Princess Victoria Of Sweden life and biography

Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland is the heiress-apparent to the Swedish throne. If she ascends to the throne as expected, she will be Sweden's fourth queen regnant (after Margaret, Christina and Ulrika Eleonora).

Victoria was born on 14 July 1977 in Stockholm, Sweden, and is the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, and belongs to the Royal House of Bernadotte. Born as a Princess of Sweden, she was designated Crown Princess in 1979 (SFS 1979:932) ahead of her younger brother. Her first place in succession formally went into effect on 1 January 1980 with the parliamentary change to the Act of Succession that introduced equal primogeniture. Victoria is currently the only female heir-apparent in the world (though there are several females who are heiresses-apparent of an heir-apparent) and is usually styled HRH The Crown Princess. Through her father, a third cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, Victoria is also in the line of succession to the British and other Commonwealth thrones. She is currently 205th in the line of succession to the British & other Commonwealth thrones. Her younger brother comes ahead of her in the British succession, though, because it is governed by male preference primogeniture, unlike Sweden's.

She was raised at Drottningholm Palace, along with her younger siblings, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine. Victoria attended regular schools throughout her childhood, finishing at Stockholm's Enskilda Gymnasiet upper secondary school in 1996 and later embarking on work experience, including a stint at the city's Museum of National Antiquities.

Her given names honour various relatives. Her first name comes primarily from her great-great-grandmother, Victoria of Baden, the queen-consort of Sweden as wife of King Gustaf V. The same name also glorifies her (twice-over paternally) great-great-great-grandmother, Victoria of the United Kingdom. Her other names honour her great-aunt Ingrid of Denmark; her maternal grandmother, the Brazilian Alice Sommerlath (née de Toledo); and her ancestor Désirée Clary, the queen-consort of Charles XIV John and a former fiancée of Napoleon I of France.

She was christened at The Royal Palace Church on 27 September 1977. Her godparents are King Harald V of Norway, her maternal uncle, Ralf Sommerlath, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and her aunt Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld.

Victoria is also godmother to a number of royal children, most of them future heirs including Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands and Prince Christian of Denmark, as well as Princess Eléonore of Belgium.

It was during her French studies at the Universite Catholique de l'Ouest in Angers, France, that the athletic princess suddenly showed a dramatic weight loss. And after 5'6" Victoria appeared at a November 1997 event looking fragile at 7st, the Swedish royal family confirmed what many had begun to suspect.

"The crown princess is suffering from an eating disorder," announced a palace spokesperson, who explained the stress of increasing public commitments and media interest had turned a strict diet into an obsession. "She is receiving therapeutic help."

"I feel very good now, but everyone went through a really difficult period," Victoria said of her struggles in 1998. After the revelations, Victoria shelved plans to attend Sweden's Uppsala University to study political science, and instead enrolled at America's Yale University, hoping to stay out of the spotlight.

Though she calls the life of a crown princess "fascinating", she freely admits: "There are times when you wish you were somewhere else, and someone else."

Victoria then trained at the United Nations in New York and at the Swedish Embassy in Washington DC before returning to home to Sweden in summer 2000. After studying European Union and Swedish government the following year, she became involved with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and enrolled in a University of Uppsala course in world peace.

Fiercely protective of her private life, Victoria refused to confirm reports which began to surface in 2002 she had began a romance with gym owner Daniel Westling. But six years later, royal watchers were given all the confirmation they needed after the Palace announced he was to move into an apartment within the palace of Drottingholm.

Then in April 2009 came some happy news from the couple - they announced their engagement. "With Daniel by my side I feel secure," said Victoria in an official statement. "You have probably noticed that in recent years I have seemed stronger and happier. And now the time has come for us to begin building something together and starting a family."

The following year's June 19 ceremony, the first wedding of a female heir to the throne in the history of Sweden, was the jewel in the crown of a spectacular three-day celebration.

After tying the knot at Stockholm's Cathedral, the future Queen's tenderness was evident as spoke to the crowds of well wishers gathered outside the royal palace. "Dear friends, I would like to thank you, the Swedish People for having given me my prince."

Read more