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Born in Danderyd, in 1984, Sofia was one of three girls born to a Swedish marketing manager mother and a Danish-Swedish father. After completing an arts programme at Vansbro Education Centre, Sofia’s natural good looks – she is known for her piercing blue eyes and cascading brunette locks – led to her forging a career as a model in her early 20s.

She infamously posed in the pages of one of Slitz, a now-defunct Swedish men’s magazine, wearing nothing but a pair of bikini briefs and a snake wrapped around her torso. The shoot led to her winning a readers’ vote and eventually to her being cast in a reality TV show, Paradise Hotel (a precursor to Love Island), although she left her entertainment career behind to pursue a life in New York. 

 Prince Carl Phillip of Sweden and Princess Sofia of Sweden in Stockholm in 2018

Michael Campanella/Getty Images

In 2005, Sofia enrolled in an accounting programme in the Big Apple, where she worked as a yoga instructor while specialising in business development. She also undertook a course at Stockholm University. 

Her relationship with Prince Carl Philip, whose eldest sister, Crown Princess Victoria, is heir to the throne, was confirmed by the palace in July 2010. It is thought the couple crossed paths in a nightclub. Nine months later it was announced the couple had moved in together in Djurgården of Stockholm, where they continue to live today in the Villa Solbacken.