Sweden's new princess!

You all know it: Sweden has a new heir apparent, second in line to the throne, after her mother, Crown Princess Victoria. 

  • Princess Estelle, photographed at the age of four days. The photographs were taken at Haga Palace. The cardigan was knitted by The Crown Princess's grandmother Alice. Photo: Kungahuset.se.
  • Sweden has a new princess! Crown Princess Victoria gave birth to a baby girl at 4:26 a.m. on February 23. The latest addition to the Swedish royal family weighed 3280 g (7 lbs 3 oz) and measured 51 cm (20”). An emotional Prince Daniel met the press in the morning after the baby was born. He showed reporters how big his newborn daughter is and, much like all first time fathers, claimed "My feelings are right now all over the place."

  • Princess Estelle, photographed at the age of four days. Photo: Kungahuset.se.
  • During a press conference, Prince Daniel said the baby, who is already second in line to the Swedish throne, was born at Karolinska (as planned), and added: "When I left the room the little princess was sleeping on her mother's chest and they were looking very cozy. The little daughter and the crown princess are doing very well."

  • A new princess has been born in Sweden! Here, in the morning of February 23, an emotional Prince Daniel shows reporters how big his newborn daughter is.
  • About his own feelings, Prince Daniel said: “My feelings are all over the place right now!” He said he was “pretty nervous” during the birth and that he cut the baby’s umbilical cord. The king will announce the girl’s name later this week, he added.

  • The traditional Te Deum was held on February 24 at the Slottskyrkan, the church at the Stockholm Palace.
  • Dr. Lennart Nordström, who was present during the delivery, said there were no complications. The royal couple had specifically requested that they should not receive any special treatment, he said.

  • Victoria and Daniel with their new bundle of joy - already at home at Haga Palace. The name of the new princess will be revealed on Friday or Saturday. Photo: Kungahuset.se.
  • “Both the crown princess and Daniel have been adamant that they should receive the same care as everyone else,” Nordström told media in Sweden. As is custom when an heir to the throne is born, the Swedish Armed Forces celebrated the news with two 21-gun salutes at noon in Stockholm and other cities around Sweden.
    The romantic saga of the Crown Princess, who got her Prince never stops to fascinate the Swedish people.

  • On February 24 it was revealed that Victoria and Daniel’s baby girl’s name will be Estelle, with the middle names being Silvia, Ewa, Mary. A cabinet meeting was held at the Royal Palace in Stockholm at 11:15, where the new grandfather King Carl XVI Gustaf, in the presence of the government, revealed the baby’s name and the duchy she has been assigned (Östergötland).
    Not everyone felt the name of the new princess was appropriate, Dissension about Princess's name but most people in Sweden rejoiced over the new addition to the royal family. Here are some of the comments collected through Swedish media: Celebrities on the royal baby

  • Following the cabinet meeting was a Te Deum, a thanksgiving service, at Slottskyrkan where the king, the queen, prince Carl Philip, and the government were some of the guests. Also prince Daniel was present. After the service, yet another salute for the new princess, with 21 shots ringing out this time in Boden, Härnösand, Karlskrona, and Göteborg. A quick search on the name Estelle reveals that it is Latin in origin and means star, isn’t that fitting for a princess? It is possible that the baby was named after the wife of Count Folke Bernadotte. She was an American, from New York, born as Estelle Romaine Manville. There are 1217 women in Sweden with the name Estelle, and her name's day is celebrated on August 15.

  • The newborn princess is second in line to the Swedish throne, after her mother, Crown Princess Victoria, who will succeed her father, King Carl XVI Gustaf. Read a bit more on the Swedish succession, which was changed from "agnatic" in 1980: Sweden's Act of Succession