Princess Madeleine
“Little disaster!” This request caused a stir in 2001
© Dana Press
In 2024, Princess Madeleine will finally move back to Sweden with her husband Chris O’Neill and their three children; the Swedish royal previously lived abroad for many years. Even as a young woman, she confronted her parents about her wanderlust – and caused Queen Silvia a headache.
While her siblings live with their loved ones in Sweden and regularly attend appointments on behalf of the crown, Princess Madeleine, 41, has built her own life away from the royal family in Florida with her husband Chris O’Neill, 49, and their three children. However, that is set to change in 2024, Madeleine is moving back to Stockholm with her family. The years of wanderlust seem to be over (at least for now).
Princess Madeleine: Moving to London gave Queen Silvia a headache
Shortly after graduating from high school in 2001, Princess Madeleine caused a stir in the palace with her wanderlust. The reason: Madeleine wanted to move to London with her best friend Louise “Lussan” Thott to study there – like normal students in their own apartment without royal minders. “Before she left, Madeleine had begged her parents to let her and Louise Gottlieb live together. Lussan had a friend who was able to find her an apartment in central London. It was close to her friends’ accommodation and, above all, within walking distance of several good ones Restaurants and nightclubs that were recommended to Madeleine and Louise,” writes Johan T. Lindwall in his book “Madeleine: prinsessan privat”.
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A wish that seemed difficult to fulfill. After all, Princess Madeleine was a hit with the media – and not just in Sweden. “But Silvia refused. She knew that letting Madeleine stay with her friends could end in a minor disaster. Silvia would have no control over what her daughter did during the days and evenings in London,” Lindwall continued . But Queen Silvia, 80, could be relied on. Her friend Ann-Kristin Wallenberg had been living in Chelsea for a few years at the time and Madeleine and Lussan were allowed to move in with her without further ado. During this time, Ann-Kristin is said to have become like an additional mother to the girls. Wallenberg died in 2019 at the age of 68.
It’s not funny when people stand in front of the house and wait.”
Despite her “second mother”, life in London didn’t necessarily get any easier for Princess Madeleine; the press didn’t give her a break from princess life. Paparazzi besieged the house every day. “I want to behave like a normal girl,” complained Madeleine in an interview with Aftonbladet in 2001, explaining her surprising interview as follows: “That’s why I want to talk to the newspapers now, once and for all, so that I can have peace of mind later. I felt like I was being followed. It’s not funny when people stand outside the house and wait.”
“Mother is ALWAYS worried”
A situation that weighed heavily on the now 41-year-old. “After the first picture, Madeleine suddenly had photographers following her almost everywhere. She didn’t really understand how they could always know where she was. She couldn’t imagine that she was constantly being tailed by these foreign paparazzi photographers. In her world it was incomprehensible that there was so much interest in her person,” emphasizes Johan T. Lindwall in “Madeleine: prinsessan private”. It’s understandable that Queen Silvia didn’t have a quiet moment during this time. “Mother is ALWAYS worried,” Madeleine admitted to Aftonbladet at the time.
Sources used: svenskdam.se, aftonbladet.se