Queen Silvia and her daughter Princess Madeleine of Sweden have attended the World Childhood Foundation’s Thank you Gala in New York. Grandmother Silvia came to the rescue after her daughter asked for her help as her three children got sick.
Princess Madeleine, her husband Chris O’Neill and their three children recently moved to Florida so that Princess Madeleine was able to work for the World Childhood Foundation. But already in her first big event, Princess Madeleine was forced to cancel after her three children fell ill with the flue. Princess Madeleine told the Swedish newspaper Expressen: “We all got the flu. And Yes, what do you do when you are sick, and there’s a crisis? Well, then you call your mom and say: “help, what do I do now!?”
Queen Silvia immediately came to the rescue by cancelling her official engagements in Sweden and jumping on a plane to New York. In the meantime, fortunately four-year-old Leonore, three-year-old Nicolas and eight-month-old Adrienne got better so that Princess Madeleine was able to get on her plane to New York as well.
In New York, both mother and daughter attended the panel meeting “Out of the Shadows: Shining Light on Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation” at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. After the panel meeting, Queen Silvia said: “The proportion of children who are being exploited — it’s so awful. All help is needed! It’s really as UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said – that positive things are starting to happen. But many children are still exploited in the home environment, so it is at home we must begin, and we must all help each other.”
Queen Silvia added that she was very happy to see her daughter Princess Madeleine. The mother and daughter seemed to be very happy to spend some time together. Princess Madeleine praised her mother as she said: “You’ve come a long way, mom! We are here at the UNITED NATIONS now and we are talking about child abuse. This was not the case just a few years ago. Mom has accomplished this.”
Princess Madeleine also proudly talked about stepping in her mother’s footsteps: “It’s really important. I try to help mom as much as I can! I am passionate about this and now that I have children of my own, so I understand even more how vulnerable children are. It is everyone’s task – adults and parents – to do something. I’m trying to do as much as I can.”
Princess Madeleine recently moved to Florida with her family. When asked about her life on the other side of the ocean she said: “We enjoy our lives, the kids are very happy in their new schools and it works great.”
Queen Silvia also talked about her granddaughter Princess Adrienne who travelled along with her mother. Proud grandma said: “She’s not so little anymore. She has grown! But really cute and happy. But she was pretty sad when she was sick and then it is not so easy for a mother with three young children. It’s a short period of time when they are so small, unfortunately, but it’s fine. I am thankful for every second I get to spend with her and hope that I get to see the other two who are also adorable. Thankfully they are all good now!”
In the evening both Queen Silvia and Princess Madeleine spoke at the ThankYou-Gala organised by the World Childhood Foundation. Queen Silvia founded the organisation 19 years ago with the aim to give everyone a happy childhood.
