This Princess Is Swapping Tiaras For Training To Help Fight COVID-19

As COVID-19’s worldwide death toll passes 156,000, people everywhere are doing their part to flatten the curve and help others however they can. One royal, though, has definitely taken the crown when it comes to assisting health care professionals. Princess Sofia of Sweden has started working as a medical assistant at a local hospital.

On Thursday, Princess Sofia announced in an Instagram post that she had undergone training and been placed in a care unit at Stockholm’s Sophiahemmet hospital. She shared a photo of her scrubs and ID tag. “Together with other newly trained colleagues, I support and relieve the care staff with various tasks, including care of patients and cleaning,” Princess Sofia wrote.

The princess, who married into the royal family in 2015, has been a royal patron of Sophiahemmet since 2016. She also holds an honorary chair position. Before marrying Prince Carl Philip, Princess Sofia worked as a model and co-founder of Project Playground, a nonprofit that provides South African children with education, sports, and arts programs, psychological support, and meals. She has no background in the medical industry. 

The hospital currently has no confirmed cases of COVID-19. But, as Princess Sofia wrote, it has been providing other emergency medical services and procedures in an attempt to take the strain off of other hospitals. Sweden has taken a controversial approach to the virus: as of now, schools, restaurants, and other public hot spots are still open. Stockholm is home to about half of the nation’s near 14,000 confirmed cases.

According to the hospital, Princess Sofia is one of 80 newly trained volunteers. “Anyone who attends this training will not have any patient-close care,” a Sophiahemmet spokesperson explained. Instead, they will help clean the facilities, disinfect tools, and assist overworked medical professionals “so that those who are trained to care can actually do it.”