At some point, I did stop paying attention to the Swedish royal baby boom. It felt like everyone in that family was pregnant all at once. Prince Carl Philip and his wife Sofia had two sons (Prince Alexander and Prince Gabriel Carl Walther) in quick succession. Crown Princess Victoria spaced out her babies more than her siblings did – there’s a-four-year age difference between Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar (who was born March 2016). Princess Madeleine is the sibling who seems to always be pregnant though – she’s perhaps the Kourtney Kardashian of the House of Bernadotte. Madeleine and her husband Christopher O’Neill are already parents to 4-year-old Princess Leonore and 2-year-old Prince Nicholas. Well, she was pregnant again and I guess I totally forgot? She gave birth last week and they’ve finally announced the name of the little girl.
After Princess Madeleine of Sweden gave birth to a baby girl on Mar. 9, King Carl XVI Gustaf announced the child’s name during a Mar. 12 conciliation. The little girl’s name is Adrienne Josephine Alice.
The King also awarded the young royal the title of Duchess of Blekinge. Madeleine shared a picture of her two children Princess Leonore, 4, and Prince Nicolas, 2, cuddling with their new sibling via her new Instagram account.
“Leonore and Nicolas welcoming their little sister home,” the caption read.
Thoughts on the name? Adrienne feels like a very underused name these days. I grew up with so many Andreas and Andis, but I don’t think I’ve ever met an Adrienne in my generation, nor have I heard the name mentioned on baby-name wishlists. But it doesn’t feel off-the-wall – it’s a name that’s been around forever, and even as I write this, it’s growing on me.
A few more things about Madeleine – she gave birth in Sweden, not London. She and her husband spend most of their time in London, but I’ve read some speculation (on royal blogs and other places) over the years that if Madeleine still wants to have the perks of being of a Swedish princess, people expect her to spend more time in Sweden. That being said, she was apparently worried about announcing her plan to give birth in Sweden because she doesn’t want to be known as a “luxury princess” taking advantage of the Swedish healthcare system. Which is a weird criticism to lodge at a Swedish princess??? Anyway, she apparently made a big deal about how she would pay for her medical bills herself. But… it seems that Madeleine and Christopher plan to send their kids to school in London. Which is pissing off Swedish people. Hm.
Photos courtesy of Instagram, WENN.
Beautiful name for a beautiful baby
Josephine has always been one of my favourite names. Thank goodness royals don’t subscribe to one-upmanship when naming little human people.
I love the name. Adrienne (CG pronounced it Ah-drienne during the press conference) fits nicely with Leonore and Nicolas, IMO.
Her middle names run in the family:
Josephine: Chris’ grandmother, one of M’s middle names
Alice: M’s grandmother, one of Victoria’s middle names
I was kind of hoping for Lillian, but they already used it for Leonore.
I like that all of their kids have three syllable names. Good for yelling up the stairs at them when they’re driving you crazy. Lee-o-nore! Nic-o-las! Ahd-ree-enne!
The only Adrienne’s I’ve ever heard of are Rocky’s wife and Rob Kardashian’s ex ( what happened to her?)
Our version od Adrienne is Adriana and it’s been one of my favourite names since forever.
Having said that, it doesn’t fit with Lenore and Nicholas, IMO.
Madeleine was making a big deal out of it because the Swedish press is very quick to attack her and Chris for made-up reasons and the tabloids run with ridiculous stories (which, I guess is what they do for everyone.)
And it’s not so much about the “perks” of being a princess, but the fact that for her children to stay in line for the throne and justify their titles, they need to spend more time in Sweden.
I’ve also seen comments/press giving her husband a lot of grief for keeping his full time job in NYC and then a London and working-which always felt weird to me. Why wouldn’t you want her husband to work to support his family? He’s successful at what he does.
I know, right? I don’t get it. Seems Chris should be commended for being independent and not such a drag on Swedish coffers.
If they moved full-time to Sweden, the tabloids would attack them even more. They just want a whipping boy, and Madeleine and Chris are their choice. Much like Beatrice and Eugenie in the BRF.
I’d get wanting to keep the titles to be fully-fledged members of the family, do charity work, etc … but these kids have to be, what, minimum 8th-10th in line? It’s pretty unlikely they’d inherit.
