Madeleine and Chris: Media and Public Opinion

[Mbruno]

If the article is true and that's a big if, then one would have to wonder what on earth is wrong with Chris O'Neill and his family. After a baptism, there is invariably a family gathering to celebrate and to catch up with each other. Just because it is a royal baptism doesn't make it any different.

Chris's family was at the baptism so one would have to wonder at their sheer ill manned behaviour in isolating themselves from the celebration and then decamping to a pub. Now if they joined together for their own family reunion the evening before or after, that would have been fine.

Maybe the family attended the reception at the Palace and then left on their own without Madeleine. I can"t imagine Christopher"s family missing the official reception if invited by the King and the Queen.

 

[MARG]

Weirdly enough, I think Duke is on to something here. Has anyone else noticed that when Madeliene was pregnant she was very, very large and looked perpetually peeved/tired/etc. while Chris looked his usual debonair self.

Now at the Baptism, Madeleine looked fantastic and suddenly Chris did IMO look bloated/pasty/bored. I don't think it's too big a stretch of the imagination to think that photoshopping is alive and kicking in Sweden.

 

[Mbruno]

That's it though, I don't think Chris considers himself a member of the Swedish royal family. There seems to be no closeness between him and his in-laws, almost a nonexistent relationship. He does not like media attention, whereas PM does, though she would like everybody to believe otherwise. Because he refused royal title from CG, there is obviously more than meets the eye. Many theories can assumed, but as the years progress, the reason may become obvious. In the birth registry, he signed Leonore's heand Nicolas' last names as "Bernadotte." He may realize they will always be Bernadotte's first and foremost and that was probably not his decision. When all is said and done, he (and probably also P Daniel) will be left out if their marriages do not last. Must be very hard for a man not to be able to give his child his last name because of his wife's position in society. Just my opinions and thoughts on Chris Madde and family.

Has Prince Philip ever complained about his children not having his last name ? Chris is hardly the first male consort of a royal to have to deal with this issue now that royal houses no longer seem to be recorded patrilineally.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Philip had a massive tantrum about the surname issue that the Queen finally acknowledged (famous gaffe: He was, he said, "nothing but a bloody amoeba").

 

[miss whirley]

Has Prince Philip ever complained about his children not having his last name ? Chris is hardly the first male consort of a royal to have to deeal with this issue now that royal houses no longer seem to be recorded patrilineally.

Yes, he has. He had the famous quote, "I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children."

The great irony is that he wanted them to be known as Mountbatten, which is his mother's name. If he was such a fan of patrilineal rights he should of pushed for Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. So his argument loses merit.

Sweden could always make an arrangement similar to the UK where the non-royal, male-line descendants use the patrilineal name. James Wessex's children will go by Mountbatten-Windsor, though I suspect that the Windsor will be dropped altogether. Nicolas' children could go by O'Neill-Bernadotte.

 

[Lumutqueen]

I think Mbruno was being sarcastic in their response.

 

[JR76]

It was reported by the media that the reception ended around 18.00 o'clock and there's pictures of Victoria, Daniel & Estelle leaving about that time. Reception over at 18 gives plenty of time for Chris to go out and have a dinner with his family.


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[MARG]

Has Prince Philip ever complained about his children not having his last name ? Chris is hardly the first male consort of a royal to have to deeal with this issue now that royal houses no longer seem to be recorded patrilineally.

Yes! Just google it. It is in Wikipedia, quoted in various books, The Telegraph, DM. Pages of it. Just how vociferous depends on your tabloid of choice.

 

[Mbruno]

Yes, he has. He had the famous quote, "I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children."

The great irony is that he wanted them to be known as Mountbatten, which is his mother's name. If he was such a fan of patrilineal rights he should of pushed for Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. So his argument loses merit.

Sweden could always make an arrangement similar to the UK where the non-royal, male-line descendants use the patrilineal name. James Wessex's children will go by Mountbatten-Windsor, though I suspect that the Windsor will be dropped altogether. Nicolas' children could go by O'Neill-Bernadette.

Actually, I think Madeleine's children themselves should be named "Bernadotte-O'Neill" and shouldn't be members of the Royal House, just like Princess Margriet's children in the Netherlands, who are named "Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven".

 

[JR76]

Actually, I think Madeleine's children themselves should be named "Bernadotte-O'Neill" and shouldn't be members of the Royal House, just like Princess Margriet's children in the Netherlands, who are named "Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven".

It's actually against the Swedish law to have hyphenated surnames. If you choose to have two surnames the first one is classified as a middlename.



