Princess Sofia and Prince Carl Philip's fourth child has arrived – and it's a girl

Congratulations are in order for the Swedish Royal family with today's announcement that Her Royal Highness Princess Sofia has welcomed the couple's fourth child. The baby – confirmed to be a girl – joins big brothers Prince Alexander, eight, Prince Gabriel, seven, and Prince Julian, three. The news was shared via the official Kungahuset Instagram account, advising the birth occured at 1:10PM on Friday 7th February at Stockholm's Danderyd Hospital.

As the cover star of Vogue Scandinavia's recent December-January issue, 40-year-old Princess Sofia remarked that she "always, always, always dreamt of a family. It’s one of my biggest goals in life. Not everyone has that – I had that.“

She also acknowledged their fourth pregnancy was something of a 'bonus', saying: "Both me and my husband come from a family of five – with three kids – so we thought that that would be a good number, and we felt quite satisfied with that. But, gratefully, there’s a bonus on the way. We feel very humble and grateful. It was maybe not in the plan, but now we are very, very excited. Especially the kids.”

After an overnight stay at the hospital, the proud parents departed the maternity ward on Saturday morning with their newborn to return home to Djurgården. "Everything went great," they said to the gathered media, with Prince Carl Philip adding that Alexander, Gabriel and Julian were "looking forward to getting to know their new little sister."

By Monday, the name was officially announced: Ines Silvia Marie Lillian, to be awarded Duchess of Västerbotten. The name is full of family significance, honouring both of her grandmothers: Carl Philip's mother, Queen Silvia, and Sofia's mother, Marie.