I kind of want them to be playdates with the Cambridges. I always feel Kate could use a good Royal Mom friend. Ages line up too, mostly.
When Leonore was born, it was only her and Estelle, so I understand the king’s decision (based on family history) of giving her the princess title, since she was basically Estelle’s heir. But now, like you say, since the birth of Oscar, Alexander, and Gabriel, it’s a pretty sure thing that they will never inherit the throne.
That’s my read, LizB. Daniel made comments suggesting a miscarriage/s and difficulty having another child. When Leonore was born? There was talk Carl-Philip would have to remove himself from the succession to marry his girlfriend, so their kids would have been out. The line would have gone Victoria, Estelle, Madeleine, Leonore.
Plus the king is a huge misogynist who still thinks his son was robbed of his rightful place as heir. If he was going to give CP’s future kids titles, he’d have to give them to Madeleine’s kids too.
Isn’t part of the problem that Madeleine still receives payments from the taxpayer as a “working royal” and I think the services of royal protection but rarely spends time in Sweden.
Madeleine gets money from her father’s official budget for clothes and travel expenses when she does an event as a “working royal”. That’s it.
She is in Sweden numerous times during the year, which is one of the reasons they moved to London, because it’s closer than NYC.
Madeleine is so beautiful. I find her to be the most beautiful princess. It’s great that her husband didn’t want to give up his citizenship and work so he opted out for a royal title. I’ve read something similar about her kids losing their perks of being princesses and prince if they study in London.
About the name, it’s alright. Nothing special. But at least it’s not another Mary or Elizabeth.
It’ll be interesting to see the future monarchs since most of them are going to be Queens, Estelle from Sweden, Ingrid from Norway, Catharina of Netherland, Leonora of Spain.
If I recall correctly, most of the babies born to the House of Bernadotte have been in February- March corridor. I think Estelle & Leonor were born in February. I think both CP Victoria’s son & her brother’s oldest child were born in March. And now you have the recent birth last week. Maybe two or three of the latest births fall outside of that window. That’s a lot of little ones to have underfoot and under 2 feet running around😊.
Nicolas, Oscar, Alexander, Gabriel, and now Adrienne are all 2 and under. All three siblings had babies within the same year of one another!
I agree that she is just beautiful. There is a photo of a tea and princess event they held at the palace and she looks every inch the fairy tale princess mold Disney has sold us.
Congrats and I agree, I’m a world where the Royals are under the microscope more than ever with social media, I wouldn’t want to piss off the people either.
I don’t find her pretty at all if I’m honest.
I’d say that the prettiest Queens/Princesses are Rania, Letizia and the Queen of Buthan whose name escapes me.
@Lillil, the women you named are beautiful as well. Very regal and class exudes from them. Like I said, Madeleine is more Disney princess beauty. The typical image that has been sold to the little girls.
The queen of Bhutan, Jetsun Pema, is straight-up GORGEOUS.
She’s always been the prettiest, storybook born princess of her generation IMO. That might have been a problem for awhile, but after her ex cheated on her, she did a lot of maturing after she met her current husband. The Make-A-Wish tea with ailing kids always makes me smile.
She had a long run of tacky, overly tanned style when she was younger. When she went with a more classic style it really shows what a striking woman she is.
I still remember when she was a little kid, she is only a couple years younger than me, but I always loved the swedish princesses, as a kid. To see her all grown up and a mother of three, still slays me, somehow. She was a pretty kid and she is a beautiful woman.
I think when the children are older, Maddy and Chris could be extremely useful Ambassadors in UK and Europe to support any Swedish activities. It must be wonderful for the Swedish Embassy in London to have a Princess available for events etc. Any of the complaining Swedes should look at the positives of Maddy having a great, professional husband who is working. This is 2018 and it is very easy for the family to stay connected with Sweden, even if they are not on Swedish soil all the time.
It’s 2018. There should be no royalty.
I love the name adrienne! It always reminds me of the poet adrienne Rich.
Madeleine’s husband Chris is so devastatingly handsome to me. I just have to say it.
