Sweden preparing for royal wedding

Royal wedding preparations and what life will look like for Swedish Princess Madeleine after the wedding.

H.R.H. Princess Madeleine of Sweden. Photo by Jonas Borg/Kungahuset.se
Princess Madeleine and Chris O’Neill’s wedding is soon about to take place (June 8 in Slottskyrkan in Stockholm), and all of Sweden wonders what will she wear? Who will the couple invite? Indeed, what kind of wedding will it be? Many questions and surprisingly few answers. Nobody knows exactly what to expect: This is a family affair rather than a royal affair, since Madeleine is only number four in the order of succession to the Swedish throne, and besides it is the king himself who pays for the wedding (not the Swedish taxpayers, as in Crown Princess Victoria’s case when the check was split in half and the king payed 50%). The cost of the wedding is not known. Blogging journalist Ebba von Sydow and royal expert Roger Lundgren were invited to popular morning TV-show “Gomorron Sverige” to talk about the wedding.
It has been revealed that Chris O’Neill turned down a Swedish duke title. Only Swedish citizens can be given titles like duke and duchess, and when King Carl XVI Gustaf offered O’Neill a Swedish citizenship so that he could bestow upon him a title, O’Neill turned it down. Last weekend, the couple’s banns were published and Madeleine looked radiant in a mint green dress in a surprisingly shiny material but designed by Swedish designer Pär Engsheden (the man behind her sister Victoria’s wedding gown), which might mean Madeleine will choose Swedish design for her wedding as well.
“The interest is great in this wedding,” said Lundgren. “For instance, Chinese press is interviewing me about it.” And von Sydow added that she believes the fact that the couple resides in New York puts an international and glamorous spin on it that makes the rest of the world take notice. Still, there won’t be as much coverage from Swedish TV as during the Crown Princess wedding. Lundgren thinks the international interest might also be because Madeleine is a bit of a famous person around the world “not at least because of her beauty”, but that Swedes themselves don’t know much about her “since she’s been in the US the last couple of years, and because she doesn’t talk much to the media”. Von Sydow said there’s a hope among Swedish TV-viewers that they will get to know Chris and Madeleine a little better through this wedding. But what kind of wedding it will be, and how “personal” it will be – well, not even Lundgren or von Sydow could tell. “That’s what so exciting,” von Sydow said. “To see what they will do with it.” Von Sydow believes we can look forward to a classic wedding gown, perhaps not unlike the one Kate Middleton wore, and with lots of lace. She hopes Madeleine will use a Swedish designer. Again, the wedding will take place on June 8 and it will be shown on SVT. According to sources, the wedding will also be shown through www.svtplay.se
The soon-to-be-wed couple met with T.R.H. the King and Queen of Sweden on the recent visit to the East coast: Swedish royals visit New York
Swedish Princess Margaretha – here seen at her wedding in 1964 with then King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden – gave up her royal life when marrying British commoner John Ambler. Photo: Jan Collsiöö/SCANPIX
Life after the wedding
Another question that has come up is that of what Madeleine will do after the wedding. The Swedish court has been mumb about any future plans for the youngest princess. Will Chris O’Neill have to get used to the Swedish way of life? Perhaps not at all. It seems more likely that Princess Madeleine and Chris will remain on the other side of the Atlantic. Perhaps, as the journalists at Svensk Dam speculate, Madeleine will do what King Carl XVI Gustaf’s sister Princess Margaretha did. She married British commoner John Ambler and moved abroad. The couple first lived in London, but later settled at Chippinghurst Manor outside of Oxford. After they separated in 1994 (they never divorced and Ambler passed away in 2008), Margaretha moved to a village in Oxfordshire, outside of London. Ever since her marriage to Ambler, she has stayed away from the limelight, favoring a normal life. It all depends on how Madeleine wants to live her life. For now she is engaged in the Childhood foundation her mother Queen Silvia founded, but who nows?
H.R.H. Princess Madeleine and Mr. Christopher O'Neill. Photo: The Royal Court, Sweden. Photo: Brigitte Grenfeldt/kungahuset.se
Slottskyrkan -The Royal Chapel, The Royal Palace. Photo Alexis Daflos/Kungahuset.se
H.R.H. Princess Madeleine; Mr Christopher O’Neill. On June 8 this couple, Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Mr. Christopher O’Neill, will get married. Few details around the wedding have leaked. Photo: Ewa-Marie Rundquist/kungahuset.se