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[xenobia]

Just for the record, men in Sweden don't automatically hand down their name to their children. If an unmarried couple have a child, that child is registered with the mothers name unless the parents actively make another choice (fathers name). Same thing with married couples with different surnames. Also, when a couple gets married here, they can chose to keep their names, take his or hers name, take an old family name or create a new name. So the whole thing with "men handing down their name to their children" isn't quite the tradition for everyone here in Sweden.

 

[Mbruno]

It's actually against the Swedish law to have hyphenated surnames. If you choose to have two surnames the first one is classified as a middlename.

OK, drop the hyphen then and make it "Bernadotte O'Neill". Wasn't that the name BTW on Leonore's first passport ?

 

[Mbruno]

Just for the record, men in Sweden don't automatically hand down their name to their children. If an unmarried couple have a child, that child is registered with the mothers name unless the parents actively make another choice (fathers name). Same thing with married couples with different surnames. Also, when a couple gets married here, they can chose to keep their names, take his or hers name, take an old family name or create a new name. So the whole thing with "men handing down their name to their children" isn't quite the tradition for everyone here in Sweden.

Interesting ! Has it ever been like that or is it a recent development ?

 

[miss whirley]

It's actually against the Swedish law to have hyphenated surnames. If you choose to have two surnames the first one is classified as a middlename.



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I was assuming the kids would be brought up in the UK and would remain there when they had their own children.

Btw, how do the Swedes view Irish Surnames with apostrophes, like O'Neill. Do they make O the middle name and Neill the last name, or do they dump the apostrophe to make ONeill?

 

[JR76]

Madeleine and Chris: Media Negativity and Public Opinion

Interesting ! Has it ever been like that or is it a recent development ?

I googled it and apparently according to what I found its been illegal since 1963.


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[xenobia]

I googled it and apparently according to what I found its been illegal since 1963

The hyphen between the duble surnames, yes. But the whole thing with chosing freely what surname you want for the kids (and yourself) has been in place quite a while. I need to google that.

 

[xenobia]

I googled!


From 1963, the woman could chose to keep her last name when she got married. In 1982, the law was made totally gender neutral, meaning that the couple who got married could chose his or her name, a family name or a totally new one. This also affected childrens names.

 

[Frelinghighness]

Remember the Danish twins baptism when Fred took visiting relatives out in the evening? I think it is perfectly normal for the mother to stay home after the christening and reception, all exhausting, and the father to entertain whoever is visiting, in the evening.

 

[Winnie]

Thank you everyone for your recent posts on surname customs in Sweden. I really found that extremely interesting. Love learning current customs in other countries. Thank you again.

 

[Lady Nimue]

It was reported by the media that the reception ended around 18.00 o'clock and there's pictures of Victoria, Daniel & Estelle leaving about that time. Reception over at 18 gives plenty of time for Chris to go out and have a dinner with his family.

I agree with everyone along these lines. The tabloids are stirring the pot. Chris and his family partied until 6:00 p.m. with everyone else until the reception was over, and then off they went to a pub leaving Madeleine free to rest. Makes sense to me. (Chris and his family sure have stamina! )

The point made that they could then just gab in English about family stuff is relevant. This criticism is really beyond the pale. Very intrusive imo. It's very clear that the couple are in love and have close family ties on both sides. Let it be, I say.

 

[NotHRH]

Many European countries have basically the same laws as Sweden concerning last names, the 1st that comes to mind is France. Chris is not Swedish, first of all, he has dual British-American citizenship and has only resided in England or the US for his entire life. So surname laws in Sweden probably do not matter to him. I do not view PM as the "evil" sister, but an almost assuredly high maintenance wife. No matter how wealthy Chris is in his own right, it must be very stressful for him. Honestly I do not think this marriage will last, he may just stick around until his children are older so he can have a relationship with both (both+++) - he will stay until his children can form their own opinions about him and not be influenced by CG opinions.

 

[Zonk]

The article posted somehow managed to mash a whole afternoon of activities together to make it look as if the father of the baptized child just took off.

The baptism was at noon followed by a reception and then a lunch for family and friends. There is absolutely no reason to believe that Chris and his family were not present. He was seen dining out with his family in the evening. I am sure by that time Princess Madeleine were worn out and thankful to not have to do any more entertaining. If I were her I would be very grateful for Chris entertaining his family at a restaurant. She could then possible spend a few hours with her family before travelling back to London.

Thank you for this!

Knowing how the German tabloids like to throw dirt, I am somewhat surprised that Chris wasn't even given the benefit of the doubt.

One would naturally assume that there would be a reception after both of the Christenings and that both families would be there to eat, drink and be merry. I see nothing wrong, with Chris and his family after the celebration leaving the building so to speak, to go somewhere else to catch up.

