She is third in line to the Swedish throne (behind her sister, Crown Princess Victoria and brother, Prince Carl Philip), and 189th in the Line of Succession to the British Throne through her father, who is a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Her fourth name, Josephine, is in honour of her ancestress Josephine of Leuchtenberg (later Queen of Sweden and Norway under the name Josefina) the daughter of Eugène de Beauharnais, son of Napoleon Bonaparte’s first wife Joséphine by her first husband. Princess Madeleine was born at Drottningholm Palace.
The Princess was christened at The Royal Palace Church on 31 August 1982. Her godparents are Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Walther Sommerlath, Princess Benedikte of Denmark, and Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson.