The Danish Royal Family has announced the arrival of a new member.
In a short statement, the Royal Court confirmed that Princess Benedikte has a fifth grandchild. The sister of Queen Margrethe is celebrating after her son, Prince Gustav, and his wife, Princess Carina, welcomed a little boy.
Their baby was born with the help of a surrogate and arrived safely on May 26th 2023 in the United States.
The little prince has been named Gustav Albrecht.
Prince Gustav and Princess Carina expect to return to their home in Germany, Schloss Berleburg, in the weeks ahead to begin their new life as a family with their son.
Prince Gustav is the only son of Princess Benedikte and Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. Following his father’s death, in 2017, he has been head of the house which is governed by semi salic primogeniture meaning that the title that Gustav now holds has to pass to a son.
However, Prince Gustav has no succession rights in Denmark. It was agreed at the time of his parents’ marriage that their children would only have a claim to the Danish throne if they lived and were educated in Denmark during their early years. It isn’t clear whether the new prince, Gustav Albrecht, would enter the Danish succession if his parents were to raise him in the country although it is unlikely they will choose that path.
There has also been no formal announcement on whether a child born with the help of a surrogate is allowed to succeed to either the German title that Prince Gustav holds or to the Danish throne.
Surrogacy is illegal in Germany while in Denmark, it can only happen as part of an altruistic arrangement in which the surrogate mother receives no direct payment for having a baby. Children born to a surrogate are usually adopted by one or both of the parents who have sought help to have a baby.
Prince Gustav, 54, and Princess Carina, 55, married in Bad Berleburg in 2022 after a relationship of almost 20 years.
They had previously been prevented from marrying by a clause in the will of Gustav’s grandfather which stipulated his descendants would lose their inheritance if they wed a commoner.
That will was made almost eighty years ago. Gustav’s grandfather served in the German army during World War Two and went missing in action. He wasn’t declared legally dead until 1969 and the birth of Prince Gustav.
However, the problems that will caused them in marrying and the impact it had on their lives hasn’t deterred Gustav and Carina. Their baby boy shares his name, Gustav Albrecht, with the grandfather who almost stopped the marriage.
