Swedish Princess Madeleine marries New York banker
Updated: 2013-06-09 10:03
(Agencies)
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STOCKHOLM - Princess Madeleine, fourth in line to the Swedish throne, married US-British banker Christopher O'Neill on Saturday at a ceremony attended by royals and socialites from around the world.
The 30-year-old princess married O'Neill, 38, before some 600 guests in the chapel of the Royal Palace of Stockholm.
O'Neill fought back tears as the princess, wearing a white lace and silk dress by the Italian designer Valentino, walked down the aisle with her father, King Carl XVI Gustaf.
Marie Fredriksson of the pop group Roxette and Swedish musical star Peter Joback both sang at the service.
After a kiss outside the chapel, and a 21-gun salute, the newlyweds processed in a horse-drawn carriage through the city centre, cheered by thousands of spectators, to a boat taking them to a banquet hosted by the King and Queen Silvia at the Drottningholm Palace outside Stockholm.
The event was less lavish than Sweden's last royal wedding, that of Crown Princess Victoria to her former personal trainer Daniel Westling in 2010.
Princess Madeleine met O'Neill in New York, where she moved in 2010, having earlier broken off her engagement to a Swedish lawyer.
Public support for the ceremonial monarchy remains fairly broad in otherwise egalitarian Sweden, even if it has weakened somewhat in recent years. The Crown Princess's wedding and the birth of her daughter, Princess Estelle, have helped to counteract negative publicity such as allegations that the king had had an affair and visited strip clubs.
Madeleine, who has relatively few public duties, attracted negative media coverage days before the wedding with reports that she had tried avoid a traffic ticket by claiming immunity.
The newlyweds will remain in New York, where the princess works at a children's charity founded by her mother and O'Neill, who was born and raised in Britain but also has U.S. citizenship, is a partner and head of research at Noster Capital.
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