Princess Madeleine of Sweden has given a rare new interview in which she spoke candidly about her royal “struggles” while growing up. The 44-year-old royal features on the latest cover of Vogue Scandinavia, photographed in Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm, and at the royal stables in the capital.
Opening up about her royal role
In the interview, the princess spoke about having a “hard time” accepting her role within the Swedish royal family as she was growing up. She said: “I was always kind of struggling with that. My siblings were much more accepting of the roles we had. I always had a bit of a hard time with that. When we had to interact with media photographers, I was always the one who ran away, and they had to chase me.”
She added that, while growing up, she just wanted to be able to “ride the bus myself, just like all my friends do”. Madeleine also opened up about her passions, her marriage to British-American financier Christopher O'Neill, and “being fearlessly true to herself”.
Changes to royal titles
Madeleine is the second daughter and youngest child of King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia. In 2019, the Swedish king announced that he would be removing five of his grandchildren from the royal house, revoking their HRH titles and removing them from official duties. At the time, it was reported that the move took place in an effort to more strictly associate Swedish royalty with the office of the head of state.
Madeleine’s children, as well as those of her brother Prince Carl Philip, remained members of the royal family and retained their titles of duke and duchess. The change did not affect the king's two grandchildren who are in direct line to the throne, Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar.
