Sweden’s Princess Madeleine married Christopher O’Neill in 2013. In the past ten years, they’ve lived in London, New York, Stockholm and Florida. They actually moved to Florida full-time in 2018, where they raised their three kids in total privacy. Seriously, we only see the O’Neill kids when they attend official events in Sweden or when Madeleine posts photos on her social media. In 2019, King Carl Gustav announced that Madeleine’s kids and Prince Carl Philip’s kids would no longer be “royal” – they would not carry the Swedish version of “HRH” and they were no longer considered part of the “royal house.” It wasn’t shocking for Madeleine’s kids, given that she was already raising them outside of the royal system. It was shocking for Carl Philip’s kids, given that CP is the king’s only son and CP has always lived in Sweden. Anyway, I have no idea if this is related, but it turns out that Madeleine and Christopher are moving back to Sweden?
Princess Madeleine of Sweden will return to her home country after living in Florida since 2018, the Swedish palace announced on Tuesday. “HRH Princess Madeleine and Mr Christopher O’Neill, together with their children, will move to Stockholm in August 2023,” they said in a statement, adding that they’ll relocate to Sweden “indefinitely.” They will reside in an apartment at Stockholm’s Royal Stables.
Their two eldest children, 9-year-old Princess Leonore and 7-year-old Prince Nicolas, will begin elementary school in Stockholm in the fall, while 4-year-old Princess Adrienne will start preschool. Princess Madeleine documented her family’s life in America on Instagram, from celebrating Halloween in costume to exploring Florida’s beaches.
Princess Madeleine and her family were familiar with the United States before their permanent move to Florida in 2018. On top of having a summer home in Florida, they previously lived in New York City. Madeleine moved to the Big Apple in 2010, where she began working for mother Queen Silvia’s World Childhood Foundation as a projects manager. The couple lived in New York during the early years of their marriage, even welcoming their first child, Princess Leonore, at a private hospital stateside.
Christopher’s job is “financier” which I assume means that he’s rich from a combination of family money and good business sense. Certain kinds of jobs can be done anywhere, and given their travels, I think O’Neill can probably manage his portfolio wherever he chooses. So why leave Florida? Perhaps Christopher and Madeleine were simply tired of living there. I’m exhausted from hearing about Florida these days – Ron DeSantis has made the state Ground Zero of the GOP’s culture wars. DeSantis is less than a year away from holding public book burnings and creating LGBTQ+ gulags. That’s my big theory: the real-world political climate in Florida was driving Madeleine and Christopher crazy. Or maybe it’s something else, who knows.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Madeleine’s IG.
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- The King and Queen give a State Banquet in honour of President Moon Jae-in and First Lady Kim Jung-sook at the Royal Palace In pic: Princess Madeleine Chris O’Neill Stockholm, Sweden 2019-06-14 COPYRIGHT STELLA PICTURES,Image: 536281231, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: UK, USA and AUS ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: MATTIAS HELLSTRÃ?M / Stella Pictures / Avalon
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- 2019-07-14 BORGHOLM SWEDEN Crown Princess Victorias 42nd birthday celebration ; Crown Princess Victoria celebrates her 42nd birthday with the traditional celebration at Borgholms sports venue with the entire Royal family, a large audience and many artists. Pictured; Princess Madeleine and Mr Chris ONeill COPYRIGHT STELLA PICTURES,Image: 536656724, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: UK, USA and AUS ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Stefan Lindblom / Stella Pictures / Avalon
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- Stockholm 2019-12-11 The King’s dinner for the Nobel Laureates the day after the Nobel Prize cermony at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. Pictured: Princess Madeleine COPYRIGHT STELLA PICTURES,Image: 541153332, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: UK, USA and AUS ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Robert Eklund / Stella Pictures / Avalon
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- Princess Madeleine and Christopher O’Neill, Princess Leonore, Prince Nicolas and Princess Adrienne of Sweden leave at the chapel of Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm, on August 14, 2021, after the baptism of Prince Julian Herbert Folke, born on 26-03-2021,Image: 627025572, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Netherlands OUT, Point De Vue OUT, Model Release: no, Credit line: Albert Nieboer / DPA Picture Alliance / Avalon
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- Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden celebrates her 42nd birthday at Solliden Palace Featuring: Princess Madeleine, Chris O’Neill Where: Oland, Sweden When: 14 Jul 2019 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS**
Florida schools have been affected by the idiot wannabe mango Mussolini and the kids will get a better education in Sweden.
