STOCKHOLM, May 22 (Reuters) – Sweden’s high society, from monarchs to politicians and the jet set, gathered on Tuesday in a 17th century chapel in Stockholm for the baptism of the future heir to the throne in a ceremony that has helped divert attention away from royal scandals.

Long seen as one of the world’s most egalitarian societies, Sweden has indulged in a bit of royal pomp over the last few days and blanket media coverage of the christening of Princess Estelle Silvia Ewa Mary, daughter of Crown Princess Victoria.

A select few hundred guests peered over each other’s hats to catch a glimpse of a mostly quiet Estelle as she was baptised over a 300-year-old silver font at the royal palace.

The ceremony was televised live, while newspapers featured double page spreads and blogs gossiped about hat designs and the new boyfriend of another royal princess.

“It’s a fantastic day,” Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told The Local news website outside the royal palace after flying back from a NATO summit in the United States. “I saw that a lot of Swedes were out on the streets following this.”

“I think it’s an historical day, that in this kingdom, we will actually have a new era of queens that will follow the present king.”

WELCOME RELIEF FROM SCANDALS

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian anti-Islamic fanatic Anders Behring Breivik complained on Wednesday he was being subjected to personal ridicule in court and demanded his killing of 77 people last summer be judged as a battle against immigration.

“I hope you will focus on the issue, not the person,” the 33-year-old Breivik told the court, visibly irritated and swiveling a pen in his hand.

Breivik, who killed eight people with a car bomb in Oslo on July 22 and then shot 69 at a Labour Party summer camp, went on trial on Monday.

Asked how he had changed from a teenage vandal on Oslo’s prosperous west side to a methodical killer, he said he helped found a militant group called the “Knights Templar” in 2001 and chafed at prosecution suggestions that it was largely imaginary.

“Your intention is to sow doubt whether this network existed,” he said at one point, after repeatedly objecting to the way prosecutors phrased their queries.

The original Knights Templar were a medieval brotherhood of knights that prosecuted and financed anti-Islamic crusades.

Breivik has pleaded not guilty to terrorism and murder charges on grounds of “necessity”. He called his victims “traitors” with immigrant-friendly ideas.