Royal cull: Swedish king kicks grandchildren out of royal house… and Charles wants same
KING Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden has sensationally removed several members from the Royal House, a move Prince Charles has already announced he would also like to take in the UK.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden visits son's duchy Skane
His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf announced this morning his decision to boot some of his grandchildren from the royal family. The King and Queen Silvia have three children, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine, who gave them a total of seven grandchildren, all bestowed with a royal title and dukedoms.
But the King has now decided to slim down the number of people officially part of his household to “establish which members of The Royal Family may be expected to perform official duties”.
An official statement from Fredrik Wersäll, the Marshal of the Realm, said: “His Majesty The King has decided on changes to The Royal House.
“The purpose of these changes is to establish which members of The Royal Family may be expected to perform official duties incumbent on the Head of State or related to the function of the Head of State.
“His Majesty The King has decided that the children of Their Royal Highnesses Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia, and the children of Her Royal Highness Princess Madeleine and Mr Christopher O’Neill will no longer be members of The Royal House.”
The five former royals will lose their titles of Royal Highness but retain their title of Duke or Duchess.
Prince Carl Philip and his wife Princess Sofia got married in 2015 and have two children, Prince Alexander, Duke of Södermanland, born in 2016, and Prince Gabriel, Duke of Dalarna, born in 2017.
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The youngest daughter of King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia, Princess Madeleine, married British-American financier Christopher O’Neill in 2013.
She gave birth to three children, Princess Leonore, Duchess of Gotland, born in 2014, four-year-old Prince Nicolas, Duke of Ångermanland, Princess Adrienne, Duchess of Blekinge, born last year.
Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar, the two children of the Heir Apparent, Crown Princess Victoria, are the King’s only grandchildren remaining part of his Royal House as second and third in line to the throne.
Madeleine and Carl Philip are set to continue their charitable work and perform official duties for the King and Queen.
Princess Madeleine has also become a published author earlier this month, as her children’s book “Stella och hemligheten” (Stella and the Secret) was released in June.
The princess worked with authors Karini Gustafson-Teixeira and Marie Oskarsson in cooperation with the World Childhood Foundation.
The Swedish royal, based in Miami, is giving 100 percent of the revenues from the sales of her book to the Foundation.
King Carl Gustaf’s move will surely resonate with Prince Charles, who announced years ago his desire to “slim down” the British monarchy.
Prince Charles wants to remove the titles from relatives far down the line of succession.
Among those likely to be hit by this groundbreaking reform there would be Prince Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Prince Charles’s plan, which may become a reality once he succeeds his mother Queen Elizabeth II as King, may also see him selling some properties that have been in the Royal Family for centuries.