Here is a portrait of the Swedish royal family over the weekend, celebrating National Day (June 6th). Even though Sofia Hellqvist has not officially married into the family yet – the wedding is this weekend – she was still allowed to participate and wear the traditional Swedish garb. Anyway, I’ve been sort of surprised by the sparse advance coverage for this wedding. Granted, people in America care more about the British royals and I truly wasn’t expecting, like, Kate Middleton-marrying-William type of excitement, but I genuinely thought this would be a bigger story. Instead, we’re getting half-hearted propaganda from Sofia’s former boss in NYC. Yes, Sofia used to be a waitress in New York. And her boss thinks she has a beautiful smile.

Sweden is preparing for the royal wedding of the summer between Sofia Hellqvist and Prince Carl Philip on Saturday — but less than 10 years ago, Sofia was a waitress and bartender in New York. The beauty worked at Italian restaurant Serafina, on 55th Street and Broadway, from 2005 to 2007.

Restaurant co-owner Fabio Granato told Page Six, “I remember her very well because she always had the best attitude with the customers and a really beautiful smile. If I was having a bad day, all I had to do was look at her, and I would feel better because she is the type of girl who is always happy and uplifting. She has a calming effect on people.”

He added that the restaurant had stayed in touch with Sofia, and, “We’re so happy that she is getting married and going to be the princess of Sweden. She always brought so much good energy to Serafina, and I’m sure she will be great for the entire country. [Serafina co-owner] Vittorio Assaf and I both have Swedish kids, so it is a very nice coincidence that one of our past employees is the future princess of Sweden. We’re really happy for her, and she will be a beautiful princess .?.?. We are so happy for her and we wish her all the best.”

Sofia was also a yoga instructor during her time in New York, and had previously appeared on a reality show and posed in a bikini — with a python — for a Swedish magazine called Slitz.

[From Page Six]

Yoga instructor, waitress, reality show star and softcore p0rn model. Just think about this: would Prince Harry ever be “allowed” to marry someone with those job descriptions in her CV? Maybe Harry would be allowed to marry a former waitress, as long as waiting tables was done “ironically” in Ibiza during one’s gap year or something like that. But it just feels like the Swedish royal family was like, “Ugh, anything goes with this one.”

View image | gettyimages.com

Photos courtesy of Getty, Swedish royal family and WENN.