Princess Leonore, daughter of Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Chris O’Neill, was baptized this morning at the Drottningholm Palace chapel in Stockholm. Leonore was pretty well behaved. She was a bit fussy when they arrived, but calmed down and didn’t even cry when she was baptized (unlike her mother, Madeleine, who wailed). Part of the baptism includes Leonore receiving the Order of the Seraphim—that’s the little blue sash and pin she received. Leonore was born on February 20, 2014 at 10:41 EST in New York City. Her baptism comes on her parent’s first wedding anniversary (more on that below).
Leonore has six godparents: Crown Princess Victoria, Madeleine’s sister; Louise Gottlieb, Madeleine’s friend; Patrick Sommerlath, Madeleine’s cousin; Tatiana d’Abo, Chris’ half-sister; Count Ernst Abensperg und Traun, Chris’ brother-in-law; Alice Bamford, Chris’ childhood friend.
On February 26, 2014, Carl XVI Gustaf assigned Leonore with the title, Duchess of Gotland. Gotland is an island off the coast of southern Sweden, and has been under Swedish control since the mid-1600s. Go here and here to read more about Gotland. Upon her baptism, Leonore received her own Coat of Arms and monogram—go here to read more about them.
Leonore wore the traditional christening gown that dates from 1906. Every Swedish royal since then has worn it to be baptized. The lining has the names and dates of the royal baptisms embroidered on it. Madeleine wore a short sleeved pink lace dress and matching heels. She looked lovely. The pink of her dress, the cream of the christening gown, and the blue of the sash really went well together. Crown Princess Victoria wore a light pink, embellished Dolce & Gabbana dress (thanks to Order of Splendor for the Id)—she accessorized with her royal family order (the pin with the blue ribbon). I think she looked wonderful.
Princess Estelle attended the ceremony. She wore a little white dress with gold detailing at the top. She got her own special little chair next to Victoria to sit on during the ceremony. I love that Victoria brings Estelle to things. I think she is so adorable.
Links: Royal website history of baptism. Royal website Leonore’s baptism. Hello article.
Photos are screen grabs from the SVT live stream.
I will update the post if and when I get more photos available. The gallery includes photos of the gown lining, Victoria pouring the christening water, Victoria reading scripture, more photos of Leonore being baptized and sitting in the cradle.
UPDATE: Here are the official christening photos. Copyright: Anna-Lena Ahlström, kungahuset.se
Here’s more about Madeleine and Chris’ wedding anniversary:
A very happy 1st wedding anniversary to Princess Madeleine and Chris O’Neill. They married on June 8, 2013 at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. Madeleine wore a lace Valentino gown. For jewelry she chose a tiara she’s worn numerous times, a modified fringe-type tiara (I don’t think it has a name, go here to read more about it). I think it’s a beautiful tiara and looks lovely on Madeleine; but while I love its delicacy, it gets a bit lost with the veil behind it and the flowers in front of it. She also wore rather large diamond drop earrings and a diamond bracelet, and of course her engagement ring. She looked gorgeous.
Info-dump time! Chris refused the offer of a royal title, which would have required him to become a Swedish citizen. The couple live in New York City, where they met. Chris is an American banker/financier who was born in London. Madeleine works full-time at her mother’s charity, World Childhood Foundation. Madeleine was engaged previously (but let’s not give that jerk too much page time), before she left Sweden for NY where she met Chris. They announced they were expecting a child 12 weeks and 3 days after the wedding.
By the way, Chris got her name wrong during the vows. Madeleine’s full name is Madeleine Thérèse Amelie Josephine. Chris said, “Madeleine Amelie Thérèse Josephine”. Oh noes!!
Here is a video of the wedding (the audio is a bit off, sorry about that):
Links about the wedding: Express; Daily Mail; Huffington Post; Washington Post; Order of Spendor.
I’m including a few photos of Madeleine and Chris in the gallery. All photos copyright Kungahuset.se
why dont i get the same vibe from will and kate, everything WK just look awkard and cheap, they have no chrisma unlike these two!
Wow, lots of nice pictures. The one of baby Leonore in her gown with the blue ribbon, gold pin and binkie is just too cute for words. Seems like this family is very open with their subjects, press and each other. CP Victoria looks like this is one of the happiest days of her life…and she is just the aunt and Godmother!
That’s my favorite photo, that’s why I chose it for the lead. Victoria seems to be quite open with Estelle (at least from what I can see). She’s been to numerous events with Victoria.
I can’t believe I’m a two year old’s biggest fangirl, but I am! Estelle is so cute.
Estelle is adorable. I’m a fan, too.
SRF beautiful people!! Classy and Elegant.
Oh my gosh! Princess Leonore is beyond cute, especially with that Order of the Seraphim sash on her. I was also impressed by 2 year old eventual heir apparent Estelle – she is way mature beyond her years. So glad to see CP Victoria lets her come to see – very important for bonding and learning. This Royal Family seems to have it all together.
Leonore is so cute with that sash. I think it’s cute how the SRF gives out orders and dukedoms to babies. I love that Victoria brings Estelle to things; it is great for her to learn early.
Princesses Leonore and Estelle has more charm and grace that the Duchess of Cambridge. I follow the foreign royals just as closely as the British Royals. I don’t know if it is because those royals aren’t as popular as Will and Kate or if because that is the way journalism works in countries outside UK and USA but, you don’t get dumped with loads of unnecessary details about their lives: like whether or not Prince Daniel wanted a portrait of Crown Princess Victoria in his bedroom. And I also find that these people actually work – both charities and official work. Of course, everyone is prone to scandal now and then but foreign royals do more work than Will and Kate and don’t come up with ridiculous excuses like gap-years and baby nurseries. If they don’t want to be a working royal, they just renounce the title or don’t take salary as a royal. British royals before the latest generation were like that too. Why can’t Will and Kate be like that?
Forgive the mistakes in grammar in the first sentence. *Princess Leonore and Princess Estelle have more charm and grace than the Duchess of Cambridge.*
I was referring to this article when I was talking about the portrait: http://www.eonline.com/news/548658/prince-william-supposedly-wanted-this-brilliant-portrait-of-kate-middleton-to-hang-in-his-room-check-it-out
I find it amusing how Pippa Middleton gets more coverage than the Duchess of Cornwall. Even when Will and Kate do do official work, the title of the article is something like, “Kate looks lovely in blue at *so and so place*” Don’t we anything but Kate’s fashion sense (or lack of thereof) and wanna be royals to talk about?
The lack of coverage of other royals is all about demand. The other British royals don’t get nearly the same level of coverage as W&K, simply because there isn’t a demand for it. In the US/UK/other English areas, the other European royals would be treated the same way–there just isn’t as much of a demand for news about the SRF as there is about W&K, so they don’t get as many stories (in English language publications). I don’t know what the coverage is like in those other European royal’s countries, though. But I would say that if there isn’t as much over-the-top coverage like there is with W&K, then I’d say there just isn’t a demand for it. No doubt, if the demand was there, news outlets/blogs would write about them.
everyone looks soo fabulous and elegant and relaxed, chris is hot and madd is just georgeous , and they look happy wow!
It was a great christening; everyone looked happy and lovely.
after l started reading about other europeans royals l must admit l was impressed especially the ladies they are just elegant, glamorous even their weddings if you compare with WK l was amazed at just how beautiful, glamorous, beautiful the brides and everyone is e.g stephanie, leitizia, charlene to name a few their weddings are just superb!
All of this is so cute it just slays me!!!