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PRINCESS MADELEINE

Princess couple set to stay in Sweden

Princess Madeleine of Sweden is set to give birth to her second child in Sweden, the Royal Court has confirmed – opening the door for a permanent move back to her native country.

Princess couple set to stay in Sweden
Princess Madeleine and Chris O'Neill are set to remain in Sweden. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT

Press officer Margareta Thorgren told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that Princess Madeleine and her daughter Leonore have registered as permanent residents of Stockholm.

"The family has moved from the United States and their home base is now Stockholm," said Thorgren.

When asked if Princess Madeleine's British-American banker husband Chris O'Neill would register as a Swedish resident she said: "The whole family is living in Stockholm and right now Princess Madeleine and Princess Leonore are registered here. We will have to see how the future unfolds."

The royal couple returned to Sweden in December, after having lived together in New York, saying that they wanted time to decide where in Europe to base themselves in the future.

Princess Madeleine is to give birth to her second child later this year and told Swedish media in 2014 that she no longer wanted to live so far away from her relatives in Sweden.

According to registration documents submitted by Princess Madeleine to the Swedish tax agency, and obtained by newspaper Expressen, when explaining the reasons for her move back to Sweden the royal has ticked the alternative "I'm going to live in Sweden" and when specifying the length of her stay "permanently".

The couple are currently living in an apartment owned by Sweden's royal family in central Stockholm.

Princess Madeleine came under fire earlier this week for refusing to answer journalists' questions on a visit to the Swedish town of Gävle, as reported by The Local. In an open letter addressed to the Royal Court, the editor of Swedish Radio's local P4 Gävleborg station, Leif Eriksson, called her visit "amateurish".

He wrote: "Waving and smiling is not enough and seeing yourself as above democracy and openness is incomprehensible."

Thorgren replied in an interview with Swedish Radio News: "Our royal family is very open compared to other royal families in Europe. But of course there are areas in which we can improve."