Sweden’s Princess Madeleine has announced her engagement to her banker boyfriend Christopher O’Neill.
Christopher — who is 38, British-born and US-based — proposed to Madeleine, 30, earlier this month but her father King Carl XVI Gustaf had to have the union approved by the Swedish government before the engagement could be announced.
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“Chris proposed to me in New York at the start of October and we are very happy,” Madeleine said in a video recording posted on the palace website.
“Madeleine and I have known each other for two years and I recently summoned up the courage to ask her to marry me. Thankfully she said yes,” Christopher added.
The wedding will take place next year during the Swedish summer. It is likely the couple will marry in Stockholm Cathedral, where most of the country’s royal weddings take place.
Christopher is not from an aristocratic background, but his family has a previous association with royalty — his glamorous mother Eva reportedly had an affair with Britain’s Prince Charles in 1986 while he was still married to Princess Diana.
There is also some scandal in Madeleine’s past. She was previously engaged to lawyer Jonas Bergstrom, but was forced to end the relationship after he allegedly cheated on her with a 21-year-old student at a ski resort.
She moved to New York after the split, where she met Christopher.
Madeleine is the youngest of King Carl and Queen Silvia’s three children. She is fourth in line to the throne.
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Madeleine’s older sister Crown Princess Victoria married her personal trainer Daniel Westling in 2010. The couple welcomed their first child, Princess Estelle, in February this year.
Victoria and Madeleine’s brother Prince Carl Philip is not yet married, though he is dating model Sofia Hellquist.
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