Get ready for another fairy-tale wedding.
Sweden's Princess Madeleine is engaged to her American boyfriend, New York financier Christopher O'Neill, the royal family announced on their website Thursday, Oct. 25.
"Chris proposed to me at the beginning of October. It was a very romantic and intimate proposal," the 30-year-old Scandanavian princess said in an interview at Drottningholm Palace the day before the engagement was made public. "We are both extremely happy."
As the youngest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, Princess Madeleine Therese Amelie Josephine is fourth in line to the Swedish throne. She was previously engaged to lawyer Jonas Bergstrom in 2009 but called off the wedding when reports surfaced that her groom-to-be had cheated on her with a Norwegian handball player.
After their breakup in 2010, the princess moved to New York, where she met the London-born O'Neill — he has dual British-American citizenship — through mutual pals.
Though Madeleine claimed they were just friends at first, O'Neill, 38, said he "felt something special" with his new fiancee right "from the very outset."
"I have been sure all along that Madeleine was the one I wanted to marry," he told the royal palace.
Calling O'Neill her "soulmate," the royal beauty gushed that her beau had won her over and opened up her heart again. "I appreciate Chris for his warmth and his humor," she said. "He has a very big heart and he manages to make everyone in his presence feel good. Christopher is a very thoughtful and generous person."
The New York-based financier, who is a partner at hedge fund firm Noster Capital, took the traditional route in proposing to his bride-to-be by first requesting permission from her father, the King. His Majesty consented, welcoming his future son-in-law into the royal court with open arms.
"I felt part of the family right from the very beginning," O'Neill said, adding that he is in the process of taking lessons to learn his fiancee's native language. "Madeleine's family is very warm and we have a very good time when we all see each other."
The royal family echoed the sentiment. "The princess is very happy and so are we," Queen Silvia told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. "[Christopher] is a real dream son-in-law."
The couple's wedding will take place in Sweden sometime next summer.