Chris is handsome to me, as well (especially when they were first married). I think his obvious love and devotion to Madeleine and the kids kicks it up a notch lol
Him crying at their wedding won over a lot of people. Until then, he was an unknown and silent entity. He’s also admitted he gets nervous/excited every time Madeleine walks into the room. In a recent interview he also said, “I’m mad about Madeleine”.
These two face incredible tabloid attacks in Sweden. Thing is, they’re doing what they should be doing – becoming private citizens. The Swedish Royal Family is facing a lot of criticism over costs, titles, and having too many working royals. Madeleine and Chris supporting themselves and living outside Sweden is the best option. In Sweden, they’d be attacked and followed even more.
She regularly posts pictures of the kids on her Facebook account, so people in Sweden can know about them and keep track of their growth. She also does it to decrease pap photos of them.
Their wedding was so lovely because their love for each other was so clear. It was beautiful and Chris turned out to be a big teddy bear.
He did! He looks grumpy in most pap shots. I suspect he’s a private person who suffers from (whatever the masculine version of) Resting Bitch Face.
I’m such a Chris sugar lol
I’ve watched an interview he did with Madeleine on a Norwegian talk show and it was the sweetest thing. They both made very good impressions.
@Kaiser, a three day wait is nothing. In Denmark, they don’t announce the royal baby names until the christening 2-3 months later.
I love Madeleine and Chris. She met Chris in NYC after I believe a long relationship with some other guy in Sweden who she announced her engagement to. I didn’t really follow her then but I guess he cheated on her? Anyways she moved to NYC right away, probably to mend her broken heart and that’s where she met Chris.
As for them getting criticism for living in London — I do understand it if they are living a taxpayer funded lifestyle to be living in London but not sure if that’s the case if Chris is working and receiving a salary. Not too sure how that works. He is the only spouse of a royal I can think of who still works and I think he should be commended for it.
It was a very long term relationship and they got engaged around the same time as Victoria and Daniel did. A model from Norway came out to the press stating he had repeatedly cheated on Madeleine with her. They tried to mantain a united front for a while because of the st00pid press, but in the end she broke off the engagement and fled to NYC. I remember feeling sorry for her at her sister’s wedding because it must have been painful for her, even if she was happy for Victoria. And then she met Chris.
Oh okay, I vaguely remember reading it had come out he had cheated on her and since it was so public since they had announced their engagement. I’m assuming the reports were real and not unsubstantiated? So no wonder she fled to NYC! I just quickly read up on her ex and seems he got married shortly after Madeleine married Chris to one of Madeleine’s childhood friends (or at least according to the article I read). How awkward.
After they met, Chris gave an anonymous $100,000 donation to the World Childhood Foundation, the anti-sex trafficking charity Queen Sylvia started and where Madeleine works. She eventually got them to tell her who had donated the money. That’s one way to make an impression!
They aren’t supported by taxpayers. Chris refused a title and supports their family through his work. Madeleine receives apanage/reimbursement for travel and clothing expenses when she does events in Sweden. This is exactly what they should be doing, and what Carl-Philip (the race driver and “designer”) and his wife should be doing instead of living off the taxpayers.
When Leonore was born in NYC, a big deal was made of that. She has dual citizenship but will only hold her title of Princess of Sweden and Duchess if by the age of 7 years old she resides in Sweden. Nicholas and Adrienne, born in Sweden, do not have this issue so maybe that’s why Madeleine chose to give birth in her country.
I don’t understand why the swedish press hate this couple so much. They live abroad because Chris is the breadwinner of the family, even if she is incredibly rich through inheritances. From what I understand she takes no public money to fund her lifestyle and only appears on national and family events to support the monarchy. She does charity work through her mother’s foundation plus other things. She’s basically moving into the direction of becoming a 100% private citizen. The same can not be said of Carl Philip and Sofia.
I don’t think it has to do with where they’re born, but how and where they are raised. To stay in succession, kids have to be educated in Sweden from 5-6 years on and be members of the official church.
Whenever Madeleine and family are in Sweden for an extended period, the kids attend preschools in Sweden. I don’ t know if that qualifies, or is just logical when you have little kids who benefit from learning at preschool while you are at work.
Ex. If CP and Sofia moved to South Africa, the kids would lose their titles and be out of the succession. These two shouldn’t be working royals anyway, but should be following Chris and Madeleine’s example.
So maybe they’re waiting for Leonore to turn 6 years old to move to Sweden. Can’t be easy for Chris given the language and, most importantly, his job. I wonder what the point would have been to accept titles for her children if Madeleine did not take into account moving back home in the near future (I’m sure she has and it might happen soon).
I think the King assigned titles, and since he was going to do it for his beloved/wrong C-P’s kids, it would have looked odd to exclude Madeleine’s. And given the situation with Carl-Philip and talk of removing him if he married his now-wife? When Leonore was born, she was looked on as Estelle’s heir/spare/backup.
They’re better off out of Sweden. The tabloids already publish all kinds of lies about Chris’s business. It would be far worse if he was trying to do business in Sweden. With Victoria having two kids now, eventually these three will become O’Neill’s, which is fine.
Should have taken the Danish RF as an example – they’re given HH titles and that’s it. As soon as they turn 18 they have to find their own path and their titles are no longer hereditary. This way CG would have kept his son in all the pomp and glory of a “robbed heir”, and given all of his grandchildren HH titles, with the exception of Victoria’s children, the only line that will actually get close to the throne.
Titles mean everything to royals so I’m not surprised he’s handing them out amongst all of his grandchildren. At least it shows some kind of equality amongst them.
I don’t like the name Adrienne (but waaayyy better than Estelle). Leonore is one of my favourite names.
I don’t get why Madeleine wants her kids to have titles. There is no need for it. Madeleine herself is “just” the third child, her oldest daughter Leonore was never going to be the spare. Carl-Philip was the spare until Oscar was born.
The O’Neill family could live an easy life in London or the USA where Chris works, but somehow Madeleine wants her kids to have titles and dukedoms which comes with moving to Sweden, duties and critics… Not worth it.
Madeleine didn’t give her kids titles, the king did. Daniel has made comments about their difficulties in having a second child. Some were looking at removing C-P from the line of succession if he married Sofia. When Leonore arrived, she was seen as the heir/spare to Estelle, so naturally she’d get a title. Strange not to give titles to the rest of Madeleine’s kids at that point.
If they choose to stay outside of Sweden, the titles are lost. Now that Victoria has two children, titles for any of the other grandchildren are just the King handing out made-up titles because he wants too. They are essentially meaningless.
Carl-Philp and Sofia should be following this example, refusing a title for Sofia, and removing themselves from the taxpayer-funding. Instead, they’re staying on the royal gravy train.
It would have been extremely strange not to give Sofia a title. It was difficult enough to get her accepted enough for them to make it down the aisle. No title would have made her look terribly illegitimate as a member of the family.
Regarding Madeleine’s children and their titles, it wasn’t just that it would look odd if The King did it for CP’s children so he did it for hers, too. Madeleine WANTED her kids to have titles. She thought it would have impacted their dynamic with their cousins for everyone else to be a prince/princess and you’re just Adrienne O’Neill.
And quite frankly, she wasn’t about to be left as the odd one out. The shoe fit because of what you mentioned previously about Estelle possibly having been an only child, etc.
@Magdalin
I don’t think it would have been “extremely strange”. Daniel got one because he is married to the future queen. Chris did not get one, so it could have flowed that Sofia also would not get one. It would have made perfect sense and fit with the reality that CP and Sofia should be slowly getting off the royal teat, just like the O’Neills.
Chris declined a title in order to keep his career and citizenship.
You don’t know what Madeleine wanted, unless you are Madeleine herself.
There are people in Sweden who mock the idea that they are supposed to call Daniel “prince” or “royal highness”, and he married the future heir. In egalitarian Sweden, no need for spouses of lower-down royals to receive titles.
Sofia could have refused a title, become Mrs. Bernadotte, and continued working with “her” foundation (which was actually founded by someone else). Nothing strange in that. Instead, the two of them chose to accept a title for her and are living full-time off the taxpayers.
Hey guys. Adrienne is an awesome name. I friggin love my name. I love that it’s uncommon but not ridiculous. I love that it’s unisex (pronunciation anyway).
Although I hope this doesn’t lead to too many people naming their kids Adrienne. Please god don’t let my name be the next “McKenzie.” 😉
i love the name adrienne. That’s my 12 year old son’s name, (Adrian) and i would have named him the same if he was a girl..