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Only this week I read that Crown Princess Victoria belongs to the most popular royals of our time. Reason enough for me to ask “The Royal Pages” community on Instagram and Facebook what they think about Victoria and to tell me what makes her so popular. The responses showed that people like Victoria because she is “natural”, “relatable” and “sophisticated”. Others admire her style and sense of fashion. So, how come Victoria has turned out to be the personified nightmare of any (Swedish) republican? Why isn’t she as stuffy as one expects royals to be? What made her the incredible likeable person that she obviously is? Let’s find out more about her! So get your mug, get comfy and read through this post to find out more about Sweden’s truly amazing Crown Princess!

For those who would like to have a shortcut: Have a look at the infographic on the milestones in her life. For further background information just scroll down to continue reading this blog post. I hope you like both: the infographic and the blog post. I am still new to blogging…

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Victoria is the eldest child of Sweden’s King Carl Gustav XVI. and his wife Queen Silvia. She was born on July 14, 1977 in Stockholm’s Karolinska University hospital. Her parents and the nation were thrilled to have her, of course, but she was not deemed the heir to the Swedish throne! That right was reserved to the eldest son of the Swedish king only. Victoria’s parents were young and everybody expected them to have more children and to have one son at least. And they lived up to that. In 1979 the heir was born: Prince Carl Philip, followed by Princess Madeleine, who was born in 1982.

So, what happened? How did Victoria become Crown princess after all? The answer lies in the Act of Succession that was changed by the Swedish parliament and was enacted on January 1, 1980. While the whole world rang in a new year and decade, the life of 2-year-old Victoria in Stockholm changed forever that night. With the new law in effect, the eldest child of the monarch will inherit the throne, whether it be a boy or a girl. This is called absolute primogeniture, in contrast to the agnatic primogeniture, where only the male descendants get to inherit the Crown. Victoria was now Crown Princess by will of parliament and her future totally mapped out for her. This, she would in later years recall, had sent her in a downward spiral when she was a young adult.

But long before that, Victoria grew up surrounded by a loving and a supportive family that helped her prepare her for her future tasks.

They also helped her with her dyslexia, which made it difficult for her to read longer texts. The letters were a blur and she had problems deciphering them. When she was 21, she admitted to having struggled with dyslexia throughout much of her school years and that she felt inferior to her school mates. Gladly, she was given help by tutors and was able to find strategies to cope with dyslexia. But, dyslexia came as a huge burden she had to deal with for the rest of her life.

By making this public, however, Victoria got even more popular. Up to this day, people remember her courage to publicly shed light on dyslexia that was so long stigmatized. But they also remember the courage, the young princess had, to go public and admit that she has had her own demons to battle. That made her even more relatable. This sentiment is also echoed by Facebook members of The Royal Pages community. Others applaud Victoria for being down-to-earth and empathetic.

Most young people look forward celebrating their 18th birthday with family and friends. For Victoria, her 18th birthday was a day with mixed feelings. She celebrated with her friends and family, but before all that she had to face a task that any 18-year-old (or anyone else for that matter) would have seriously dreaded: Speaking in Swedish parliament. Speaking in front of hundreds of Swedish representatives and dignitaries. Speaking in front of the whole nation – as this was all televised. Live! In her speech she vowed to assist her father as his now official deputy should he be absent. Everyone who watched this felt with Victoria and admired the courage she mustered that day. She braved that task perfectly. In the linked video you can hear Victoria giving that 3 minute speech and hear her lovely voice. Watch until the end to see how relieved she was and her proud parents congratulating her.

With now officially being on the trajectory towards the Crown, Victoria had to complete numerous social, political and military programs to make her fit for her tasks as Queen of Sweden. First she had to graduate high school, which she did with flying colors. Although her grades were never officially disclosed, it was leaked that she did perform well above average. Victoria was sent to France to polish her French skills, then to Berlin to intern at the Swedish embassy and then to the Swedish military, because as Queen of Sweden she would also be head of the Swedish armed forces.

Her schedule was daunting, especially for a young 19-year-old. Along the way, she felt she couldn’t confide in good friends anymore because they might speak to the press. Life was limited and everything being controlled for her. Years later she told a Swedish TV journalists that she felt the only thing that she was able to control was the amount of food she ate. Victoria became worryingly thin and soon the court issued a statement that the Crown Princess was suffering from anorexia.

Originally, she was supposed to start her university education at the university in Uppsala, but after she fell ill all plans were put to a halt and Victoria went to Connecticut in the US to give her time to heal. There, she was able to lead a relatively normal life, away from the expectations and the scrutiny of the Swedish press. She enrolled in different political and social courses at Yale university and had her first fling: Daniel Collert with whom she went to school in Stockholm. They broke up, however, because the media intrusion proved to be too much. But Victoria was feeling much better now and was slowly but steadily recovering.

In 2000, Victoria returned to Sweden for good. She felt she had made tremendous progress in dealing with her eating disorder. Victoria appeared a changed young woman. She embraced her tasks now, having found more confidence in herself. She was now more pro-active in her duties and even took on foreign tours on her own (e.g. to Japan). Partly responsible for that new-found confidence was Daniel Westling, the new love in her life. What started as a friendship – as both have revealed – blossomed into love. Victoria met Daniel in one of the three gyms Daniel had co-owned back then. As CEO of his business, he took on the task himself to instruct the Crown Princess and became her personal trainer.

Daniel was not deemed the “right” choice for the future Queen of Sweden. In aristocratic circles he was snubbed as being too bourgeois and referred to as “the personal trainer”. Victoria’s father King Carl Gustav also had initial doubts about his daughter’s choice. On top of that, some Swedish newspapers voiced their concern that Daniel might not be able to represent Sweden good enough because he had no academic background to level with dignitaries and politicians, let alone royals from abroad.

But Victoria and Daniel’s love was meant to be. After a 9-year courtship, Daniel proved his critics wrong. He won over the hearts of the Swedes because they realized that Daniel made their Crown Princess happy and confident. Victoria took on more duties and excelled at her public outings. She soon became the most popular royal in Sweden! Finally, the King and parliament consented to their marriage and on June 19, 2010 both got married in Stockholm’s cathedral in what was a sensational wedding ceremony. Thousands of people lined the streets and cheered on the newly-wed couple and celebrated with them their triumph of love. Victoria was granted to marry the man she loved. For many people – worldwide – she became an inspiration to pull through. Humbly, she thanked the Swedish people for letting her marry “min prins”.

“To the Swedish people – thank you for giving me my prince”

Only one year after their wedding, the Swedish court announced that Crown Princess Victoria was pregnant. On February 23, 2012 Princess Estelle was born in the same hospital that Victoria was born 34 years earlier. In contrast to Victoria’s own birth, it was more than clear that Estelle would be the apparent future heir to the throne. Again, Sweden celebrated the latest royal addition to the family. The choice of name “Estelle” sparked a bit of discussion in Sweden as there had been hitherto no senior royal in Sweden with that name. There had been much speculation why Victoria and Daniel had not opted for a more traditional name. Sure, the name reflects the French roots of the Swedish family who all go by the last name of Bernadotte. But most likely, Victoria and Daniel have chosen the name simply because they liked it, like any other parents!

Victoria’s and Daniel’s biggest task is to prepare Estelle for her future role without robbing her of a fairly “normal” childhood. Victoria once said that Estelle has to learn to accept her special position. There is sure no better guide than Victoria herself. One can see how she tenderly prepares her daughter for her future tasks. When she takes her for public engagements, she tries to ease up the situation for Estelle. It is very obvious that Estelle is given a lot of context to grasp her “official duties”. Victoria and Daniel get down and speak to her to fill her in. Slowly she is being introduced to royal history and the whole royal setting. Victoria and Daniel take her to see the royal collections, for example, and Estelle is allowed to explore this unique, but complexing world at her own pace. Victoria is incredibly thoughtful about the upbringing of her children. She has a very good understanding in helping Estelle adapting to her future.

Four years after Estelle’s birth, Victoria gave birth to Prince Oscar on March 2, 2016. Like his sister he was born at Karolinska hospital and like his elder sister he was taken home to Haga Castle on the very same day he was born. Estelle was allegedly thrilled to have a baby brother and from pictures one can see that both siblings have a very close bond. Victoria once recalled in an interview that she always felt protective of her younger siblings (sometimes much to their dismay!). One can see that same streak in Estelle. Even though it is much too early to say, but Oscar seems to have taken after his father’s calm and composed nature.

As with heirs, it is crystal clear what the future will behold for Victoria. She is destined to become Queen. We hope for her and her children that this doesn’t happen anytime soon for this either means that her beloved father would die or that he has to abdicate the throne because of health reasons. Apart from the fact that the king shall have still many years ahead of him, we wish Victoria to enjoy the time she has with her family. If she becomes Queen too soon, she will inevitably have to take on more responsibilities. Ultimately she would get to spend less time with her still very young children. Victoria has found a perfect way of serving her own country and leading a thoroughly happy and fulfilled family life. Victoria has carved out her own way of the complex setting she was born into. And Victoria has learned how to handle difficult situations. Victoria will one day be an accomplished Queen of Sweden and do the best for the country “she was born for to help.” We wish her all the best for that!