A model royal wedding to break the mould: Sweden's playboy prince Carl Philip to marry ex-glamour model girlfriend next summer
- Sweden's Prince Carl Philip proposed to Sofia Hellqvist this morning
- Dating for four years, initially Queen Silvia did not approve of the match
- Ms Hellqvist, 29, posed for men's magazines and featured in reality TV
- Prince was heir to throne before rules changed but is now third in line
Prince Carl Philip of Sweden has proposed to his ex-glamour model girlfriend, four years after the pair controversial began dating.
The 35-year-old royal sparked outrage when he started dating Sofia Hellqvist, a reality TV star, in January 2010.
But today, the Swedish court announced the couple will marry next summer.
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Engaged: Carl Philip proposed to Sofia Hellqvist this morning after a controversial four-year relationship
Ms Hellqvist, formerly a fashion model, is expected to become Princess Sofia of Sweden, although her title will not be officially decided until the ceremony.
'I have the incredible honour of being engaged to this fantastic girl,' Prince Carl Philip told a press conference this afternoon.
Having posed topless in Swedish men's magazines, Ms Hellqvist hit tabloid headlines in 2005 after reaching the final of the scandalous sex and alcohol-fuelled TV show Paradise Hotel.
The shows sees five men and five women stay in a hotel together and showed scenes of Sofia kissing pornstar Jenna Jameson.
However, in 2009, after she met Carl Philip - third in line to the throne - in a club, she has softened her image.
Gushing about her fiancé, Ms Hellqvist said: 'Carl Philip is the most humble person I have ever met, which is what made me fall in the beginning.'
Controversial: Ms Hellqvist has posed for men's magazines and was a finalist in a racy reality TV programme
Surprise: Ms Hellqvist said the proposal was a 'fantastic surprise' and gushed about her fiancé to reporters
Wedding: The couple are expected to marry next summer, when Ms Hellqvist will likely become Princess Sofia
The proposal was 'a fantastic surprise', she said, and her initial response was apparently: 'oh wow!'
'I expected a totally normal day at work. I was amazed and a little bit shocked,' she added.
The pair refused to give details about the proposal, simply hinting that it was somewhere they both love.
'Sofia has said yes today to sharing the rest of her life with me,' the Prince said in the official statement on the court's webpage.
The pair, pictured here at the StafettVasan
Cross Country skiing race in 2013, met in 2009 in a club. They have
lived together on the Stockholm island of Djurgarden since 2011
The smitten pair, pictured here, refused to give details about the proposal, simply hinting that it was somewhere they both love
As the only son of King Carl XVI Gustaf and
Queen Silvia, the prince, pictured here with Sofia at a wedding in
August 2013, was heir to the throne for a few months after he was born,
until the principle of primogeniture was introduced in 1980
The bride-to-be turned heads in a scarlet dress when she arrived at Drottningholm Palace, where the annoucement was made.
After the press conference, the newly-engaged couple were joined on the lawn by Queen Silvia and King Carl XVI, who spoke of his joy at his son's engagement.
In a statement on the royal family's website, it said: 'The Marshal of the Realm is delighted to announce the engagement between Prince Carl Philip and Miss Sofia Hellqvist.
'After His Majesty The King of Sweden had given his consent to the marriage between Prince Carl Philip and Miss Sofia Hellqvist, His Majesty requested the approval by the Swedish Government, in accordance with the procedures set out in the Swedish Constitution.'
Sofia, pictured here in catalogue La Redoute, made her name as a model before appearing on the reality show
The relationship was controversial for a time, as Queen Silvia - The prince's mother - did not entirely approve of the match.
But lately the royal family seems to have welcomed her into the family, inviting her to weddings and christenings in the past year.
The pair have lived together on the Stockholm island of Djurgården since 2011.
Prince Carl Philip has a long withstanding reputation as a playboy who prefers driving race cars and wild parties to royal duties.
The prince's sister Crown Princess Victoria of
Sweden, Duchess of Vastergotland - who is now heir to the throne -
married her husband Prince Daniel of Sweden, Duke of Vastergotland, in a
lavish ceremony
Queen Sylvia of Sweden, pictured left, was
initially not convinced about the pair, after the prince broke up with
PR executive Emma Pernald, pictured right, in 2009. But the royal family
appears to have now welcomed Sofia
The prince had been with his previous partner, PR executive Emma Pernald, for ten years before they suddenly split in 2009.
Before that, it was widely believed a wedding was on the cards.
In 2012, the prince hit headlines over his 'Wild Summer' which included him being slapped during a night out in Cannes, hitting the Swedish party scene wearing an alien mask, losing his Gucci wallet and hitch-hiking his way to a motoring competition where he crashed his car in the first race.
As the only son of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, the prince was the heir to the throne for a seven months after he was born in May 1979.
But in January 1980 the rules were changed and the principle of primogeniture was introduced, meaning the throne would be inherited by the monarch's eldest child, Crown Princess Victoria.
She will then be succeeded by her daughter Estelle, who was born in February 2012.
Sweden is a constitutional monarchy in which the royals primarily serve as figureheads. The King is the country's head of state, but his powers are limited to ceremonial duties.
Carl Philip's father, Carl XVI Gustaf, has been King of Sweden since 1973.
Public support for the royal family has weakened slightly in recent years, but remains fairly broad in otherwise egalitarian Sweden.
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