Just like Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, Sweden’s Sofia and Carl-Philip did a low-key first-photo of their newborn son at the hospital. The Swedish royal court published the hospital photo with a glimpse of the newest member of the Swedish royal family. Sofia looks tired but happy. Meanwhile, they’ve finally released the name too! Thank God for Swedish royals, they always release the name pretty quickly, unlike the back-and-forth drama with William and Kate over their babies’ names. So, Carl-Philip and Sofia have named their boy… Alexander!
Just two days after welcoming their first child, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia have revealed the name of the newborn baby boy: Prince Alexander Erik Bertil Hubertus. Sweden’s youngest royal also has been granted the title Duke of Södermanland, the royal palace has confirmed.
“It’s an unexpected choice,” royal nomenclature expert Herman Lindqvist told the Swedish outlet SVT. “No Swedish royals have been called Alexander, although during the 1800s, some princes had it as one of their names.”
Prince Alexander’s grandfather King Carl XVI Gustaf announced the newborn prince’s name at a specially convened cabinet meeting on Thursday. His birth was celebrated with a 21-gun salute from Skeppsholmen in Stockholm. Family members and selected dignitaries close to the ruling house of Bernadotte are expected to attend a traditional thanksgiving service on Friday in the Royal Palace’s Chapel to celebrate the birth of the new prince.
Prince Alexander, who is fifth in line to the nation’s throne, was born at 6:25 p.m. on April 19. He and his parents have already left Danderyd Hospital to return to their new home in the grounds of Stockholm’s Royal Palace.
I like the name Alexander, and did you know that “Sacha/Sasha” is a common nickname for Alexander, especially in Russia and Russian-influenced parts of the world? Andrea Casiraghi named his son Sacha too. Both Sacha and Alexander are increasingly popular baby-names and I’m totally fine with that. I do think it’s interesting that Sofia and Carl-Philip didn’t chose a first name from within the Swedish royal family, but then again… it’s not like Carl-Philip is going to be king or anything. He could have named the baby Khal Drogo for all anyone cares!
Photos courtesy of PCN, Fame/Flynet, Swedish royal court.
Prince Carl said that he hadn’t stopped crying happy tears since his son’s been born. As it should be.
Oh, don’t tell me that. It makes me melt just to see any pictures of these two together at all, so hearing about Prince CP’s sensitive side has now reduced me to a complete puddle. I think they’re both gorgeous and I adore them as a couple. My favorite royals, and possibly my favorite high-profile couple in general. Congrats to this sweet little family.
I so like these couple! Congrats! And beautiful name too!
I love the name.
I thought everyone knew Sasha is a nickname for Alexander. Is it a Russian thing or an Orthodox thing?
It’s a Russian / Slavic thing. We call my son Alex or Alex and he only gets called the full name when in trouble (as in first name, middle name family name, you come down here immediately!)
I’m Slavic too, and here Aleksandar is nicknamed Aco. Sasa is more common in Serbia so I thought it might be an Orthodox thing. Here Sasa is a standalone unisex name.
Aleksandar and Aleksandra are viewed as Orthodox names.
Slavic doesn’t equal Russian or Russian-influenced, so that annoyed me a bit in the text 😀
In Sweden Alexander’s are typically called Alex for short. We aren’t Russian-influenced here (at least not language wised). I had never heard of the Sasha nickname before Andrea Casiraghi’s son.
Lovely little family, god speed.
+1 they are just so nice and cute!
The nickname Sacha is not very common in Sweden (I really like it though), if someone is named Alexander he will usually be called Alex. But who knows with royalty, I think aristocratic nicknames tend to sound like names you would give a little dog.
Can’t wait for an all kids photo starring Estelle and her cousins.
Me too! I love the Swedish royals.
I see Alexander and I think McQueen. It’s a grand name, well fit for royalty!
I think of Alexander Skarsgård… who happen to be Swedish as well.
So refreshingly down to earth given their position in royalty 🙂 love them!
Sorry, but that is not the general opinion in Sweden. Crown-princess Victoria is highly respected and she is considered to be the person who, alone, is saving monarchy in Sweden.
Carl-Philip was basically a frat-boy forever. But no one expected anything else from him. Princess Sofia is shady as … E.g. the royal family have their own pr-team, and they represent anyone and everyone in the royal family who wants to address media. Sofia has, on top of that, her own “hot-shot” pr-agent. So when the (swedish) media is pitting Princess Madeleine and Princess Sofia against each-other, it’s Sofia’s agent who plants those stories (Stockholm is basically a duck-pond, all bigger media outlets are concentrated here), is that how you treat your sister in law?
Down to earth? No. Not one bit. Even when Princess Sofia is suppose to work with her charity, she basically spends vacation-time in her luxury home in South Africa. And I really do not think these should be admired for showing up to royal events. What real job have any of them ever had?
They get to dress in luxury and show up to have their picture taken, and then they go home and live well-above you average over-middle-class home, and they have never had a proper job. Sofia was on a reality-show, and also spent some time in New York. The official explanation is that she worked as a pilates-instructor. Yeah…
Hej Östra Sidan! 🙂
Also a Swede and so agree with you. These two are basically a waste of space and neither have ever earned anything in their lives with any kind of real work. Sofia is basically a prostitute (that’s how she made her living in N Y right – via a sugar daddy?) and couldn’t even be bothered to get an education. Her luck was made when she got her hooks into CP. She’ll never have to lift a finger again, not that she ever did. CP is even more work-shy than “work-shy” Will. Can’t stand either of them. But their PR team has made an excellent job of making Sofia look like acceptable princess-material. And making CP look like less of a frat-boy douche.
I read that and thought you meant a nickname for Alexander was Sacha Sasha, and I thought, I’ve heard of Sasha but why would you call someone Sacha Sasha? That’s so long. Just put me in the home. I’m ready.
HA!!!
Lovely name, lovely couple.
Rumor mill was that kate wanted to name George, Alexander, but William wouldn’t go for it.
I think that top photo is just the cutest thing ever. So informal and so sweet. I really like this couple. Congratulations!
Like the name and love that they did the casual photo. They look happy and she doesn’t look like she just been in hair and makeup for two hours. I know they don’t get the press that W&K do but seriously, she looked over the top after princess charlotte’s birth.
I love the down-to-earth, relaxed photo.
Nice happy pics. Name seems fine to me. Quite like Alexander and its diminutives. Good luck to them
Love the name. Its slightly trendy but the middle names are all traditional royal Swedish names.
Sacha Casiraghi is actually named Alexandre, he is just known by his nickname.
I love the relaxed atmosphere in their photos. Congrats to them!
Bertil is a nice nod to the late Prince Bertil, the king’s uncle who, along with his wife Lilian were rather surrogate grandparents. Bertil was the only eligible male dynast after the future king. He held off marrying his commoner live, Lilian, in order to preserve the succession as the future king was a young child. After the king wed, Bertil married Lilian and, as a mark of affection and recognition for their decades at sacrifice–which cost them a chance at a family of their own, Lilian became princess Lilian when they wed. Carl Philip inherited a good bit of property and other items from the couple.