Princess Sofia, Duchess of Värmland

Princess Sofia of Sweden, Duchess of Värmland (Sofia Kristina; née Hellqvist; born 6 December 1984), is a member of the Swedish royal family. Before marrying Prince Carl Philip and becoming a princess of Sweden in 2015, Sofia was a glamour model and reality television contestant. They have three sons, Prince Alexander, Prince Gabriel and Prince Julian, who are fifth, sixth and seventh in the line of succession to the Swedish throne, respectively.

Princess Sofia
Duchess of Värmland
Sofia in June 2015
BornSofia Kristina Hellqvist
(1984-12-06) 6 December 1984
Danderyd Hospital, Danderyd, Sweden
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2015)​
Issue
  • Prince Alexander, Duke of Södermanland
  • Prince Gabriel, Duke of Dalarna
  • Prince Julian, Duke of Halland
HouseBernadotte (by marriage)[1][2]
FatherErik Oscar Hellqvist
MotherMarie Britt Rotman[3]

Early life and education

Sofia Hellqvist was born at Danderyd Hospital in Danderyd, to a Swedish mother, Marie Britt Rotman (born 1957), a marketing manager in the plastics industry,[4] and a Danish-Swedish father, Erik Oscar Hellqvist (born 1949), an employment counsellor at the Swedish employment agency.[4] She was baptised on 26 May 1985 in Tibble Church. She moved to Älvdalen at the age of six.[5][6] She has two sisters, Lina Hellqvist (a humanitarian project coordinator, born 1982) and Sara Hellqvist (a criminologist,[4] born 1988).[7] She attended Älvdalen Montessori School and Älvdal School. She studied the arts programme at Vansbro Education Centre.

Career

At the age of 20, Hellqvist was published in photos in the men's magazine Slitz wearing only a bikini bottom and a live boa constrictor around her upper body[8] and was later voted Miss Slitz 2004 by readers.[9] When her relationship with Prince Carl Philip was revealed in 2010, Expressen republished the photos.[10] Following the Miss Slitz win, Hellqvist was cast in the Paradise Hotel reality show on TV4[11] where she made it to the final.[10] In the show, she had a much publicised feud with Olinda Castielle[12][13] and finally voted Castielle off the show.[14][15]

In 2005,[16] she moved to New York to study accounting, specialising in business development. She has also studied global ethics, child and youth science, children's communication and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in theory, and in Swedish practice at Stockholm University.[17] She is also a certified yoga instructor and worked as such in New York.[7]

Back in Sweden she studied in Stockholm, where she also worked part-time as a waitress and glamour model.[9]

Hellqvist was mentioned in some newspapers for having kissed American adult film star Jenna Jameson while in Las Vegas to do a Swedish version of reality show Paradise Hotel.[18][19]

Marriage and motherhood
Sofia and Carl Philip on their wedding day

In July 2010, the Swedish Royal Court confirmed the relationship between Sofia Hellqvist and Prince Carl Philip.[20] In April 2011, the couple moved in together in Djurgården of Stockholm,[21] which was confirmed by the palace.[22]

On 27 June 2014, the couple's engagement was announced,[23] and in December, Hellqvist made an appearance at the Nobel Banquet with her future husband. In May 2015, it was announced that she would receive the title of princess.[24][25][26] The couple married at Slottskyrkan in Stockholm on 13 June 2015.[27][28][29]

On 19 April 2016, Sofia gave birth to their first child, Prince Alexander Erik Hubertus Bertil, Duke of Södermanland at Danderyd Hospital.[30][31] Their second child, Prince Gabriel Carl Walter, Duke of Dalarna, was born on 31 August 2017 at Danderyd Hospital.[32] Their third child, Prince Julian Herbert Folke, Duke of Halland, was born on 26 March 2021 at Danderyd Hospital.[33]

On 7 October 2019, Sofia's father-in-law, the king, issued a statement rescinding the royal status of Prince Alexander and Prince Gabriel in an effort to more strictly associate Swedish royalty to the office of the head of state; they are still to be styled as princes and dukes of their provinces, and they remain in the line of succession to the throne.[34][35][36] Sofia and Carl Philip commented that their sons now will have more freedom of choice for their future lives.[37]

Charity work

In 2010, Hellqvist was one of the co-founders of non-profit organisation Project Playground, a charity that assists underprivileged children in South Africa.[16] Princess Sofia is the honorary chair.[38]

To mark the occasion of Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia's marriage in 2015, the couple founded Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia's Foundation.[38] The foundation's purpose is to counteract bullying.[38]

Princess Sofia is an honorary chair of Sophiahemmet since 2016. She succeeded Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson, who had been honorary chair since 1972.[38]

In April 2020, the Princess completed a three-day emergency online training course from Sophiahemmet University, created to help hospitals amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It was announced that she would work as a volunteer at the Sophiahemmet Hospital in Stockholm, where she would support "doctors and nurses through kitchen shifts, disinfecting instruments and cleaning."[39]

Titles, styles and honours
A stylized letter S
Princess Sofia's monogram
A mostly blue coat of arms featuring crowns, a lion, and an eagle
Princess Sofia's coat of arms

Sofia is styled as Her Royal Highness Princess Sofia of Sweden, Duchess of Värmland.[40]

Honours
See also: List of honours of the Swedish Royal Family by country

National

Foreign

References
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  2. "The Bernadotte Dynasty - Sveriges Kungahus". Archived from the original on 30 October 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  3. Hoelseth, Dag T. (3 July 2014). "Dag Trygsland Hoelseth: Sofia Hellqvist's ancestry". Archived from the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  4. Kvarnkullen, Tomas (11 June 2015). "Sofias mormor: "Vi önskar dem lycka till"". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  5. Forsberg, Malin (24 January 2010). "Det här är Sofia - lär känna prinsens flickvän". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 4 May 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  6. "Prinsen ofta på besök i Älvdalen". dt.se. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  7. "Princess Sofia biography". Kungahuset. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017.
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  9. Lindwall, Johan T (13 January 2010). "Sofia Hellqvist har vikt ut sig i Slitz". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  10. Joo, Nathalie (14 January 2010). "Bilderna Silvia knappast sett på prinsens nya romans". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  11. "Swedish prince to marry 'Paradise Hotel' girlfriend". The Local Sweden. 27 June 2014. Archived from the original on 13 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  12. Edvardsson, Anja; Pettersson, Mats (18 March 2005). "Hatattacker mot Paradise -Olinda". Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  13. Wik, Karin (25 March 2005). "Här blir Olinda mobbad". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
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  24. Nyheter, S. V. T.; Andersson, Malin (11 December 2014). "Modeexperten om nobelfestens snackisar". svt.se. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  25. "Så ska Sofia sitta under Nobelfesten". Expressen. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
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  27. "Vigsel mellan Prins Carl Philip och fröken Sofia Hellqvist". Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
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  34. Swedish communiqué Archived 6 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine of king's decree 7 October 2019.
  35. "English communiqué". Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
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  37. Linda Johansson in Expressen 8 October 2019 p. 17
  38. "Princess Sofia — Royal Engagements". www.kungahuset.se. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
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  40. H.K.H. Prinsessan Sofia, archived from the original on 2 July 2019, retrieved 8 October 2019
  41. "Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana". www.quirinale.it. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  42. "Real Decreto 1015/2021, de 16 de noviembre, por el que se concede la Gran Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil a Su Alteza Real la Princesa Sofía del Reino de Suecia" [Royal Decree 1015/2021, of November 16, which grants the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit to Her Royal Highness Princess Sofia of the Kingdom of Sweden]. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). 17 November 2021. Archived from the original on 19 November 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
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