Princess Magdalena of Sweden, youngest daughter of King Carl Gustav and Silvia, turns 40 this Friday.
She has been a resident since 2018 in Miami (Florida) with her husband, Christopher O'Neill, and her three children, Leonore, Nicolás and Adrienne, she is the eighth in the line of succession to the throne of her country, but not always participates in the activities of the crown.
She can attend the annual delivery of the Nobel prizes in Stockholm, and miss, instead, the National Holiday, as happened this June 6.
Although visibility is essential to the monarchy, Magdalena, who usually shines in public, has chosen a more anonymous life in a warm part of the United States.
His absences reduced his popularity among his compatriots until in 2019 it was verified that he did not receive money from the State.
With 304,000 followers on her Instagram account, from there he makes up for the distance by posting family pictures and also his activity at the World Childhood Foundation, which fights against sexual abuse and exploitation of minors.
70% of Swedes have been in favor of the monarchy in recent years and, this April, 48% expressed their confidence in the royal family, according to the survey published by the
Aftonbladet
newspaper .
His royal expert, Jenny Alexandersson, explains that King Carl Gustaf has brought people together in times of crisis.
“It has happened with the pandemic, where he has been calm and has fostered a sense of community.
The same thing happened with the attack in 2017, when an attacker ran over several people in the center of Stockholm [there were five dead]”.
In a telephone conversation, Alexandersson adds that Princess Magdalena "does not seem to like being the center of attention and she has a certain shyness that perhaps does not fit with her charisma representing Sweden."
More information
The price of not wanting to be 'royal': outcasts with privileges
With a degree in Art History, Ethnology and Modern History from the University of Stockholm and a horse riding fan, Magdalena is one of the most photographed princesses in Europe and did not have the problems of acceptance of her partners suffered by her brothers.
Victoria, the eldest and heir to the throne, has been married since 2010 to Daniel Westling, who was her personal trainer at the gym he owned.
It was a love put to the test because it took them years to convince the kings of the worth of her son-in-law.
"Victoria is very, very popular and the family that she has formed with Daniel, with whom she has two children, is equally appreciated," continues the expert.
On her part, Carlos Felipe, the brother, married Sofía Hellqvist in 2015,
who had participated in several television programs and founded a center for orphans and victims of abuse in Africa.
They have three children, and also had to overcome the initial rejection of the monarch.
Magdalena's first formal boyfriend, however, had all the congratulations.
His name is Jonas Bergstrom, he is a lawyer "and you could clearly see that they were very much in love," says Alexandersson.
The couple had been in a relationship since 2002, and the wedding was disrupted by an alleged infidelity of the groom with a young Norwegian, according to the Swedish media.
Bergstrom chose to remain silent when asked about what had happened and later married a good friend of Magdalena's.
Pursued by cameras in and out of her country, she took refuge in New York, turning to her work at the World Childhood Foundation.
Princess Madeleine and her husband, Christopher O'Neill, with their children Leonore, Nicolas and Adrienne, at a family celebration in Sweden in August 2021. Mischa Schoemaker ( / Cordon Press)
Also known as Childhood (childhood), this NGO was founded in 1999 in Sweden by the queen consort Silvia.
It is headquartered in the country and has another in the United States.
Magdalena has made the approach to sexual abuse her own so that the children themselves learn about the respect that the integrity of their bodies deserves.
In 2019, she published a book titled
Stella and the Secret
, where a friend of the title character has "a secret."
In an interview published in the Swedish monthly magazine
Mama
, the princess thus drew attention to the abuse: “We have to be responsible as adults, and act if we see that things are going wrong, but we also have to be brave and ask the little ones if something happens.
We showed the book [co-authored with a colleague, Karini Gustafson-Teixeira, and author Marie Oskarsson] to several child psychologists, and they told us to be upfront about this.”
While recovering from sentimental disappointment, Magdalena met Christopher O'Neill, 47 years old and born in London, in New York.
Businessman with dual nationality, British and American, he has declared that his love was a crush at a dinner with mutual friends.
From the start, he renounced his titles from her marriage to preserve her professional independence, and he is part of the royal family, but not the Swedish royal house.
He doesn't always turn up for official engagements, and given that they have both lived since their marriage in Sweden, the UK and the US, there was irritation at first that Magdalena received funds from the state coffers, despite not being a member. very active royal.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Princess Madeleine of Sweden (@princess_madeleine_of_sweden)
After the popular euphoria of the wedding, held in 2013 in the chapel of the Royal Palace in Stockholm and with the bride dressed by Valentino, the scrutiny of the possible expenses of the public treasury was constant.
The image of the princess also suffered, and she became the least popular member of her family.
She also did not help the fact that her husband had to give explanations about the participation of his wife in some of his companies and the fiscal address of others.
According to the Swedish expert Alexandersson, the allocation of the royal house grew every year, and in 2019 an investigation was going to be opened into who received the money and how much it was: "The sovereign came forward, and now the state funds are only for the Kings.
For Princess Victoria and her husband, and for Prince Carl Philip and his wife.
The latter to a lesser extent.
At the same time, the king decided to withdraw the treatment of royal highnesses to the three children of Magdalena, and also to those of Prince Carlos Felipe.
By not having institutional functions, these grandchildren of the Swedish kings will be able to study outside the country.
Once the panorama is clear, when Magdalena travels to Sweden at Christmas and in the summer, "people turn up and she herself has recognized that she misses her family and it seems very important to her that her children relate to their cousins" ,
"My children are a priority and I want to be with them as much as possible during their childhood," says the princess.
"Chris is also a very present father and I think we make a good team," she adds in the same interview with
Mama
magazine .
On a more relaxed note, she acknowledges the advantages of living in Florida's sunny climate, "because they can play outside without having to wear big coats, and they don't get recognized as often."
