The princess of tradition

She may have been born in the USA but the name of Sweden's newest princess won't be known until granddad is back in Stockholm.  Princess Madeleine's husband, Chris O'Neill, has given a press conference following the birth of the couple's daughter but there was no naming in New York this afternoon.  Instead, the proud daddy confirmed that his little girl's name will be revealed at a cabinet meeting - as is traditional.

Princess Madeleine and Chris O'Neill welcomed their daughter on February 20th 2014 at 22:41 local time in New York

Chris O'Neill revealed that the fifth in line to the Swedish throne weighed 3.15 kilograms and measured 50 centimetres and that Princess Madeleine had a natural birth after a labour lasting most of the day. While there were no photos of the baby, the new father did have her footprint on her arm.  Sweden's newest princess' name might be a secret in keeping with tradition but her parents are setting new royal trends anyway.

Royal hospital dash

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia are now en route to New York to meet their new granddaughter.  The Swedish monarchs hopped on a plane first thing after their youngest child, Princess Madeleine, gave birth to a little girl at 22:41 local time in New York - about 4 in the morning in Stockholm.  Within hours, mum and dad were on a transatlantic hospital dash to see their own little girl and meet her little girl.

There may well be more dancing in the streets tonight as a proud king and queen meet their newest granddaughter

Proud uncle, Carl Philip, has been speaking to the press this morning telling them that he'd been in touch with his sister and her husband, Chris O' Neill, and couldn't wait to meet his new niece.  The latest royal daddy will give a press conference at noon, New York time, when we may yet find out the name of Sweden's newest princess.  And by then the country's king and queen should be in the hospital and holding her in their arms after a very royal hospital dash.

The Princess of New York

The news that Princess Madeleine of Sweden will have her baby in America means that the Swedish Royal Family may be able to lay claim to the first official princess of New York.  The youngest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia is due to have her baby in the city at the end of February and the child, believed to be a daughter, will be a Swedish princess with full dynastic rights.  And if Madeleine and her husband, Chris O'Neill, want to do the full old fashioned royal thing they could give their daughter the place of her birth as part of her title.  The fist Princess of New York.

Princess Madeleine of Sweden has confirmed that her baby, who will be fifth in line to the Swedish throne, is to be born in New York

In days gone by, royal babies were known by the place where they were born.  So King John of England began life as John of Oxford, the only son of Richard III was known as Edward of Middleham until his father became king and he became Prince of Wales for just a few months and one of the daughters of Edward I was named after her place of birth while her parents were on Crusade and went into the history books as Joan of Acre.  So if Madeleine does make her baby a princess of New York, she'll be giving an old tradition into a very modern twist.