The European royal sweetheart finally found her own Prince Charming.
The gorgeous Swedish princess, Madeleine, breathtakingly pretty in her Valentino bridal gown. She wore a family tiara held in place with orange blossoms
For the past years, since I saw her pretty face in a royal magazine cover, I became very delighted with Sweden's young princess, Madeleine. She is stunning and glamorous and has this cute pair of lovely dimples that made her even more enchanting when she smile. The Princess is also a direct descendant of Queen Victoria of England through her great grandmother, Princess Margarita of Connaught. When she was still a young girl she was heavily touted as the suitable future bride of Britain's Prince William.
Prior to William's birth in 1982, marrying a commoner with no aristocratic background among the first in line to the British throne was downright inconceivable (the very reason why Prince Charles was discouraged by his great uncle, Lord Louie Mountbatten--the maternal uncle of his father, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh---from pursuing his romance with the former Camilla Shand), so the press and even royalists looked for someone in the elite circle of aristocracy that can be considered as a perfect bride for the handsome Prince, and they seemed found an ideal candidate, Princess Madeleine, she is not only royal by birth but also a direct descendant of Queen Victoria.
But due to distance and maybe lack of opportunity to introduce/meet them, the touted romance fizzled and was not realized and the two royals traversed a different destiny eventually. And as a result of being too free to choose a spouse (disregarding tradition and royal protocol) William fell in love with a commoner. And so Madeleine.
The beautiful Princess wed her American financier boyfriend, Chris O'Neil. Photo by Getty Images from the Daily Mail UK
At thechurch ceremony. Photo from EPA from the Daily Mail UK
Her white blooms bridal bouquet perfectly defined her wedding theme: Summer Meadow
Sealed with a Kiss!
I always thought Princess Madeleine one of the prettiest female royals in the European royalty next to Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark. She is a lot prettier than her older sister, Princess Victoria, who is destined to become the first female monarch of Sweden. So I often wished that she will be ended up with someone from the royal circle. But just like Prince William, the inability to meet royals and the short supply of royal spouses not to mention the faded protocol of following the ancient tradition of marrying only fellow royals, pushed Madeleine to exercise her free will and chose an "outsider".
The couple rode in a horse drawn carriage after the ceremony
In 2009, the current fourth in line to the Swedish throne, was engaged to her long time boyfriend, Jason Bergstrom, and was reported to marry in the early part of 2011, but several months later, Madeleine discovered her beau had been unfaithful to her so she broke the engagement and temporarily left her home country and moved to New York to nurse a broken heart. A year later, she met a strapping Financier, Christopher O'Neil and eventually fall in love.
Early this year, their official engagement was announced and finally last June 8, 2013, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the two sealed their romance through the marriage vows witnessed by their families, dignitaries, American society figures and royals around the world.
Madeleine's mother and brother, Queen Silvia and Prince Carl Philip. Image from Reuters
Royal guests
Princess Charlene of Monaco (who attended the ceremony without her husband Prince Albert), the Earl and Countess of Wessex Prince Edward and his wife Sophie
Royal guests
Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark and her sisters-in-law Princess Tatiana and Princess Chantal Marie
The wedding took place at the Royal Chapel in Stockholm, Sweden. The Princess was very radiant and enchanting in her Valentino wedding gown as she glided down the aisle in the arm of her father, King Carl XVI Gustav. As for the rest of royal weddings in Europe, the bride and groom were transported in a horse-drawn carriage after the ceremony to the palace for the reception.
As much as the bride wanted the affair to be very simple and private, her royal status beckoned at the horizon and let the rest of the world picked up some details of the ceremony, including beautiful photos.
Britain is represented by The Earl and Countess of Wessex, Prince Edward and Sophie. The two had been Her Majesty's representatives in all royal weddings in Europe maybe because among her children it's only Prince Edward who never undergone divorce.
Other royals who graced the fairytale wedding event were HRH Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark and her brothers, Prince Phillipos, Prince Nicholaos and Prince Pavlos, sisters-in-law Tatiana and Chantal Marie, Princess Charlene of Monaco who attended without her husband, Prince Albert, Prince Frederick of Denmark and wife, Princess Mary, Prince Joachim of Denmark and wife Princess Marie, Prince Haakon of Norway and wife, Princess Mette Mariet, Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg and wife Princess Stephanie and other royalty.
It was not known if the groom would be given a royal title or if he would take the status of his wife who is also titled Duchess of Halsingland and Gastrikland, but following the tradition of the marriages of other Swedish princesses who are not direct heirs to the throne and whose husbands are commoners, Mr. O'Neil might follow suits and could not get one.
After the wedding, the couple will return to New York where the groom worked as an Investment banker and Princess Madeleine worked for World Child Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by her mother, Queen Silvia.
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