anonymity, and Carl Gustaf has used more than one over the years. Among the ones that have leaked: C. Gustafsson, Mr. Adolfsson, and Hubert Öland, a nod to one of the king’s given names, Hubertus, and to the island of Öland, where the Bernadottes spend their summers at Solliden Palace.

 That’s how they managed to stay under the radar in March 2025, when the king and queen traveled with close friends to northern Kenya. According to Expressen, they stayed at a lodge overlooking the savanna and mountains, with a safari by 4×4 among the highlights of the trip.

Crown Princess Victoria’s undercover tricks

© Pascal Le Segretain

Crown Princess Victoria has picked up a few of her parents’ habits, too. A few years back, she and her oldest daughter, 14-year-old Princess Estelle, wanted to ride an amphibious vehicle in Stockholm and showed up on the passenger list under the name Andersson. None of the onlookers waiting to board that day had any clue they were standing next to the first and second in line to the Swedish throne, along with their security detail.

A trick Harald and Sonja of Norway have used too

© Sjöberg BildbyrÃ¥/ullstein bild v

Sweden’s royals aren’t the only ones. King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway have openly admitted to traveling under fake names, according to Norwegian media. They’ve even confessed that, as newlyweds, they used forged passports on their honeymoon, registering as Tom and Eva Manstad in their search for privacy. 

Se og Hør has previously reported that Princess Märtha Louise of Norway has booked hotel rooms under the name Märtha Glücksburg, and that Princess Mette-Marit used her maiden name, Høiby, during a private trip to India. Paying only in cash is another trick royals lean on to avoid being traced.