People that rich , esp coming from royal families, think they’re insulated from the actual repercussions of the law, so I doubt DeSantis is why they’re leaving. Also why assume they are progressives or democrats? For all we know, they are fine with anti-LGBTQ policies.
They are rich so they’re kids would be attending private schools anyways so I doubt any Florida politics really affects them.
I don’t believe they think they’re insulated. If anything, they know they have a bigger target on their back, especially from a Mussolini-wannabe trying to elevate his profile. We already saw what he did to one of the biggest employers in the state. He’s not above making an example of some minor royals from Europe.
I would leave Florida too. It shocks me that people still move there. I have a feeling we will be seeing more and more of an exodus from Florida given what Ron DeSatan had been doing.
When I read this headline yesterday evening I thought: I bet they are! I too would leave those crazies there and hightail it out ASAP!
But I also think they came to Sweden because it makes sense: they are of the royal family and they may want their kids learning the language and customs afforded by living there. Both reasons together because, with thier money and titles they could hightail it anywhere.
I agree with you Seraphina: probably both getting away from Floridian politics and a desire to be amongst her own people.
I’ve been low-key following DeSantis from abroad and now that Fox is supporting him and it’s now known that Fox hates Trump (though they went all-out for him anyway), what DeSantis et al has done in Florida takes on special significance. I just read an article titled “Every horrible bill proposed by DeSantis’s Florida GOP this year”… I can imagine based on article alone that a sane person would want to leave.
Just my personal opinion they you don’t even need Desantis to flee Florida. It so hot and humid for half the year you couldn’t pay me to live there. No offense to the Floridians here, but I would rather live in Sweden any day.
More importantly I’d wager, though, is she just wants to go home and raise her kids like she was raised.
I honestly don’t think removing their HRH’s was a big thing for Carl Philip’s children as he and Sofia represent very little and it was clear their sons won’t have any official role in the court. I believe they were used to the idea since Carl Gustaf’s sisters were not included in the succession and their children have no role in the court either. Moving to Stockholm will be a major change for Madeleine’s children although they have been back for long visits. But particularly the two oldest ones already have their school, friends and hobbies, it won’t be easy to leave all that behind.
Yet they pitched a fit about it in the annual Christmas documentary, with the throw away idea that they were thinking of leaving Sweden if they weren’t welcome anymore. As Sofia should never have been a working royal in any capacity, but should have followed O’Neill’s example and refused a title? Sofia is the royal woman who wasted the fourth highest amount of taxpayer money on new clothes last year FFS.
Honestly I think this is more to do with the fact that her kids need to be brought up in Sweden in order to remain in line to the throne rather than politics. Maybe that is a factor but the line of succession rules is probably the biggest driver.
The royal court has always been cagey around that, never making an official statement either way. As long as they’re raised in the faith, culture, speaking Swedish, and visiting Sweden often? I doubt any one was going to remove them from the line of succession esp with Victoria having two children,
If the LOS thing were true? CP and Sofia wouldn’t have pitched a fit in the annual Christmas documentary about their kids HRHs, pretending they were going to ‘leave Sweden’ if they weren’t wanted.
IMO it is more likely that her parents are getting older and cannot travel to see her kids in Florida often. She and Silvia are especially close.
I think the move is about Leonore. At the time of her birth it was reported that in order to retain her title she had to be raised in Sweden and there was a cut off age. Given their youngest two were born in Sweden this did not apply to them. I guess moving back makes sense.
I’m sure someone from Sweden or with more knowledge will be able to correct me if I’m wrong.
