Here’s Why These Members of the Swedish Royal Family No Longer Have Titles

In a move similar to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to not give baby Archie a title, the Swedish royal family has revoked five of their children’s official titles.

The palace announced the news today with a statement from King Carl XVI Gustaf explaining that Princess Madeline’s three children—Princess Leonore, 5, Prince Nicolas, 4, and Princess Adrienne, 1—and Prince Carl Philip’s two sons—Prince Alexander, 2, and Prince Gabriel, 2—will no longer be members of the royal house. So what does this mean? They’ll retain their prince and princess titles but will no longer be considered His or Her Royal Highnesses and will not be able to pass on their royal titles to future spouses or children.

The palace statement read, “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.”

The statement went on to explain, “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.”

This sweeping change does not apply to Crown Princess Victoria’s children, Princess Estelle (7) and Prince Oscar (3), as she’s heir to the throne. Estelle and Oscar will hence retain their Her and His Royal Highness titles and will remain part of the royal house. As such, the palace released a new portrait of King Carl, Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Estelle to clarify the new line of ascension.

Following the news, Princess Madeline made a statement on Instagram.  

“Earlier today, the court announced that Leonore, Nicolas and Adrienne will no longer belong to the royal house,” she captioned a photo of herself and her children. “This change has been planned for a long time. Chris and I think it’s good that our children are now getting a greater opportunity to shape their own lives as private individuals in the future.”

It appears that similar to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the Swedish royals are hoping to let the young royals shape their own future. We definitely didn’t see this coming.