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The Swedish royal family is following in the footsteps of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia have stripped five of their grandchildren of their royal titles: The children of Princess Madeleine and Chris O’Neill, as well as Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia, will no longer be expected to fulfill their royal duties, the country’s royal palace said Monday.
The five grandchildren will drop the “royal highness” titles from their names, but can still go by “prince or princess,” People reports. Their children, however, will not inherent the lofty titles.
The decision to relieve the kids of their royal responsibilities has apparently become trendy after Harry and Meghan made the surprising choice not to give baby Archie a royal title.
Insiders believe the decision comes from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s desire for Archie to have more privacy as a private citizen. Prince Harry is suing two British tabloids for allegedly hacking his phone and stealing his voicemails. And, Markle is suing the Mail on Sunday and its parent company, Associated Newspapers, for allegedly unlawfully publishing an anguished letter she wrote to her estranged father.
Princess Madeleine, who has three children ages 5, 4 and 1 and lives in Florida, said in an Instagram post Monday that the change has been in the works for a while, and there are no hard feelings.
“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,” she wrote.
Her brother Prince Carl Philip also Instagrammed a response supporting the move.
“Today, the King announced the decision that our children no longer hold the Royal Highness position. We see this as positive as Alexander and Gabriel will have freer choices in life.”
Not all the grandchildren lost their titles: the children of Crown Princess Victoria — Princess Estelle, 7, and Prince Oscar, 3 — will maintain their roles in the royal house since Victoria is heir to the throne.
