Princess Birgitta of Sweden

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Princess Birgitta
Princess Birgitta.jpg
Princess Birgitta at the wedding of her niece Madeleine on 8 June 2013
Born (1937-01-19) 19 January 1937 (age 84)
Haga Palace, Solna, Sweden
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1961; died 2016)​
IssuePrince Carl Christian
Princess Désirée
Prince Hubertus
Names
Birgitta Ingeborg Alice
HouseBernadotte
FatherPrince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten
MotherPrincess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Princess Birgitta of Sweden (Birgitta Ingeborg Alice; born 19 January 1937) is an elder sister of King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Family[]

Born at Haga Palace in Stockholm, she is the second child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and a granddaughter of King Gustaf VI Adolf. Her sisters are Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler, Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld, and Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson. She is a first cousin of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

Among her sisters she alone married a man of princely status, and, in keeping with the tradition that princesses who marry princes retain their royal status, Princess Birgitta retained her Swedish style of Royal Highness,[1] a higher treatment than that of Serene Highness, to which the Princes of Hohenzollern and their wives were historically entitled.

Marriage[]

Wedding day of Princess Birgitta of Sweden and Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern in Stockholm.

On a visit in 1959 to friends and relatives in Germany, Birgitta met her future husband at a cocktail party.

On 15 December 1960, her engagement to Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern (31 July 1932 – 2 March 2016), was announced.

The civil ceremony took place at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on 25 May 1961, and the religious in the Sankt Johann Church at the bridegroom's Family Palace of Sigmaringen on 30 May/ 31 July 1961. The bridesmaids were the bride’s sister Princess Christina and cousin Princess Benedikte of Denmark; the groomsmen were the bride's brother Crown Prince Carl Gustaf and her cousin Count Michael Bernadotte of Wisborg (son of Sigvard Bernadotte). Birgitta applied to convert to Roman Catholicism when she married the Hohenzollern prince, but her application was rejected in wording which questioned her spiritual commitment to the change.[2]

Of her marriage, she had three children: Carl (b. 1962), Désirée (b. 1963), and Hubertus (b. 1966). She and her children were passed over for succession to the Swedish throne when subsequent absolute primogeniture was established in Sweden in 1979 and 1980, and then only included her brother's descendants and her uncle Prince Bertil.

Prince Johann Georg and Princess Birgitta separated in 1990, although they remained legally married. She lived on the island of Majorca in Spain, while her husband lived in Munich. He died in 2016.

Public life[]

In November 1960 Birgitta visited the United States accompanied by her younger sister Princess Désirée on behalf of their grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf for the 50th anniversary of The American-Scandinavian Foundation. In their honour a ball was organised for the two princesses at the Renaissance Blackstone Hotel in Chicago by Mayor Richard Daley.[3]

Princess Birgitta was involved with golf and charities outside of Sweden and was an honorary board member of the (British) Royal Swedish Golfing Society,[4] a position she took over when her uncle Prince Bertil died. She had her own golf competition in Majorca, the Princess Birgitta Trophy, at her home golf course.

Birgitta's Coat of arms as a Swedish princess
Birgitta's arms since marrying Prince Johann Georg

Ancestry[]

[citation needed]

See also[]

  • Swedish Royal Family

References[]

  1. ^ "Placering - Sveriges Kungahus". Royalcourt.se. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  2. ^ Roger Lundgren in Sibylla en biografi Bonniers Stockholm ISBN 9789100111120 p. 223
  3. ^ "November 3, 1960 - 2 Princesses Will Visit Chicago | Chicago Tribune Archive". Archives.chicagotribune.com. 3 November 1960. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  4. ^ "Latest competitions - The Royal Swedish Golfing Society". Rsgs.info. Retrieved 17 August 2013.

External links[]

Media related to Princess Birgitta of Sweden at Wikimedia Commons

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