Princess Madeleine Hits the Big 3-0

Princess Madeleine of Sweden yesterday celebrated her thirtieth birthday. There were no official celebrations to mark the milestone; the Princess chose to celebrate in private with her family and closest friends.

On Thursday June 8th, a luncheon took place at Villa Källhagen at Djurgården to celebrate the joint thirtieth birthdays of Princess Madeleine and her best friend, Louise Gottlieb (the two women have previously shared 18th and 25th birthday parties – Ms Gottlieb’s birthday is on June 1st).

Forty-five of their closest female friends were in attendance for a three-course lunch, champagne, speeches and singing. Among the guests were pregnant Emma Pernald, former girlfriend of Prince Carl Philip, and Stephanie af Klecker, the new girlfriend of Princess Madeleine’s former fiance, Jonas Bergström. Crown Princess Victoria also attended part of the luncheon, bringing along her three-month-old daughter Estelle, to the delight of the birthday girl and her friends.

A second celebration was held on Friday night for ten guests at the apartment of Ms Gottlieb’s parents in Stockholm. Chris O’Neill, having flown in from the United States, arrived with Princess Madeleine, Ms Pernald and her boyfriend, Tomas Jonson. Also in attendance – Zorro, the Princess’s beloved pooch, who was taken for a walk around the block by Mr O’Neill just after midnight.

Then yesterday, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia hosted a family lunch at Drottningholm Palace, for which Chris O’Neill was in attendance.

Princess Madeleine was born on June 10th, 1982 at Drottningholm Palace, the youngest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. She was christened Madeleine Thérèse Amélie Joséphine on August 31st that year, with Princess Christina, Mrs Magnuson, Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Mr Walter Sommerlath as her godparents.

The Princess attended the Västerled Parish Pre-School, Smedslättsskolan and Carlssons School for her education, before graduating from Enskilda Gymnasiet in 2001. In 2006, she graduated from the University of Stockholm with a Bachelor of Arts in art history, ethnology and modern history. She currently lives in New York City, where she works for her mother’s charity organisation, the World Childhood Foundation.

Filed under Sweden
Tagged Biography, Birthday, Princess Madeleine of Sweden.