Leonore has Swedish citizenship, it was automatic at birth. From the official govt website ‘A child of a Swedish mother always becomes a Swedish citizen. It does not matter if the child is born in Sweden or abroad.’ All three kids probably have 2-3 citizenships. US, Swedish, and maybe UK. Chris is a dual US/UK citizen.
As I wrote above, the Court has been cagey about all of this for years, but iirc nothing was ever published officially confirming any requirements. Vague statements, but no hard requirements. There is a Swedish language and culture school in Fort Lauderdale; if they were concerned about such things they’d have moved there and participated in it.
Then it wasn’t her birth/citizenship but being raised and educated in Sweden.
Again, it has never been formally stated what the *real* regulations are. They’ve waffled about it for years but nothing definite. I doubt they’re concerned about LOS anyway, more about getting out of the US while the getting is good.
This lays it out. It’s actually pretty straightforward and laid out in the constitution.
https://royalcentral.co.uk/europe/sweden/the-laws-of-succession-in-sweden-182226/
That’s from royal reporters, not from the Court or govt itself. Cagey.
Kind of weird how the US has became the place all these defecting royals want to live now given our anti monarch history lol. Maybe they just missed home? They are too rich to be affected by politics. Kind of ok with less rich royals and open up more spots for actual immigrants who actually work because our economy needs them and they often need asylum.
Her husband is a US citizen, all three of their kids are likely US citizens too through him. He’s not taking the spot of any immigrant, and she works for her mother’s anti-trafficking charity regardless of where they live.
I think the O’Neils just want the children to have the European experience as much as the USA experience. They can visit their home in Florida during school breaks and I believe that London is less than a one hour flight from Stockholm.
The Florida house is already on the market. Who knows if they’ll stay in Sweden or try the UK again. The tabloid press, aided by Sofia, is merciless on Madeleine and on every business move Chris makes.
I think Madeleine once said that just Leonore is a US citizen.
It’s been announced where they’ll be living. An apartment in the Royal Stables.
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230307-sweden-s-princess-madeleine-to-move-back-home
It also says the equivalent of ‘temporarily’. That’s why I wrote that I doubt they’d stay in that bachelorette space for long. Time will tell.
Princess Madeleine is so beautiful. She’s breathtaking in the Aquamarine Tiara. It looks like it was made for her.
It does, doesn’t it?
Yes, the Swedes will be hard-pressed to find anyone who can wear it as well as she does when she passes. I could stare at it all day. It’s one of my favorites, along with the Dutch Mellerio Ruby Tiara. Gah!
Sign me up for the Swedish Steel Cut or the Danish Midnight Tiara (but I’ll have to fight ArtHistorian for that one).
What a beautiful family, those children are gorgeous.
That’s my take as well!
My take on the matching dresses as the youngest of 3 girls is that it is not fair to the youngest if you do hand -me-downs! I recall wearing what looked like the same dress for almost all of elementary school 😂 probably not an issue for these girls.
Everyone saying they’re too rich to be affected by Florida politics clearly don’t know what it’s like to live here. I have little doubt that’s a huge reason. If they place any value in education for their children, ofc they’re going to get out while they can. Private schools can only insulate them so much, the Florida education system is beyond broken. Add in the collapsing insurance market, rising sea levels, the record high temperatures every day, the culture wars they’re trying to stoke… I wouldn’t wait until August, I’d be out the second school is out. Why suffer through another Florida summer?
What you write makes sense. You can only be so insulated when the Florida govt is trying to control the education of every child in the state.
They may move sooner than August, but will move in time for the start of the new school year. It might depend on how quickly the Florida house sells, what they can figure out for long-term housing. I cannot see them staying in Madeleine’s bachelorette quarters for long.
Lived there for 20 years until recently. Can confirm all of this plus insanely high cost of living, traffic, some of the most proud racism I’ve ever seen, and endless strip malls. I have no desire to return. Ever. I know there are some great people but…I had enough.
Agreed. Good friend of mine has been living in FL for the last 15 years. She has an 11 year old who has always been in private schools. They are talking about moving back to the northeast because they can’t see sending her to middle/high school in FL – public or private – and don’t want to have to send her to boarding school to get a decent education. Both parents work remotely and can live anywhere at this point. The sticking points will be his elderly/ill parents live near them in FL and how much money they will potentially lose selling their house.
