A New Little Royal Lady: Princess Adrienne of Sweden

Mr. Christopher O'Neill/Kungahuset.se

Our newest little royal lady arrived in Sweden in the wee hours of March 9, 2018. (It was still March 8 in my part of the world, so she and I technically share a birthday!) Within hours, a photo taken by her father was released, but we had to wait for her name. Luckily, the wait was much shorter than in other countries! The princess is the seventh grandchild for King Carl Gustaf and German-Brazilian wife Queen Silvia. She is the third child of their youngest child Princess Madeleine, who married British-American businessman Christopher O'Neill in the summer of 2013. At the time of their marriage, he declined a title for himself, in order to continue his business interests. The couple currently lives in London, but they returned to Sweden for Adrienne's birth. Their oldest child Princess Leonore was born in New York City. She celebrated her fourth birthday on February 20. Their second child Prince Nicolas was born in the same hospital as little Adrienne. He will be three years old in June. The family will have returned to London well before his birthday.

Her name was formally announced by King Carl XVI Gustaf at a meeting of the Council of State on the morning of March 12. She will be known as Adrienne Josephine Alice and she has been granted the title Duchess of Blekinge. Her first name is a new name for a Swedish royal although it does exist among her distant ancestors and distant cousins. The name Josephine stretches back to the second Queen of the current reigning dynasty in Sweden. (See my post The Bernadotte Queens of Sweden.) It also among her mother's four names: Madeleine Therese Amelie Josephine. To add even another special touch, it is the first name of one of Christopher O'Neill's grandmothers. Meanwhile, Alice is the name of Queen Silvia's mother.

Like her name, her title is also a new one. Blekinge is one of the smallest provinces in Sweden and is located in the south of the country. It's population is just under 160,000. The name is derived from a Swedish nautical term that means "dead calm", so perhaps it will also give us some indication of the princess's personality. So far, she has been described as beautiful. One Swedish official even called her a cutie pie.

Princess Madeleine has regularly and generously shared photos of her children on her Facebook page. With Adrienne's arrival, she has now opened an Instagram account. The first photo was this one of the three little O'Neills together.

Instagram/Princess_Madeleine_of_Sweden