Royal Profile: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden

Crown Princess Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland was born 14 July 1977, and is the eldest and oldest daughter of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. She has two younger siblings-Prince Carl Phillip (1979), and Princess Madeline (1982).

She was baptised at the Palace Church on 27 September 1977 and given the names Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée. Her godparents are King Harald V of Norway, her maternal uncle, Ralf Sommerlath, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and her aunt Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld. She was named in honor of various relatives- Her first name comes primarily from her great-great-grandmother, Victoria of Baden, the queen-consort of Sweden as wife of King Gustaf V. The same name also glorifies her (twice-over paternally) great-great-great-grandmother, Victoria of the United Kingdom. Her other names honour her great-aunt Ingrid of Denmark; her maternal grandmother, the Brazilian Alice Sommerlath (née de Toledo); and her ancestorDésirée Clary, the queen-consort of Charles XIV John and a former fiancée of Napoleon I of France.

She began attending school at Västerled Parish Pre-school from 1982-84. In the fall of 1984, she began to attend Smedslättsskolan in Bromma, where she completed her junior level. She completed her intermediate level at Ålstenskolan in Bromma and went on to pursue senior studies, following a Science and Social Studies programme, at Enskilda Gymnasiet upper secondary school in Stockholm. She graduated from upper secondary school in June 1996. She spent that summer gaining knowledge of foreign languages by taking trips to the US and Germany. During the 1996-97 academic year, The Crown Princess studied French at the Centre International D'Études Françaises at the Université Catholique de L'Ouest in Angers, France. In 1997-1998, she followed a specially designed programme in order to gain a general insight into the workings of the Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament) and the Swedish Government and began academic studies in Political Science and History at Yale University in the USA in the spring of 1998.

She has tried to keep her private life-boyfriends and a battle with Anorexia- away from the public eye. Because of this, we are only aware of two confirmed boyfriends. The first was in the mid-1990s to 2001, Daniel Collert. The second was her now-husband, Daniel Westling in 2002. As for her eating disorder, she began suffering from Anorexia around 1996, and was confirmed in 1997. She moved to the United States in early 1998 to study at Yale University and receive professional help for her disorder away from the media.

Her engagement to Daniel Westling was approved and announced by the Swedish Courts on 24 February 2009. She married Daniel Westling, who became Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland on 19 June 2010. On 17 August 2011, it was announced that she and Prince Daniel were expecting their first child in March of 2012. The new baby girl was born 23 February 2012 at 4:26am, local time. The new princess of Sweden's name and duchary was announced on 24 February 2012 by her grandfather: Her Royal Highness Princess Estelle Silvia Ewa Mary of Sweden, Duchess of Östergötland. She was probably named after Count Folke Bernadotte's American born wife Estelle Romaine Manville, both of her grandmothers (2nd and 3rd names), and her godmother,Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.

She has twelve godchildren, including four future monarchs. Many of which served as bridesmaids or pageboys at her wedding in June 2010. These children include:
  1. Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, daughter of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway.
  2. Prince Christian of Denmark, son of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark.
  3. Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, daughter of the Prince of Orange and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands.
  4. Princess Eléonore of Belgium, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Brabant.
  5. Prince Constantine-Alexios of Greece and Denmark, son of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Greece.
  6. Leopold Sommerlath, son of Victoria's cousin Patrick Sommerlath and Camilla Lundén.
  7. Diana Engsäll, daughter of Victoria's friends Andrea Brodin Engsäll and Niclas Engsäll.
  8. Ian Persson, son of Karl-Johan and Leonie Persson.
  9. Baroness Madeleine von Dincklage, daughter of Victoria's cousin Baroness Sybilla Ambler von Dincklage and Baron Cornelius von Dincklage.
  10. Vivien Sommerlath, daughter of Victoria's uncle Jörg Sommerlath and Simone Sommerlath.
  11. Giulia Sommerlath, daughter of her cousin Thomas Sommerlath and Susanne Sommerlath.
  12. Isabella Chloé Nilsson, daughter of one of her closest friends Caroline Kreuger Nilsson and Jesper Nilsson.

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