Meet the former NYC waitress and Swedish reality show star who just became a princess
But Sweden's Prince Carl Philip doesn't seem to care much.
He tied the knot with Hellqvist on June 13, amid a lavish ceremony in the chapel of Sweden's Royal Palace.
Now known as HRH Princess Sofia, Duchess of Värmland, Hellqvist has a few skeletons (and a boa constrictor) in her closet.
Her modeling, reality TV, and waitressing days
Before meeting her prince, Hellqvist starred in the Swedish version of a reality show called "Paradise Hotel," which stuffs a group of singles in a luxury hotel resort and films what happens.
She even modeled for a Swedish men's magazine, Slitz, which has since shuttered. According to The Telegraph, she posed topless for the magazine, save for a boa constrictor draped around her neck. For this, she was voted "Miss Slitz" in 2004.
Getty / Andreas RentzHellqvist's sunburst tattoo was visible underneath her veil.
Later, Hellqvist moved to New York and worked as a waitress and yoga instructor while taking business classes. "She has a calming effect on people, " Fabio Granato, co-owner of Serafina, the restaurant where Hellqvist worked nearly 10 years ago, told the New York Post.
More recently, she has become involved in charity work, co-founding Project Playground, a nonprofit organization that supports the youth of Cape Town, South Africa.
Fun fact: HRH Princess Sofia has a tattoo of a sunburst on the back of her neck.
How she met her prince
The two met while vacationing in the seaside resort town of Bastad, Sweden - in the summer of 2009 - and they've been rendezvousing around Sweden and New York ever since.
The Swedish press has not been exceptionally kind to the new princess, but the couple has been quick to defend their relationship, which Hellqvist called "love at first sight."
What are her chances of becoming Sweden's queen? Not very high. Philip is third in line to throne.
