The fairies descended from the heavens and took birth as humans in form of blue blooded royal princesses around the world. They live lives of affluence and grandeur but due to their extraordinary contribution to common people lives they are seen as style icons and command immense adulation.
Over 40 nations in the world today are “monarchies,” or ruled by a single sovereign, such as a King, Queen or Emperor. Many also have princes and princesses, some of whom inherited their title from birth and some of whom gained the title through marriage. One thing they all have in common, however, is a sense of service to their people. Modern-day princesses spend most of their time helping others and raising awareness for the charities, causes and organizations that they believe in. Women Fitness presents a list of some of our most notable princesses around the world in no specific order.
1) Princess Madeleine, Sweden
If we had an eveningwear competition, Princess Madeleine would surely come in first place. The youngest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, this buxom 28-year-old blonde has been known to draw audible gasps with her precariously high hemlines and plunging necklines.
Known as “Len” to her closest friends, Princess Madeleine is now back on the market since breaking off her engagement to Jonas Bergstrom after he was caught cheating on her with a college student. Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland (Madeleine Thérèse Amelie Josephine was born on 10th June 1982, She is the youngest child and second daughter of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden. Upon her birth, she was third in line of succession to the Swedish throne. After the birth of her niece, Princess Estelle, in February 2012, she became fourth in line of succession.
Madeleine was born on 10 June 1982 at 7.05pm CEST in Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm County and is a member of the Swedish Royal Family which belongs to the House of Bernadotte. Madeleine was christened at The Royal Palace Church on 31 August 1982, her godparents being her father’s maternal cousin the Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, her maternal grandfather Walther Sommerlath, her father’s paternal cousin Princess Benedikte of Denmark, and her paternal aunt Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson.
Madeleine is fourth in line of succession to the Swedish throne (behind her sister, Crown Princess Victoria; her niece, Princess Estelle, and her brother, Prince Carl Philip). Her fourth name, Josephine, is in honour of her ancestress Josephine of Leuchtenberg, the stepgranddaughter of Napoleon I.
From 1985–1989, the Princess began her education at Västerled Parish Pre-School. In the autumn of 1989, she entered Smedslättsskolan in Bromma, attending at the junior level. For the intermediate level, the Princess proceeded to Carlssons School in Stockholm, and then went on to Enskilda Gymnasiet in Stockholm, which she attended at the senior level. She also completed upper secondary school at Enskilda, from which she graduated in 2001.
During the autumn of 2001, the Princess lived in London where she studied English. In the spring of 2002, she took a basic module in Introduction to Swedish Law and studied for the European Computer Driving Licence. In January 2003, the Princess enrolled at the Stockholm University where she began studies in art history. She took 60 Swedish academic units in this subject (two semesters). In the autumn of 2004, the Princess began a course in ethnology at the same university. She speaks English, German and Swedish fluently, and also intermediate level French. She graduated 23 January 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in art history, ethnology and modern history. During 2007, she studied child psychology at University of Stockholm.
Princess Madeleine is an enthusiastic equestrian. For many years, she owned several horses of her own (they were stabled at the Royal Mews) and also competed in showjumping under the name “Anna Svensson”. She also enjoys skiing, and is very interested in the cultural world, particularly theatre, dance and art. In recognition of her age of majority in 2001, a scholarship fund was created in her name by the Gävleborg province, which comprises her duchies of Hälsingland and Gästrikland. It encourages and supports young people involved in horse riding. In 2001, Princess Madeleine first distributed such awards as ‘Pony Rider of the Year with trainer in Gävleborg’ and ‘Gold Rider’.
The Princess is the patron of the organisation Min Stora Dag (the Swedish equivalent of Make-A-Wish Foundation, more commonly known as My Big Day, its translation into English). She is also affiliated with Europa Nostra, Carl Johan-League and the Royal Motorboat Club. In 2006, she interned for UNICEF for six months in New York City and worked for the division of Child Protective Services.
The Princess undertakes royal duties on behalf of her father and the people of Sweden. Her duties include the celebrations of Sweden’s National Day, the King’s and Crown Princess’s birthdays, the Nobel festivities, dinners and state visits with other members of the royal family. The Princess represented Sweden at the opening of the New Sweden Gallery on 5 June 2011, at the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which features an animated map of the New Sweden settlement by Sean Moir.
On 11 August 2009, the Princess announced her engagement to her boyfriend since 2002, lawyer Jonas Bergström (b. 1979). The Princess said in her engagement interview that they became engaged in Capri in early June 2009. An engagement dinner took place on the engagement day in Solliden Palace on Öland. The engagement could only take place after Bergström had been awarded the official approval of the Swedish Cabinet Regeringen and that had been communicated to her father, the King.
It had been announced in 2009 that after the wedding, Bergström was to be referred to as Duke of Hälsingland and Gästrikland to correspond with Madeleine’s title. The wedding was originally to take place in the second half of 2010 but was postponed due to “many things happening in an intense period of time”, mainly her sister Victoria’s wedding in June. Despite rumours of relationship issues, Queen Silvia stated in April 2010 that the couple was “fine” and that everything was “okay”. However, media reporting of the relationship issues escalated, and on 24 April 2010 it was announced that the wedding would not be going ahead, and the engagement was broken off. After her relationship with Bergström ended, the Princess moved to New York City, where she is working for the World Childhood Foundation, the organisation that her mother co-founded. On 25 October 2012, the Swedish Royal Court announced her engagement with the financier Christopher O’Neill.
In 2008, Madeleine was included as 12th on the list of the “The 20 Hottest Young Royals” as compiled by Forbes Magazine. In 2010, she came in 3rd of the “10 Hottest Young Royals of 2010” in a list composed by the website PopCrunch. She was listed in 2011 among CEOWORLD magazine’s Hottest Royal Women. In 2011, Princess Madeleine came in 7th place on the list of most beautiful royal women of all times conducted by BeautifulPeople.com.
Swedish honours
- Member of the Royal Order of the Seraphim
- Royal Family Order of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
- HM King Carl XVI Gustaf 50th Anniversary Medal (30 April 1996)
- Commemorative Ruby Jubilee Medal of His Majesty The King (15 September 2013)
Foreign honours
- Brazil Brazil : Grand Cross of the Order of Rio Branco (2007)
- Germany Germany : Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2003)
- Jordan Jordan : Grand Cordon of the Order of the Star of Jordan (2003)
- Latvia Latvia : Grand Officer of the Order of the Three Stars (2005)
- Luxembourg Luxembourg : Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau (04/2008)
- Malaysia Malaysia : Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (P.S.M. – 2005)
- Norway Norway : Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Olav (2005)
- Romania Romania : Grand Cross of Order of Faithful Service (2008)
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