Tuesday 11 August 2009

Princess Madeleine is engaged

The Swedish Royal Court this morning officially announced the engagement of Princess Madeleine to Jonas Bergström, her boyfriend of seven years. No date or place has been set for the wedding, but according to the Royal Court it will only take place after the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling in June 2010 and the general election in September 2010. The engagement took place at Solliden Palace at Öland this weekend and the couple will meet the press there at 4 p.m. today. Both the King and the Government have given their consent, as the Constitution prescribes.

The Royal Court’s press release (in Swedish and English):
http://www.royalcourt.se/ovrigt/pressrum/pressmeddelanden/aretsarkiv/prinsessanmadeleineochjurkandjonasbergstromforlovade.5.4d52a9051226f69aa7780003025.html

The third son of Claes and Elisabeth Bergström, Jonas Claes Bergström was born in Danderyd outside Stockholm on 23 January 1979 and grew up in Djursholm, a well-to-do suburb. He has a master degree in law, graduating from the University of Stockholm in 2006, and works at the law firm Vinge in Stockholm.
Nothing has so far been said about the title issue, unlike in February when the annoucement of Crown Princess Victoria’s engagement to Daniel Westling stated clearly that he would be styled “Prince Daniel, Duke of Westrogothia”. This may mean that Jonas Bergström will not receive any title - which will seem odd if Prince Carl Philip’s future wife is made a princess.
The current King’s sisters were all downgraded from Royal Highnesses to “Princess Firstname, Mrs Lastname” when they married commoners, with the exception of Princess Birgitta, who was the only one of them to marry a prince. The big difference between them and Princess Madeleine is that the latter has succession rights - personally I would find it most natural that she remains HRH Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Duchess of Helsinga and Gestricia, but what her future husband should be known as is less obvious. It really all depends on what has been planned for the future wife of Prince Carl Philip - were she to become a princess and Daniel Westling a prince, it would be only fair that the husband of the youngest child also received that title.
The question of where they will live also remains - it has earlier been speculated about Lilla Parkudden at Djurgården in Stockholm, a property which belongs to the Crown and adjoins Parkudden, which was the summer house of Prince Carl and Princess Ingeborg 1899-1909. Another possible option could be Villa Beylon at Ulriksdal, the former home of Princess Christina, which is now empty and undergoing renovation.
It was the journalist Åsa Bönnelyche at Svensk Damtidning who first broke the news of the engagement in an article at their website yesterday:

http://svenskdam.se/2009/08/extra-extra-extra-prinsessan-madeleine-och-jonas-bergstrom-forlovade/

The Royal Court was unwilling to confirm, while the royal correspondent at the newspaper Expressen, Johan T. Lindwall, recently stated that another royal engagement in Sweden this year was “out of the question”, ignoring the fact that it has happened several times that two royal siblings have been engaged within a short span of time. Today he claims that they have been engaged for two weeks already, but his credibility has probably suffered a bit now.
(The photo above was taken by the Royal Court).

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