Sweden's Prince Carl Philip weds ex-model

Royals from around the world gathered to join in the celebrations at the lavish marriage ceremony in Sweden's capital on Saturday. Among those invited were the queens of Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway, as well as Britain's Prince Edward and Japan's Princess Takamando.

Large crowds also lined the streets of Stockholm to catch a glimpse of the newly-married couple as they travelled by horse and carriage in a ceremonial procession.

Carl Philip, 36, the second of three children and only son of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, later thanked those who had assembled on the route for "coming to share our joy."

"That so many are here to celebrate love shows that Sweden is a warm country," the 36-year-old said from the palace.

'Non-nonoble' descent

The newly-weds reportedly met at a lunch with mutual friends in 2010 before getting engaged June last year.

Sofia, 30, was born into a middle-class Swedish family in the town of Alvdalen. In 2005, she moved to New York where she studied accounting and worked as a yoga teacher and waitress.

In 2010, she and a friend founded the "Project Playground" charity to help disadvantaged children in South Africa, after working as a volunteer in several African countries.

'No regrets'

Having also posed topless with a boa constrictor for a men's magazine in 2004, the Swedish media has been keen to report about Sofia's past during her courtship with the Swedish Prince.

Amid the media frenzy, the princess told Swedish television, however, that she didn't regret anything.

All three of monarch's children have now married and into families of non-noble descent. Prince Carl Philip was previously first-in-line to the throne, until 1980 when Sweden changed its succession law to make the eldest child - and not the eldest male - the heir.

ksb/rc (Reuters, AFP, dpa)