This ^^ is a photo from 2006. The lady is Emma Pernald and the gentleman is Jonas Bergstrom. At the time, Emma was Prince Carl Philip’s long-term girlfriend and Jonas was Princess Madeleine’s boyfriend. Just a few years after this photo, Emma and Carl Philip were over, as were Madeleine and Jonas. Madeleine went on to marry Christopher O’Neill (who seems like an utterly boring Wall Street-type), and Carl Philip will marry Sofia Hellqvist next weekend. Sofia and Carl Philip officially began in 2008, after he and Emma split. Unofficially? There might have been some overlap.
Why this trip down memory lane? Emma and the Swedish prince were together for many years. Emma was sort of Carl Philip’s Kate Middleton – Emma stuck around for 10 years, possibly waiting for the ring. I believe Emma and Carl Philip lived together and had a low-key life for much of their relationship. But he ended up wanting something different, so he got with Sofia and Sofia got the ring. And ahead of Carl Philip’s wedding, he and Sofia did a big interview in which he claimed that this is the first time he’s ever felt “the magic of love.” Emma took issue with that. Emma took issue with that PUBLICLY.
It isn’t always easy seeing an ex get married – especially when that ex happens to be royalty. Prince Carl Philip of Sweden is set to marry fiancée Sofia Hellqvist on June 13, and the 36-year-old royal has been gushing about his bride-to-be. In an interview with Swedish channel TV 4, Carl Philip said he didn’t know “the magic of love” before he met 30-year-old Sofia.
“Ever since I met her, I’ve seen how love can change a person,” he said.
While the sentiment was sweet, there was one person who wasn’t exactly thrilled to hear Carl Philip’s proclamation of love – his ex Emma Pernald, whom he dated for 10 years before breaking it off in 2008.
“It was strange to hear that,” Pernald said about Carl Philip’s comments to Swedish publication Aftonbladet (via Hello). “I felt love in the 10 years that we shared together.”
Pernald, who now works as a PR executive, was famously tight-lipped about the pair’s royal romance after their split. The pair reportedly remain on friendly terms, “strange” comments or not.
Still, it’s hard not to be happy for someone about finding love again. Margareta Gotthardsson, royals reporter at Svensk Damtidning, tells PEOPLE: “I think the palace was happy for the prince being in love again after his breakup with his ex, Emma Pernald. When you see the prince and Sofia together, it’s obvious that they are very much in love. It’s impossible not to be happy for them.”
Well, that was… controlled. That’s how I sound when I’m seething with rage – I get strangely calm and I speak in short sentences. “It was strange to hear that. I thought we loved each other. I guess I hope she makes him happy. I definitely hope they both burn in hell.” Poor Emma. If only she had a mother like Carole Middleton, she would have figured out a way to waity a ring out of him!
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
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