STOCKHOLM: Flag-waving Swedes and royals celebrated as Sweden's Princess Madeleine, the youngest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf, on Saturday married New York businessman Chris O'Neill.
Royal watchers cheered as the newlyweds kissed three times in front of the crowd after leaving the palace in Stockholm.
With a bright sun shining, the couple rode in a horse and carriage procession through the streets of the capital, heading from the Royal Palace to the nearby island of Riddarholmen.
From Riddarholmen, they were scheduled to travel by boat with some of their wedding guests to the Drottningholm Palace, where Madeleine was born in 1982, for dinner.
At the ceremony inside the royal chapel, O'Neill held back tears as his bride walked down the isle to a Swedish wedding hymn, minutes before Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson performed one of her best know Swedish ballads.
The wedding, held in Swedish and English, was witnessed by other royals, including Princess Charlene of Monaco, Princess Takamado of Japan and Britain's Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.
The bride, who turns 31 on Monday, wore a dress by Italian designer Valentino Garavani.
The photogenic princess met New York financier O'Neill while working in the United States with the World Childhood Foundation, a charity set up in 1999 by her mother, Queen Silvia.
The 38-year-old groom has declined taking a royal title, which would require him to become a Swedish citizen and give up his job as a partner and head of research at Noster Capital, a previously relatively unknown hedge fund.
The US-British businessman sparked controversy in November last year when he made an obscene gesture at a photographer, raising questions over whether he was a suitable spouse for the princess, who is fourth in the line of succession.
Daniel Nyhlen, the author of a recently released book on Madeleine, commented that he doubted her wedding would match that of Crown Princess Victoria's in 2010 "because her sister is so incredibly popular.".
Victoria's unpretentious, down-to-earth style has made her Sweden's favourite royal, according to polls.
By contrast, her younger sister has had an uneasy relationship with the public, shunning the media and sometimes appearing in the tabloids after being snapped by paparazzi during one of her shopping sprees.
In her early twenties, she earned a reputation for partying in Stockholm's trendy nightclubs.
Victoria charmed the Swedish people by "talking and expressing herself like any Swede," Nyhlen noted. "Madeleine has a different style: you can hear that she's a member of high society."
Even in the run-up to her wedding, Madeleine made headlines for all the wrong reasons after being stopped by police for driving in the bus lane. The royal court has claimed the car had permission to do so.
In 2003, the young royal was photographed driving on a pedestrian street. "I think the wedding could mark the beginning of a calmer and more mature princess. You could say that the little sister has grown up," Nyhlen said.
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