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'New York princess' risks heirs' right to the throne

Published: 27 Feb 13 09:32 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/46430/20130227/

Future children of the soon-to-be-married Swedish Princess Madeleine could lose their right to the throne if she does not move home from New York, legal experts in Sweden have warned.

"The order of succession contains two requirements," political scientist David Ekstrand told the Aftonbladet newspaper.

"One is that successors must be raised as Protestants, the others is that they have to be raised in Sweden."

Princess Madeleine, the youngest of three siblings, is now fourth in line to the Swedish throne after her sister, Crown Princess Victoria, gave birth to Princess Estelle in 2012.

The Swedish monarchy had male primogeniture until 1980, when the order of succession, part of the Swedish constitution, was changed to allow Victoria to become heir to the throne, rather than her younger brother Carl Philip being groomed to take over after the king.

Carl Philip and his would-be children, however, are next in line to claim the throne after Victoria and her children, leaving little sister Madeleine and any future kids far down the list of possible regents.

The question of any successors born and raised abroad was also addressed in the 1977 rewrite that lead to the law coming into effect in 1980.

The Swedish Supreme Court wrote in its recommendation: "It is out of the question that an heir raised abroad and his offspring should not lose their right to succession."

There is no specific mention of an heir being born abroad posing a problem. Swedish law specifically mentions being raised within the realm as a prerequisite for rule.

Princess Madeleine moved to New York after breaking off her first engagement. She is now set to wed financier Chris O'Neill, who has dual UK and US citizenship.

The royal court, when contacted by Aftonbladet, chose not to speculate as to whether Princess Madeleine had set a date for moving home.

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11:21 February 27, 2013 by johnny1939
The likely hood of any children of Madeleine's to become kings or queens are nil so there is no reason for her to move home. If the present King lives to be in his 90s Sweden will most likely be a republic anyway. Besides anything else I do not believe that marriage will last very long....sigh...
15:17 February 27, 2013 by djmarko
well it seems she prefers lviing in New York than Sweden anyway, highly unlikely she will be back anysoon
20:17 February 27, 2013 by sbf325
She'll stay in the US! Since Carl Philip is ahead of her in succession she's kind of superfluous anyway. Why not have a life? Besides, New York is a lot more fun than Sweden anyway when you've got money.
15:02 March 1, 2013 by jbkulp
As stupid a law as the requirement that a US president be a native born American.
17:09 May 17, 2013 by LBjorn
Unless she's said she's pregnant, or trying to conceive, they've got no business harassing her about this. She's getting married. That doesn't mean she's going to start pumping out babies right away, or even that she will ever have a child. Sexism is ugly in every country!
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