Prince Gustav and Princess Carina of Denmark welcome their second child via surrogacy and say ‘everyone doing well and is very happy’

Prince Gustav and Princess Carina of Denmark have welcomed their second child via surrogate, the Palace has announced.

Gustav – who is Queen Margrethe’s nephew – and Carina both 55, have been together for more than 20 years and tied the knot in Germany two years ago.

The couple spent years fighting a strict inheritance rule set by the Prince’s Nazi grandfather in the 1930s, which prevented them from marrying.

They had their first child via a surrogate in the US last year and they were both present during the childbirth.

Now, the Palace has announced that the pair have had their second baby via a surrogate.

A delighted Carina and Gustav welcomed their second child – a baby girl – into the world on April 26.

A spokesperson for the palace confirmed the news to German media and said: ‘Their Highnesses, Prince Gustav and Princess Carina, have become parents for the second time. 

‘They have had a daughter. Everyone involved is doing well and is very happy. The child was born on Friday 26 April.’

Prince Gustav is the son of Queen Margrethe’s sister Princess Benedikte and her husband Prince Richard – who passed away in 2017 at the age of 82.

Gustav and Carina were banned from marrying as a result of a legal clause set by the royal’s grandfather Prince Gustav Albrecht. 

In the 1930s, he set up his will to prevent relations from inheriting family property if they marry someone not of Protestant, noble and Aryan descent. 

By 1944, he went missing while serving as an officer in the German Army, during a mission near Orsha, Belarus. The soldier was declared MIA and no one sought an official declaration of death until Gustav was born in 1969. 

Gustav’s father Prince Richard was able to inherit property because his wife – Princess Benedikte of Denmark – met the strict and controlling criteria. 

However, Carina Axelsson, 54 – who is an American author best known for the teen fashion detective series Model Under Cover – has Swedish and Mexican heritage, and hence didn’t satisfy the will’s agenda. 

Before meeting Carina at a dinner party, Gustav had been engaged to Elvire Pasté de Rochefort, who came from an aristocratic French family.

However, their nuptials were called off just two months before the wedding.

Gustav reportedly met Carina in 2003 and the author later moved into the Schloss Berleburg estate with him.

Carina and Gustav welcomed their first child in June last year via surrogate. The Palace said in a statement at the time: ‘Princess Carina & Prince Gustav are very happy & grateful for this opportunity & thanks everyone involved who has helped to find a legally legal path to follow.’

The Prince and Princess name their baby Prince Gustav Albrecht of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg.

The pair had a christening for their child and had King Frederik’s eldest son, Prince Christian of Denmark, as a godparent alongside Princess Theodora of Greece, 40, actress Ellen Hillingsø, 56, Prince Franz-Albrecht, 40, Arabella Gaggero and Prince Carl-Anton.