Prince Oscar of Sweden celebrates 4th birthday with dashing new photos

Happy birthday,  Prince Oscar !  Crown Princess Victoria  and  Prince Daniel  of Sweden’s son turned four years old on Monday, March 2. To celebrate his big day, the Swedish Royal Court released two new black and white photos of the young Prince, which were taken last month at the Crown Princess family’s home, Haga Castle. Oscar flashed a toothy grin in one solo shot as he happily gazed out of a window.

© Linda Brostrom, The Royal Court of Sweden.

In the second image, the little Prince was joined by big sister,  Princess Estelle . The adorable brother-sister duo posed on the floor, with a pensive Oscar resting his head on one of his hands. The birthday boy looked every bit the dashing Prince wearing a button-down shirt with a V-neck sweater pulled over, while styling his hair to one side. The pictures  appear to have been taken the same day as the photos that were released to mark Estelle’s eighth birthday on February 23 .

Victoria’s youngest child is third in the line of succession to the Swedish throne after Estelle and the Crown Princess. Last year,  King Carl XVI Gustaf slimmed down the Swedish Royal House by removing Oscar’s maternal cousins —Princess Leonore, Prince Nicolas, Princess Adrienne, Prince Alexander and Prince Gabriel—who won’t be expected to perform official royal duties in the future.  Princess Madeleine  and  Prince Carl Philip ’s children also lost their Royal Highness status. The Swedish Royal Court noted at the time that only those who are “close to the throne and have such a position” should be styled as Royal Highness, including Prince Oscar and Princess Estelle.

© Linda Brostrom, The Royal Court of Sweden

Despite being members of the royal family,  Prince Daniel has previously opened up about his desire for future Queen Estelle and Oscar to experience life as a non-royal, like he did . "I also think it's important to let the children visit all sorts of environments,” he told the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter in 2017. “You need to know how the metro works, and what it's like to travel by bus and what it's like to stand in line, and what it's like to experience that passion within the sports community when there's a game and the [AIK football team's supporter club] Black Army is chanting away. That's something I don't want them to miss out on."