Sweden's Playboy Prince Carl Philip to marry ex-glamour model girlfriend Sofia Hellqvist Friday June 27,2014

Prince Carl Philip of Sweden has proposed to his ex-glamour model girlfriend, four years after the pair controversial began dating

The 35-year-old royal sparked outrage when he started dating Sofia Hellqvist, a reality TV star, in January 2010.

But today Friday June 27,2014, the Swedish court announced the couple will marry next summer.

Sofia, pictured here in catalogue La Redoute, made her name as a model before appearing on the reality 
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Sofia Hellqvist has posed for men's magazines and was a finalist in a racy reality TV programme

The pair, pictured here at the StafettVasan Cross Country skiing race in 2013, met in 2009 in a club. They have lived together on the Stockholm island of Djurgarden since 2011

As the only son of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, the prince, pictured here with Sofia at a wedding in August 2013, was heir to the throne for a few months after he was born, until the principle of primogeniture was introduced in 1980

Note
As the only son of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, the prince was the heir to the throne for a seven months after he was born in May 1979

 
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Silvia with their children, from left:
Prince Carl Philip, Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine

But in January 1980 the rules were changed and the principle of primogeniture was introduced, meaning the throne would be inherited by the monarch's eldest child, Crown Princess Victoria.
She will then be succeeded by her daughter Estelle, who was born in February 2012.
Sweden is a constitutional monarchy in which the royals primarily serve as figureheads. The King is the country's head of state, but his powers are limited to ceremonial duties.
Carl Philip's father, Carl XVI Gustaf, has been King of Sweden since 1973. 

The Prince Carl Philip had been with his previous partner, PR executive Emma Pernald, for ten years before they suddenly split in 2009