The past year has been an eventful one for the Swedish royal family. Princess Madeleine gave birth to Prince Nicolas in June, only two days after the wedding of Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia. Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel had their second child, Prince Oscar, last month. And finally, completingthe trio, Princess Sofia gave birth to a healthy baby boy last Tuesday at 18.28 local time.
The proud father, Prince Carl Philip, stepped in front of the media three hours after the birth of his son to reveal the gender, height and weight of the baby. According to Carl Philip, the newborn prince has dark hair and is a mixture of both of his parents.
His name will be revealed on Thursday by King Carl Gustaf, and according to His Majesty, there will be something “exciting” about the announcement. Possibilities include for example Erik, after Princess Sofia’s father, and Bertil, after Prince Bertil who was Prince Carl Philip’s godfather and died in 1997. It is also likely that one of the King’s names is chosen as the second or third name. The King has already been to see his fifth grandchild, but Queen Silvia is currently in New York and will be returning home tomorrow to meet the newborn.
The new prince is fifth in line to the throne, pushing his aunt Princess Madeleine to the sixth place and her children, Princess Leonore and Prince Nicolas, to the seventh and eight place. When he was born, Prince Carl Philip was first in line to the Swedish throne. However, in 1980, Sweden changed the law of succession to be gender neutral, meaning that the first-born child of the monarch will be first in line to the throne regardless of the gender. This made Crown Princess Victoria the future Queen. Her children, Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar, are second and third in line before their uncle.
