Since his birth, Prince Daniel has suffered from kidney disease, so in 2009 he received a kidney transplant from his father Olle Westling (78). The public could only guess how bad the former fitness trainer was doing before. Until now.

This interview has it all: Prince Daniel husband of Crown Princess Victoria (46), stands the Swedish journalist Carina Bergdfeldt question and answer. In September, the Royal celebrates his 50th birthday. For this reason, the Swedish TV channel “SVT” is already showing the program “Prins Daniel 50 år” (Eng. “50 years of Prince Daniel”) tonight (29 August). The conversation is available online even earlier, BUNTE.de has listened to it in advance. And especially the passages about the illness of the prince go to the heart.

Crown Princess Victoria: Her husband was so bad before his transplant

Carina Bergfeldt wants Daniel to tell more about his operation at the time. Because his dad was a donor, they could have planned the transplant more or less perfectly, the Swedish royal then explains. He should have had dialysis (= blood purification procedure) five to six weeks before the appointment. “It’s really bad for you there,” explains the current father. “But you need them to survive.” Carina Bergfeldt bluntly investigates: Was he close to death before his surgery?

Prince Daniel of Sweden has to take medication every day

Prince Daniel vehemently denied the question. After all, there would have been dialysis. But without them, “you die,” he adds matter-of-factly. He is all the happier that he received his father’s organ fourteen years ago. He was also “very grateful” that he has never had a setback since then. And to what extent does the prince realize today that his kidney is not his own?

“I don’t notice that. But I take medicine every day to keep my kidneys healthy,” explains Daniel. Again he emphasizes how lucky he was that his father was a possible donor. “Many hundreds are queuing to get an organ.” That means enormous stress for each individual. “It’s horrible not being healthy and having to wait year in, year out for a donation. Some don’t survive the wait.” Hard but honest words. Words that are needed to convince people to become organ donors themselves

Prince Daniel is an organ donor himself

If you asked the Swedes whether they would be willing to donate an organ in an emergency, 80 to 90 percent would say yes, Daniel continues. The sad truth, however, is that in the end many are too lazy to apply for an ID – although it is “super fast”, as Prince Daniel emphasizes. One must be aware that it is much more difficult to decide about organ donation on the deathbed than well in advance. Therefore, in the interview, Prince Daniel explicitly calls for registering as a donor. He himself has already done it. And his wife? “I suppose so.”