Princess Madeleine of Sweden (the youngest child of King Carl Gustuf) got engaged last year – I wrote about the engagement last October. She became engaged to a British-American named Christopher O’Neill. He was raised in the UK, but he lives and works in New York City now. While he’s rich and well-connected and well-educated, he has no title and thus, he is a commoner. And unlike Madeleine’s brother-in-law Prince Daniel (who was also a commoner), Christopher O’Neill has no need or desire for any title. Madeleine and Chris’s wedding is next month, and as the wedding date comes up quickly, her parents offered Chris a title. He has refused it.

Princess Madeleine of Sweden’s fiancé Christopher O’Neill will not be taking a royal title after they marry next month. In a press release on the couple’s website, the British-American financier declined the opportunity, and will instead retain his post as Head of Research at Noster Capital in New York. It read: ‘Mr Christopher O’Neill is and will remain a US citizen, and he intends to continue his business as before after he has married HRH Princess Madeleine.’

The couple, who are based in New York but will marry in Sweden on June 8, were pictured at the Royal Chapel in Stockholm yesterday where they were read the banns of marriage. Dressed in a mint green peplum-waisted dress by Swedish designer Pär Engsheden, Madeleine, 30, looked happy and relaxed as she and her husband-to-be went through the formalities.

For her wedding gown, however, she is believed to have chosen a Valentino creation, though details have been kept strictly under wraps.

Princess Madeleine, who is fourth in line to the Swedish throne, is a project administrator for the World Childhood Foundation, a nonprofit founded by her mother.

Just earlier this month, she and her future husband were seen hosting her parents, the King and Queen of Sweden, in New York, taking in trips to Battery Park and the Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem. Her decision to maintain her life with Mr O’Neill in New York after the wedding makes for a stark contrast with the choices of older sister, Crown Princess Victoria, 35, who married personal trainer Daniel Westling in 2010. After their marriage, he assumed the title Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland. Their daughter, Princess Estelle, was born in February 2012.

The wedding of Princess Madeleine is expected to count over 350 guests – a small gathering compared to that of her sister, which included over 1,000. The couple will marry at the Royal Chapel at 4pm, followed by a 21-gun salute. The celebrations will begin with a reception at the Royal Palace, the official residence of the bride’s parents, and concluded by a gala dinner prepared by Michelin-starred chef Mathias Dahlgren.

Princess Madeleine announced her engagement to Mr O’Neill in October last year.

In a brief video clip confirming the news, she said: ‘Chris proposed to me in New York at the start of October, and we are very happy.’

She described the proposal as ‘very romantic and intimate’ but would not reveal anything beyond that.

‘Madeleine and I have known each other for two years and I recently summoned up the courage to ask her to marry me. Thankfully she said yes,’ Mr O’Neill said in English with a British accent.

He added a few words in Swedish, saying he was trying to learn the language ‘but it is difficult.’

Mr O’Neill revealed that he had followed procedure and asked Madeline’s father, King Carl XVI Gustaf, for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Madeline’s mother, Queen Silvia, was thrilled by the news, describing Mr O’Neill as ‘a real dream-son-in-law’, according to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. In turn, the banker says he has been warmly welcomed by the Swedish royals.

‘I felt part of the family right from the very beginning,’ he said. ‘Madeleine’s family is very warm and we have a very good time when we all see each other.’

Mr O’Neill’s family is no stranger to royal connections. His German mother, Eva, is a former girlfriend of Prince Charles. The pair apparently met at a polo match and started an affair in 1986, when the British royal’s marriage to Princess Diana was starting to break down.

St James’s Palace denied that the Prince had had a romantic relationship with Eva, now 72, though she made headlines in Britain in 2003 when she invited Charles and his then-mistress Camilla to the Amadeus festival, which she organises annually in Salzburg, Austria.

When the Prince arrived, thrice-divorced Eva greeted him with a warm embrace and kiss – to the evident discomfort of Camilla, who would go on to marry Charles less than two years later. She later told the Mail that she invited him to Salzburg ‘because I know he is a classical music lover’.

[From The Mail]

Ha, that story about Chris’s mother is amazing. She sounds like a hoot. As for Madeleine’s plans to move to NYC with her husband and how he’s not taking a title… it’s fine. It’s even appropriate. Crown Princess Victoria didn’t really have that choice – her fiancé needed to take a royal title so that their children would be titled and the monarchy would live on. And from the looks of it, everyone loves Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, which means that Madeleine and their brother Carl-Phillip can pretty much do whatever they want. It’s like… say Princess Beatrice of York marries a commoner and he refuses a title. No one will get worked up about it. But it IS interesting.

PS… here’s a gorgeous photo of Princess Victoria and her daughter Princess Estelle. Estelle is adorable!

More photos of Madeleine and Chris:

Photos courtesy of WENN.