STOCKHOLM (UPDATED) - This Friday, January 31, Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson will receive the King's Medal of the Eighth Size with Royal Blue Ribbon, from His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf, the King of Sweden. The medal is to be awarded for outstanding achievements with Roxette, in Sweden as well as internationally.

  While this particular medal is usually given out to athletes who have outdone themselves in any area, this year it is given to performers, actors, directors and such. The King announced the names of those who he would be bestowing medals today, which is Karl's namesday in Sweden. In addition to Per and Marie, the creator Lasse Åberg, Princess Christina fru (Mrs.) Magnusson, and Hans-Åke Bergström, manager of the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm, will receive medals.

  "It is, of course, a huge honor to receive such a distinction", says an honored Marie Fredriksson in a press statement released by her manager. "It's nothing one could have dreamed of when we first shared a rehearsal space in Halmstad in the '70s." "I am so happy", says Per Gessle, who with his typical sense of humor added… "but my Mom is even happier!"

  The ceremony will be held at 3 pm in the Royal Palace in Stockholm with Her Majesty Queen Silvia also in attendence.

  Since this is indeed considered to be a great honor, Marie is expected to attend, even if the timing could have been better. Marie has been in seclusion for several months now, recovering from the operation to remove a brain tumor, and undergoing chemo and radiation therapy to prevent any further cancer.

  "Marie does not want to step [from this seclusion] directly into a media circus," explains Marie Dimberg, her manager. However, since the event is to be held inside the palace, security controls are already in place. "We're working on making arrangements," Dimberg reveals to TDR.

(Judith Seuma and Stellan Quist contributed to this article.)

• Royal Court of Sweden (In Swedish)