They say move to Stockholm in august. The RF usually spend at least part of the summer on Gotland, they might be going there first and then to Stockholm.
Billionaires live in Florida so politics really doesn’t affects them like it does middle/lower classes.
It does when the govt tells your private school what they are and are not allowed to teach.
According to swedish media its as simple as Madeleine is really missing Sweden and her family and friends here and they want the children to have a swedish upbringing and education.
The liked living abroad but now feel its time to move back home.
The family is quite close.
Of course there could be other factors at play but this seems plausible.
This. They can go to school in Sweden and come back to live in the US as adults it won’t be an issue for them at all. If they grow up in the US it would be harder for them to be “Swedish” in Sweden as adults.
Born and raised in Florida so I understand why people get sick of Florida after awhile. I want to move so badly but I would be socially isolated.
Maybe a bunch of Floridians like us should get together and go live in a small town in Maine or something. Idk, it’s gotten scary here.
I think that these days a mega wealthy person who could afford to live anywhere with no family ties to Florida who chooses to live there anyway is making a statement about their political and social views.
It’s clearly not a statement Madeline and her husband want to make
The King had heart surgery just the other week ( planned but still) and I think they had problems with breakins in florida. Madeleine never really wanted to be very public or be a working royal and I don’t think that has changed but missing friends and family is a real thing. Not sure how Chris will feal about it. I don’t think he was very happy in Sweden last time they lived here but it’s quite close to the uk if he wants to visit people there more often.
Queen Silvia turns 80 in December so they’re definitely not young any more, and it’s natural Madeleine wants to be closer to her ageing parents as well as other family members and friends.
Chris should figure out a way to register his finance company somewhere like Luxembourg or Switzerland. Somewhere where the Swedish tabloids won’t be able to requisition minute details about his business all the time. That might help.
Regardless of the Florida-specific MAGA issues, maybe they don’t want their children at the exponentially higher risk of being murdered in American schools?
I heard a rumor once that Madeline and Sofia don’t get along, and that was part of the reason they moved to the US, and that Sofia causes major drama in the family. I’m not able to substantiate it though. This was from the ancient CPMCoG boards a long time ago.
When they first moved to Florida, I thought it had something to do wither her mother-in-law. Is she still alive?
I wouldn’t go to Florida if you paid me, not for 5 seconds. With Trump, DeSantis and all the “Florida man” types, just no forever.
It was reported not too long ago that Madeleine and Chris’ home was broken into and they were robbed (some of what was stolen were valuable jewels – I hope not her tiara!); and, that Madeleine no longer felt safe in that home. It was also reported that they would be moving soon and that the robbery was why they put their home on the market. At the time, to it was assumed that they would be moving to another home in Florida.
This robbery may have something to do with their move back to Sweden now, along with their wanting their children to be educated in Sweden.
Afaik she doesn’t have any tiaras of her own. The swedish RF has quite a few beautiful tiaras the women in the family wears.
Madeleine received the modern Fringe tiara that she wore at her wedding as a wedding present from her parents. I think it had previously been worn by her mother a time or two but was almost exclusively worn by Madeleine prior to her wedding. It is the tiara that she is wearing in some of the photos in this article. I am pretty sure this gift was confirmed by the Swedish Royal house.
They were robbed at the start of the pandemic, Feb/March 2020. iirc they did change houses at that point. The first house where they were robbed was a rental, the new house was purchased. It is that second house that is currently up for sale.
Madeleine is a stunningly beautiful, regal, real life princess wherever she goes – just like our Meghan!
I don’t know, I always side-eye people that tout Madeleine and denigrate Sofia. Madeline always seemed to me to have a poker up her you-know-what and her hissy fit during the taking of the wedding photo was not in the least bit regal (caught on camera while on the steps of the building taking the large wedding photo). Meghan, on the other hand, was under so much stress leading up to her wedding and yet she sailed through looking both regal and gracious.
