STOCKHOLM — A 21-gun salute resounded on Friday over Stockholm, marking that Swedish Princess Madeleine, the youngest daughter of King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia, has given birth to a baby girl in New York.
The baby girl was born late Thursday. The mother and newborn were both well, said the marshal of the realm earlier.
The king and queen expressed their joy and best wishes as did Madeleine’s siblings, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Carl Philip, and many others on the royal palace’s Facebook page as well as other social media and online newspapers.
The king and queen on Friday flew to New York to visit the new member of the royal family, and her parents — Madeleine and her husband Christopher O’Neill, a New York banker who has dual American-British citizenship. The couple married in June in Stockholm.
O’Neill was present at the birth that took place at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, the palace said.
The couple live in New York where Madeleine works for the nonprofit World Childhood Foundation, which was founded by her mother, Queen Silvia.
The name of the newborn and her title will be announced after the king meets with his Cabinet, likely next week. A thanksgiving service is due March 3 in the Royal Chapel.
The newborn is the king and queen’s second grandchild. Crown Princess Victoria’s daughter Estelle turns 2 today, and is “very curious about her new cousin,” her parents said in their Facebook greeting.
Sweden has a constitutional monarchy in which the royals primarily serve as figureheads. The king is the country’s head of state, but his powers are limited to ceremonial duties.
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