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Sweden

Newly-appointed big brother Prince Gabriel of Sweden is strikingly similar to mum Princess Sofia in fourth birthday snap

On the 31st of August, Sweden celebrated an exciting day with Prince Gabriel celebrating his fourth birthday. 

For the occasion, the Princely Couple released a picture of him on their Instagram account, in which the birthday boy appears smiling in a striped blue and maroon shirt. The accompanying caption simply reads: “Today we celebrate our wonderful Gabriel’s 4 years,” accompanied by a red heart emoji. 

The picture received a flood of comments wishing the young Prince a happy birthday, with many remarking on the striking similarities between him and his mum, Princess Sofia, with the only exception being the hair colour. 

Prince Gabriel was born at 11:24am on the 31st of August 2017 at Danderynd Hospital in Stockholm, weighing 3,4 kilograms (or around 7.5 pounds) and measuring 49 centimetres (or about 19,29 inches). 

The little Prince received the title of Duke of Dalarna, which coincidentally is the territory where Princess Sofia’s hometown of Älvdalen is located – at Prince Gabriel’s christening, she wore Dalarna’s traditional costume. 

On 7 October 2019, King Carl XVI Gustaf issued a statement in which he declared that Prince Carl Philip’s and Princess Madeleine’s children ceased to be considered members of the Royal House, in an effort to restrict people with salaries paid by the public within the family and streamline the monarchy for the future. As a result, Prince Alexander, Prince Gabriel, Princess Leonore, Prince Nicolas and Princess Adrienne were also stripped of their Royal Highness styles but remain members of the Royal Family and will retain their titles of Prince/Princess and their dukedoms. 

As for Prince Julian, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia’s youngest child, he was born after the statement was issued, and he, therefore, never received the style of Royal Highness to begin with. He still received a duchy, and King Carl Gustaf announced that Prince Julian had received the Duchy of Halland. 

He also received lots of love from his two older brothers; with Prince Alexander already being an experienced older brother, Prince Gabriel’s fourth birthday was sure to have had some time scheduled for a bit of playtime and enjoyment of his new title of “big brother.”