At her baptism Tuesday in the Palace Chapel of the Royal Palace in Stockholm Swedish Princess Estelle will have an illustrous set of godparents - two Crown Princes, one Crown Princess, and one former Crown Prince, from four different countries. One of them is Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, who with Estelle follows in a Swedish-Dutch royal tradition:
Princess Juliana - later Queen Juliana of the Netherlands - was godmother of Prince Carl Gustaf - now King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (1946). They shared the same date of birth: 30 April.
Crown Prince Gustav Adolf - later King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden - was godfather of Princess Marijke Christina of the Netherlands (1947), along with Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg and Winston Churchill.[The Crown Prince was the grandfather and of the predecessor of the current king of Sweden, whose father was killed in a plane accident early 1947, as he was travelling from the Netherlands to Sweden.]
Princess Beatrix - now Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands - is godmother of Crown Princess Victoria.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden is godmother to Princess Catherina-Amalia of the Netherlands, daughter of Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima and future queen of the Netherlands. Amalia is second in line of succession, right after her father. Amalia was one of the flower girls at the wedding of Victoria and Daniel Westling.
And now Prince Willem-Alexander, the Prince of Orange, will be godfather to Princess Estelle, first child of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, and future queen of Sweden. Estelle is second in line of succession, right behind her mother.
Such strings can also be made with members of the Scandinavian royal families, e.g. King Harald V of Norway is godfather to Crown Princess Victoria, who was godmother to Princess Ingrid Alexandra, and Ingrid's father Crown Prince Haakon will be godfather to Princess Estelle. © GPD; Photos by © GPD AP, Kungahuset.se
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