Monday 15 June 2015

To Madeleine, a son

And just like that the number of men in line to the throne of Sweden doubled. The birth of a son to Princess Madeleine means that her brother, newlywed Carl Philip, is no longer the only chap with a claim to the crown in their home country. Admittedly, neither of these princes is likely to get anywhere near the throne but it's a bit of bloke power in a very female monarchy.


Princess Madeleine of Sweden, mother of a prince

The princess was safely delivered of a son at 1.45pm local time with the Marshall of the Realm making the announcement not long afterwards. The baby was born less than 48 hours after his uncle, Carl Philip, married Sofia Hellqvist in Stockholm.


 A princess about to pop - Madeleine at the wedding of her brother on Saturday

The new prince, whose name is yet to be announced, is the first man to enter the line of succession since May 1979 when Carl Philip was born. Then, only chaps had dynastic rights. Now they have to play second fiddle to the older girls.


Princess Sofia of Sweden was the newest member of her country's Royal Family for less than 48 hours

He has an older sister, Leonore, who was born in New York on February 20th 2014 and their parents, Madeleine and Chris O'Neill, married in Stockholm on June 8th 2013.


Princess Leonore of Sweden on her christening day, June 8th 2014

His name hasn't been announced yet but expect Gustaf and possibly Bertil to be in there somewhere (Madeleine gave her daughter, Leonore, the middle name of Lilian after Bertil's wife). We'll probably get to see a photo of the littlest prince in the coming days but he already has his own place in history. He is the little royal boy who beefed up the male count in a very female line of succession.

No comments:

Post a Comment