Sweden's Princess Victoria back home with newborn baby girl

By Lennart Simonsson Feb 23, 2012, 14:12 GMT

Stockholm - Swedish Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel returned Thursday afternoon to their home outside Stockholm with their newborn child, 'a very sweet princess,' in the words of the proud father.

The baby girl, born at 4:26 am (0326 GMT) Thursday, is second-in-line to the throne after Victoria.

Speculation was rife about a likely name but, in line with tradition, it is not to be disclosed until Friday, when King Carl XVI Gustaf meets the cabinet. He is then to announce the name and title of his and Queen Silvia's first grandchild.

The king and queen welcomed the birth, saying 'this grandchild has been longed for, and we are both very happy and proud.'

History professor Dick Harrison told broadcaster TV4 that the addition to the royal family would add stability to the monarchy and 'strengthen it.'

He suggested that the future heir to the throne would be named Margaretha, Desiree or Christina since these names have been used by other members of the Bernadotte family.

Earlier, Prince Daniel personally announced the birth at Karolinska University Hospital - where Victoria herself was born in 1977.

Visibly moved, he said his feelings were 'a little all over the place,' and added that the newborn girl was 51 centimetres long and weighed 3.28 kilos.

At around 1 pm the palace posted a photo on Facebook of the couple leaving the hospital with the baby in a carrier. The baby was wrapped in a blanket.

Their home at Haga Palace on the outskirts of Stockholm - where the king and his sisters spent their early years - is near the hospital. Lennart Nordstrom, the obstetrician who assisted at the birth, said there had been no complications and it was a 'completely normal birth.'

A traditional 42-gun salute marked the royal birth at noon, in Stockholm and four other locations from Boden in northern Sweden to Karlskrona in the south-east.

Congratulatory messages streamed in on the palace's Facebook site and messages were also conveyed by members of the Swedish government and political leaders, Norway's King Harald, and Finland's outgoing president Tarja Halonen among others.

Victoria's last public appearance before the delivery was Tuesday when she attended a lunch with Halonen.

Victoria's siblings Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine said they were 'thrilled' and had 'looked forward to being uncle and aunt' while Daniel's parents Olle and Ewa Westling and his sister Anna also expressed their joy and happiness.

The 34-year-old princess and her 38-year-old husband married in June 2010.

Victoria and Daniel Westling met in 2002 and were engaged in February 2009. Westling was the princess' fitness trainer.

Sweden in 1980 changed the order of succession so that the monarch's eldest heir, regardless of gender, inherits the throne.

'The kingdom of Sweden will have an era of queens,' Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told reporters in London where he was attending an international conference on Somalia.

Reinfeldt, the speaker of parliament and two palace officials were Friday to attest to the birth, and a thanksgiving service was to be held at the Royal Chapel, the palace said.

In addition to the salute, flags were raised across the country.