Royal Profile: Princess Madeleine of Sweden, The Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland

Princess Madeleine Thérèse Amélie Joséphine of Sweden, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland was born 10 June 1982 as the youngest of the three children of King Carl XVI Gustav & Queen Silvia {Source}. She has two older siblings, two siblings-in-law, a niece and three nephews:

At her birth, she was 3rd in line for the throne of Sweden after her two older siblings {Source}. With the births of her newest nephews in 2016, she is presently 6th in line for the throne of Sweden after two siblings, a niece, and two nephews {Source}.

She was christened at The Royal Palace Church on 31 August 1982, her godparents were {Source}:

• Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (paternal 1 cousin 1x removed)
• Walther Sommerlath (maternal grandfather)
• Princess Benedikte of Denmark ( her 1st cousin 1x removed)
• Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson (paternal aunt)

As a great-great-great-great granddaughter of Queen Victoria, she is also distantly in line for the British throne {Source}. She is related to nearly every current reigning monarch:

 

• Denmark: Her father is 1st cousins with Queen Margrethe II, making her and her siblings 1st cousins once removed
• The Netherlands: Her father is Princess Beatrix's 3rd cousin, making her a 3rd cousin once removed from Princess Madeline. Same with the Luxembourg Grand Ducal family
• Liechtenstein: Her father is Prince Hans Adam II's 6th cousin, making her a 6th cousin once removed.
• Monaco: Her father is a 7th cousin of Prince Albert II, making her a 7th cousin once removed.
• United Kingdom: Her father is a 3rd cousin of Queen Elizabeth, making Madeline a third cousin once removed of the Queen. This is on both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's sides of Queen Elizabeth's family.
• Greece : Queen Anne-Marie is her first cousin 1x removed
• Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg: Princess Benedikte is her first cousin 1x removed

 

 

Like her siblings, she mostly attended local state schools in Sweden {Source}. She took a basic module in Introduction to Swedish Law and studied for the European Computer Driving Licence in spring 2002 {Source}. She attended the following schools since 1985 {Source}:

• Västerled Parish Pre-School
• Smedslättsskolan
• Carlssons School
• Enskilda Gymnasiet
• Stockholm University

As a youngster, she was an avid equestrian {Source}. She owned several horses that were housed at the Royal Mews in Sweden {Source}. She competed in show jumping under the name "Anna Svensson" for several years {Source}. In recognition of her age of majority in 2001, a scholarship fund was created in her name by the Gävleborg province, which comprises her duchies of Hälsingland and Gästrikland {Source}.  It encourages and supports young people involved in horse riding {Source}. In 2001, Princess Madeleine first distributed such awards as 'Pony Rider of the Year with trainer in Gävleborg' and 'Gold Rider {Source}'.

 

She also enjoys skiing, and is very interested in the cultural world, particularly theatre, dance and art {Source}.

 

 The young mother of three holds several honorary patronages.  She is the patron of the organisation Min Stora Dag (the Swedish equivalent of Make-A-Wish Foundation, more commonly known as My Big Day, its translation into English) {Source}.  She is also affiliated with Europa Nostra, Carl Johan-League and the Royal Motorboat Club {Source}.

 

In 2010, she moved to New York, NY USA, where she interned for UNICEF for six months in New York City and worked for the division of Child Protective Services {Source}.  She has been engaged and broke it off to Jonas Bergström in 2009 {Source}. From 2009-2013, she is resided in New York City, NY where she was working for he mother's organization, World Childhood Foundation {Source}.  In 2013, she married Christopher Paul O'Neill, and they have three children:

• Princess Leonore Lilian Maria of Sweden, Duchess of Gotland (2014)
• Prince Nicolas Paul Gustaf of Sweden, Duke of Ångermanland (2015)
• Princess Adrienne Joséphine Alice of Sweden, Duchess of Blekinge (2018)

She was included in the "The 20 Hottest Young Royals" as compiled by Forbes Magazine in 2008, at #12{Source}. Her brother was ranked at 9th and sister was ranked 7th on the same list{Source}. She has also appeared high on several other lists as well.  She came in 3rd of the "10 Hottest Young Royals of 2010" in a list composed by the website PopCrunch.  In 2011, she was among CEOWORLD magazine's Hottest Royal Women, a list which included Princess Charlene of Monaco, Princes Eugenie of York, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Charlotte Casiraghi, Princess Letizia of Asturias and Zara Philips. In 2011, she was placed on the CBS List of World's Most Beautiful Royals, that also includes: Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Grace of Monaco; Diana, Princess of Wales, Queen Rania of Jordan, Princess Margaret, Charlotte Casiraghi, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, among others{Source}

 

Besides horses, she is an avid dog lover. She had a dog named Jambo, and Jambo died in 2010.  She has a dog named Zorro now.

 

She has repeatedly been criticism for her recent absences from the public in Sweden {Source}.

A

ccording to her mother, she and he siblings all have a mild form of dyslexia, like their father.

She holds top honors from Sweden, Brazil, Germany, Jordan, Latavia, Luxembourg, Maylasisa, Norway and Romania.

 

While living in the USA, she often represents Sweden in it's foreign affairs. For example, she attended the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce Pre-Conference gala dinner with her brother in law, Prince Daniel in November 2010 {Photo}

She speaks English , Swedish, German and French.

She is active on social media, particularly on Facebook.