Name of Princess Madeleine's baby revealed
The name of Sweden's newest royal has been revealed, and it's not steeped in family tradition -- although it does give a nod to a romance between a prince and a commoner that ended happily ever after.
Princess Leonore Lilian Maria is the name of the new baby, the Swedish royal court announced Wednesday.
The infant princess was born Feb. 20 in New York to Princess Madeleine, the king's youngest child, and her husband, American banker Christopher O'Neill.
King Carl XVI Gustaf revealed the baby's name and title at a Cabinet meeting in Stockholm.
O'Neill declined to accept a title on his marriage last June to Madeleine, but the king said the baby will be styled "Her Royal Highness." She has been given the title of Duchess of Gotland.
Princess Leonore, the second grandchild of the king and Queen Silvia, is officially fifth in line to the throne. Her mot
The baby will be christened in the royal palace church in Stockholm sometime this summer, the royal court said.
Leonore, a former of Eleanor, is an unusual name in Sweden, although it's not unknown in royal circles. The second in line to the Spanish throne is 8-year-old Princess Leonor, elder daughter of Crown Prince Felipe.
"It's cute and exciting," Mistress of Robes Alice Trolle-Wachtmeister said at a press conference following the announcement, according to TheLocal.se, a website for Swedish news in England.
"Isn't it the trend in Sweden now to give unusual names? Not everyone can be called Pelle and Lisa."
The baby's second name is believed to be in honor of Princess Lilian, who died in March 2013 at the age of 97.
Lilian and Bertil lived together for more than 30 years, during which Lilian behaved with great discretion and received no official recognition. After the death of the old king, Gustaf VI Adolf, King Carl XVI Gustaf came to the throne and gave his uncle Bertil permission to marry his longtime companion. They married in 1976 and remained together until Bertil's death in 1987.
It's becoming increasingly common for young royals to give their children names they like, rather than those steeped in family tradition. In Britain, Queen Elizabeth II's granddaughter Zara Phillips and her rugby star husband Mike Tindall named their daughter Mia Grace.