In January 2012, Princess Madeleine suddenly took Chris O’Neill with her to an official appointment on behalf of the crown. That was before they got engaged. A circumstance that caused a stir.
In a few weeks, Princess Madeleine, 40, and Chris O’Neill, 48, will celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. On June 8, 2013, the couple said “yes” to each other in the Palace Church in Stockholm. The daughter of Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf, 77, and Queen Silvia, 79, was finally able to leave behind her broken engagement to lawyer Jonas Bergström, 44, a good three years earlier. But before their fairytale wedding and engagement on October 25, 2012, the princess and the British-American businessman caused quite a stir when they made their first public appearances together in early 2012.
Princess Madeleine has an appointment on behalf of the crown in January 2012 – with Chris O’Neill
With a beaming smile, Madeleine got out of a black limousine on the evening of January 26, 2012 in the pouring rain in New York. Behind her, her boyfriend Chris O’Neill, who was quite new at the time, appears with an umbrella. The previous August, they appeared together in public for the first time, attending a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic as part of the Salzburg Festival – hosted by Chris’ mother, Eva Maria Walter.
Princess Madeleine and Chris O’Neill at the Salzburg Festival on August 6, 2011.
© Dana Press
The couple’s second public appearance in New York in January drew far more press attention. Because in the
Joint appearance not agreed with the royal family?
Johan T. Lindwall recalled in his 2013 book Madeleine: prinsessan privat: “She had taken her unofficial boyfriend on a public mission for the royal family without meeting anyone talk about it.”
Chris O’Neill protects Princess Madeleine from the rainy New York weather. Then they go to a concert by .
© Dana Press
The editor-in-chief of the Swedish magazine “Svensk Damtidning” classified Madeleine’s step as a conscious decision – although it was a novelty at the time. Because neither Princess Victoria, 45, nor Prince Carl Philip, 44, had taken their partners to an appearance on behalf of the crown before the engagement. Princess Sofia, 38, was only seen at weddings, christenings or sporting events at her husband’s side, for example only took part after the engagement on Victoria Day 2014.
Calculated decision?
Johan T. Lindwall sees the joint appearance not only as a conscious decision, but also suspects calculation. His theory: “With her behavior at Carnegie Hall, Madeleine wanted to hasten the process of a possible future engagement and marriage.”
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This supposed goal worked out in the end. Just a few months later, in October, Chris O’Neill got down to business and asked Princess Madeleine the question of all questions.
Sources used: svenskdam.se, Dana Press