I’ll forever side-eye anyone who thinks the entitlement of Madeleine’s youth as the baby of the family is anywhere near the lifelong, sexist, misogynistic entitlement of CP and now his disgusting wife. CP and his wife’s entitlement, including being 100 percent on the royal dole when no one wants them, is 1000X worse than anything Madeleine pulled.
To this day both the king and queen continue to make comments about how much better it would be if a MAN was the future monarch. I have no doubt they were main causes of Victoria’s anorexia. The king even gave the only Duchy with financial benefit to his poor, ‘robbed’, manchild of a son’s first born. Oscar was born first and should have been given that Duchy, but anything for the entitled halfwit son of C-G.
Given the king’s love of strip clubs, I’m not surprised he loves Sofia. He still resents being required to marry an intelligent, hard-working, talented woman like Silvia when he would have prefered a Sofia type. Poor Silvia, founder of an anti-sex-trafficking charity, forced to put up with Miss Slitz as a daughter in law.
The wedding that ended up being all about what CP and Sofia wanted, not Madeleine and Chris? The king expressly forbade Madeleine from having her best friend as her bridesmaid. CP and Sofia complained that it would be embarrassing and hurtful to them to have Emma front and centre at Madeleine’s wedding. That’s why she ended up with the whole children’s parade and choir instead of the adult bridesmaid she wanted. Because her entitled brother and his awful wife were dictating the terms of Madeleine’s wedding.
As a parent, if I had the opportunity and the money to get my children out of an environment that could hurt them education wise, I’d be gone as well. When truth is replaced with propaganda, it’s important to take in mind the well being of my children. I believe that this may be the reasoning for the move. I applaud them if it’s based on my understanding either way
I work for a Swedish-based company, and I can tell you that there’s a good chance you are wrong in assuming these two are pro-LBGTQ+. Everyone I work with, although I know it is only a small faction of the country’s population, is very anti-LBGTQ+ and it is quite alarming. It’s a very different culture, and many of my male colleagues are incredibly uncomfortable with anyone LBGTQ+
Wow, @britney. I would never have thought that and am disappointed to hear it.
Don’t listen to them, Sweden is extremely lgbt friendly. Even our conservative government has at least two openly lgbt ministers, and pro-lgbt policies are widely accepted.
I have lived in Sweden (currently live in the NLs) and this was not my experience at all, Britney. I would say that many parts of Sweden are lbgtqi open and friendly. As a foreigner, you need to take language and culture classes after you get your person number there. Part of the culture part is hammering home that men and will men are equal, there’s freedom of religion and speech, and that who you love is absolutely okay. Many immigrants in Sweden come from cultures where heterosexuality is the only okay form of sexuality and Sweden as a whole does not subscribe to that! I wonder if you’re in an industry that attracts more right-wing types that vote SD?
I would also leave Florida for Sweden if I could. It’s becoming a fascist state, and with the current Supreme Court also being fascist, I don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s incredibly scary.
Didn’t they move to Florida to be closer to his mom? She was living there, but I think she’s moved.
Sigh. The Sofia stans are already out on most royal forums attacking this move and spreading lies about Chris’s finances. I find they’re much like Kate stans, who always accuse Meghan of things Kate did.
Same with Sofia stans. Sofia and CP are unwilling – or unable – to earn a living so they live off taxpayers.
Chris earns enough to keep his family in style, so they falsely attack Chris’s finances. The man donated 100,000USD to Childhood just to get Madeleine’s attention. He bought at 3.5 million USD house at the drop of a hat when their luxury rental was robbed. That house is now on the market for 7.5 million. Man makes plenty of money vs. C-P and Sofia.
Again, hope he figures out how to move his business somewhere the tabloids cannot investigate. IMO that’s the only way this move will work out.
Regarding the Florida / Sweden discussion: remember last year’s election in Sweden which made (if I’m not mistaken) the far-right “Sweden Democrats” into the 2nd most powerful party in parliament? Similar to what we’ve also seen in another European countries! (In my home country Germany that would be the right-wing AfD.) What happens in Florida and the US is terrifying but we’re not very far from it – A reminder that we need to fight for democracy every day.