Princess Madeleine Shares Candid Photo of Her Kids After They Were Stripped of Their Royal Titles
Like any proud mom, Princess Madeleine of Sweden can’t help sharing adorable photos of her children on social media.
The royal delighted fans with a new Instagram photo of her three children — Princess Leonore, 5, Prince Nicolas, 4, and Princess Adrienne, 1 — on Sunday. The trio match in light blue, with the sisters both sporting dresses featuring ruffles while Nicolas rocks a matching polo shirt and some pretty cool sneakers styled as cop cars.
Leonore gives the camera a big smile, while Nicolas sweetly holds little sister Adrienne’s hand.
“Siblings! 😍😍😍” Princess Madeleine captioned the image.
The new photo comes shortly after Princess Madeline’s father, King Carl XVI Gustaf, announced his decision to his grandchildren’s royal titles stripped. The palace announced that the children of Princess Madeleine and Chris O’Neill as well as Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia are no longer official members of the royal house, which means they are no longer expected to perform official royal duties.
“His Majesty The King has decided on changes to The Royal House. The purpose of these changes is to establish which members of The Royal Family may be expected to perform official duties incumbent on the Head of State or related to the function of the Head of State,” a palace statement read.
RELATED: Princess Madeleine Reacts to Her Kids’ Royal Titles Being Removed: ‘I Think It’s Good’
Despite losing their title of Royal Highness, Madeleine’s three children and Carl Philip’s two sons — Prince Alexander, 3, and Prince Gabriel, 2 — will retain their titles of Prince and Princess, but these titles will become personal and any future spouses or children will not have a right to them.
Princess Madeleine responded to the news on Instagram, writing: “Earlier today, the court announced that Leonore, Nicolas and Adrienne will no longer belong to the royal house. This change has been planned for a long time. 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.”
Madeline’s younger brother, Prince Carl Philip, also took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the decision, writing: “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.”
“They will retain their prince titles and their duchies, Södermanland and Dalarna, which we value and are proud of. Our family has strong connections to both landscapes and we maintain our commitment there.
“We will continue to focus on our heart issues and commitment. We will also continue to support the King and Crown Princess – our future head of state – and participate in the King’s House activities as we wish.”
The decision does not pertain to Princess Estelle, 7, and Prince Oscar, 3 – the children of Crown Princess Victoria, who is heir to the throne, and her husband Prince Daniel. Unlike their cousins, both Estelle and Oscar will both continue to be part of the royal house.
In 2016, Princess Madeleine opened up to PEOPLE about her “normal” life as a mom.
“They wake me up and we fix breakfast together and the breakfast flies all over the place!” said Madeleine, who recently relocated to Florida with her family. “And then we go out to the park and we swing, we try to do a lot of activities because my little Leonore, she has lots of energy, so we have to keep her stimulated and busy.”
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King Gustaf’s move echoes Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision not to give baby Archie an official royal title — a move that will afford their son more privacy.
While there are courtesy titles that Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex could apply to their son, they have chosen not to give him a “courtesy titles” at this time, a royal source told PEOPLE at the time.
