Swedish Princess to Marry, Date Set for June
Sweden's Princess Madeleine has announced the date of her wedding to American boyfriend Christopher O'Neill this week.
The Swedish royal family said the wedding will take place on Saturday, June 3, 2013 at the Royal Palace chapel in downtown Stockholm.
The betrothed couple first announced their intentions to marry in October on the royal website after Madeleine's father King Carol XVI Gustaf as well as the Swedish government approved.
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"Yes, I met with The King and I asked His Majesty's permission to marry Princess Madeleine," said 38-year-old O'Neill, a wealthy financier from New York in an interview provided on the site.
"The King and The Queen were both happy, and touched as well, I think," said the groom-to-be of his future in-law's reaction.
On Sunday, the royal family's spokesperson, Bertil Tenert, said that wedding organizers would now begin planning the wedding details, according to the Associated Press.
Tenert divulged one detail about Princess Madeleine's nuptials. The wedding will be smaller than Crown Princess Victoria's wedding two years ago in Stockholm.
Princess Madeleine Therese Amelie Josephine is the youngest child of Sweden's King and Queen Silvia and the fourth in line to the nation's throne. The 30-year-old bride-to-be described her reaction to being engaged in the interview released by the royal court.
"We are both extremely happy and delighted," said the princess. "It is a very special day for us."
Meanwhile, Princess Madeleine spoke about the future and confirmed that she and her fiancé want a family. Although the couple will remain in New York "due to both of our current obligations," they have not ruled out moving to Sweden someday.
"Sweden is fantastic," added O'Neill. "It is such a beautiful country with very friendly people. I have mostly just been to Stockholm and Oland but I hope I will have the opportunity to visit Sweden a little more often now."
O'Neill, who has duel British-American citizenship, admitted that he does not speak Swedish fluently.
"I can say some Swedish phrases and am in the process of taking lessons so that I may speak fluently in due course," said the financier.