Other than the tabloids there has been no indication that Chris doesn't get along with his in-laws. Since the SRF doesn't live a Big Brother kind of life, we don't know how he interacts with them...some of us are just guessing or all of sudden, interpreting pictures on a screen..not even real time.

There is also nothing wrong with stating that you are bread winner of your family. Since Madeleine's income is tied into her work with the SRF or her inheritance...the day to day maintenance is/will be financed by Chris.

Now we are speculating on his health, the length of his marriage, the name of his children, etc all because he wasn't willing to play the game and expose his very life to the SRF.

 

[NotHRH]

Yes, all of here are speculating about the relationships of Chris, P Madeleine, and the rest of the SRF, but that is all we can do when considering this topic. And it is Chris' behavior/actions toward the media and his in-laws which indirectly throws fuel on the fire that encourages gossip directed toward him. Yes, people (=women) will wonder and gossip about what doesn't add up when all is said and done. It is NOT our business nor does it effect us in any way, but it is the nature of the beast and the pot will get stirred. We all have a gut instinct and it tells us something about this situation is not right. We may find out one day (or maybe not), but until then the plot thickens, courtesy of the tabloids and our discussions.???

 

[MARG]

Well said. It seems that as far as Madeleine and Chris are concerned there is no moral or ethical law the paparazzi will not break and a fair chance that a few legal ones have been broken anyway.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

And it is Chris' behavior/actions toward the media and his in-laws which indirectly throws fuel on the fire that encourages gossip directed toward him.

I think giving the paps the finger when he was already engaged to Madeleine set the tone for the future relationship with the press. It's really a precedent - I can't recall any royal (or royalty-related like Chris) doing that.

 

[Marengo]

Uhm... king Willem-Alexander had quite a few incidents with photographers over the years. It started with shooting elastics at them from the stairs of Soestdijk palace. In this he was joined by his brothers and cousins, something that Pss Beatrix did not appreciate too much. In 1990 he yelled at and hit photographer Joop van Tellingen (who used it as a badge of honour for the rest of his carreer & consequently became our most famous paparazzo) but also in the 2000s he yelled at the paparazzi's at various occassions (in New Zealand, Argentina and London IIRC). Prince Ernst-August of Hanover also got in a few fist fights with photographers.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Oh, yes, I forgot about EA of course! But its a difference whether this is done by a born royal or an commoner in-law. See CG and his escapades.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Swedish press continues with articles on a crisis between Madde/Chris/SRF:

The royal couple have had enough: they freeze out their son in law Chris. Madeleine feels alone and abandoned, says a source.
Kungaparets markering mot Chris | Stoppa Pressarna – Kungligheter – Kungafamiljen – Svensk Damtidning – Prinsessan Madeleine – Kronprinsessan Victoria


"Madeleine would return home". Madeleine does not want to live in London. The Princess only chose to move abroad for her husband Chris sake. She really wants to live in Sweden, says a source.
Madeleines svåra val | Stoppa Pressarna – Kungligheter – Kungafamiljen – Svensk Damtidning – Prinsessan Madeleine – Kronprinsessan Victoria

 

[hernameispekka]

Swedish press continues with articles on a crisis between Madde/Chris/SRF:

The royal couple have had enough: they freeze out their son in law Chris. Madeleine feels alone and abandoned, says a source.
Kungaparets markering mot Chris | Stoppa Pressarna – Kungligheter – Kungafamiljen – Svensk Damtidning – Prinsessan Madeleine – Kronprinsessan Victoria


"Madeleine would return home". Madeleine does not want to live in London. The Princess only chose to move abroad for her husband Chris sake. She really wants to live in Sweden, says a source.
Madeleines svåra val | Stoppa Pressarna – Kungligheter – Kungafamiljen – Svensk Damtidning – Prinsessan Madeleine – Kronprinsessan Victoria

What even is this "Stoppa pressarna" magazine?! I'm swedish and I only hear about it when it comes to really, really tabloidy headlines... And I don't mean Daily Mail bad.. I mean Bild and worse.. Hänt extra level.. I would taake those with a bucket of salt.

 

[LadyFinn]

"Stoppa pressarna" is a web gossip magazine. Stoppa pressarna quotes/copies the articles of Expressen, Expressen Extra, Aftonbladet, Svensk Damtidning, the gossip magazines Hänt i Veckan, Hänt Bild, Hänt Extra and Veckans Nu. By doing so Stoppa pressarna tries to get people to stop ordering paper magazines, because the same stories can be read from their website.

These latest articles about Madeleine and Chris quote articles at the gossip magazine Hänt i Veckan and in Expressen Extra.
On the cover of Hänt i Veckan: The king and Silvia freeze to Chris
https://www.instagram.com/p/-gOmkyGo1p/?taken-by=hant_i_veckan