The death of Princess Birgitta of Sweden leaves three of the Haga princesses - the elder sisters of King Carl XVI Gustaf still living: Margaretha (1934), Desiree (1937 and Christina (1943). Princess Birgitta was the only sister to retain her HRH and title of Princess of Sweden as she married equally.
None of the sisters had succession rights. Salic law—males only—governed Swedish succession until January 1980, when Parliament approved a new succession law, allowing the eldest child of the sovereign to succeed. The new law applied solely to the descendants of King Carl XVI Gustaf.
Princess Birgitta Ingeborg Alice was born "early in the morning" at Haga Palace on January 19, 1937. Mother and her infant daughter were said to be "doing well. Her birth was announced with a forty-two-gun salute in Stockholm.
She was the second of five children of Hereditary Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her two middle names honored two beloved family members: Princess Ingeborg of Denmark who married Prince Carl of Sweden, King Gustav VI Adolf's uncle, and Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, Princess Sibylla's paternal aunt. Princess Alice was also the first cousin of Birgitta's paternal grandmother, Princess Margaret of Connaught.
Her baptism took place on March 15, 1937. Her godparents were Countess Estelle Bernadotte af Wisborg, former King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, Princess Ingeborg of Sweden, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, Princess Helena Victoria, Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke, and Prince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Countess Estelle Bernadotte was the American-born wife of Count Folke Bernadotte, Princess Helena Victoria was a first cousin of Birgitta's paternal grandmother, Princess Margaret of Connaught, Prince Eugen was the younger brother of King Gustaf V and Prince Hubertus was Sibylla's brother.
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| June 7, 1937 |
She was only four months old when she flew for the first time, traveling with her family to Berlin to visit her maternal grandparents, the Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha In June 1937.
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Birgitta and her sisters spent their childhood in Haga Palace, located in Haga Park. There, they were surrounded by animals, including ducks, geese, and a pony, Eva, a gift from their father. Gustaf Adolf and Sibylla moved into the property shortly after their wedding in 1932. The palace's last resident Princess Therese died in 1914. She was the widow of Prince August, the youngest son of King Oscar I.
Renovations were made to the palace before the Hereditary Prince and Princess moved in. All five of their children were born in the Haga Palace.
Summer vacation was divided between three royal residences. The first week was always spent at Solfiero, followed by a trip to Falsterbo, on Sweden's west coast, where the princesses enjoyed swimming in the Baltic Sea. The final two weeks of their summer break were at Solliden on Oland with their great-grandfather, King Gustaf V.
Although she was only a child during World War II, Birgitta remembered rations, including butter, and dark curtains for the palace windows. She said her father told her he did not want "for our family to have any special privileges. He was concerned that others were "forced to give up so much."
Birgitta was ten years old when her father was killed in a plane crash. On January 26, 1947, Gustaf Adolf and two friends were returning to Stockholm after a hunting trip in the Netherlands, where he also visited Princess Juliana and her husband, Prince Bernhard. The KLM flight had made a random stop at Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen. The plane was improperly serviced after landing. This led to the fatal accident that killed the Hereditary Prince and 21 others, including the crew.
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Nine months earlier Princess Sibylla had given birth to a son, Carl Gustaf, who was third in line to the Swedish throne after his father and grandfather. Now, he was the heir presumptive to the Swedish throne.
In a 2015 interview with Aftonbladet, the princess discussed her childhood at Haga Palace. "Then we were a family. That was when my dad was still alive. He died when I had just celebrated my tenth birthday."
The young princess found it difficult to grieve as the family was not allowed to talk about Gustaf Adolf's death. "My mother absolutely didn't want to talk about Dad. It wasn't quite right. I miss Dad more and more every day."
On October 29, 1950, King Gustav V died, and Birgitta's grandfather succeeded as King Gustav VI Adolf. Her little brother was now the Crown Prince.
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The princess and her sisters were educated at the palace until their teens. Brigitta was 14 when she was sent to the Franska Skolan (French school) in Stockholm. All four sisters were born in the Haga Palace and were known as the "Hagasessorna" -- the Haga Princesses.
Birgitta and her siblings had a close and loving relationship with their nanny, Ingrid Björnberg, known as "Nennie." The "beloved nanny" described Birgitta as "outgoing and sporty."
She finished secondary education at Chateaux d'Oex, a Swiss girls' school. She admitted years later that she preferred sports to education.
Princess Sibylla, accompanied by her two eldest daughters, Margaretha and Birgitta, sailed to Tilbury on the Swedish Lloyd ship, Patricia, arriving on June 10, 1954. The three princesses stayed at Kensington Palace with Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, and her husband, the Earl of Athlone. Although this was a private visit, the Times reported they attended the Richmond Horse show, as Lord was the president.
In 1957, Princess Birgitta was profiled in the Los Angeles Times. The headline Royal Tumbler referred to her gymnastic skills. She did "somersaults and handstands with the grace of a princess. Birgitta was working on her qualifications to be a gymnastics instructor. The Los Angeles Times noted she was interested in many sports, but "can also cook, dance, draw and speak several languages." She was also the only person of her rank who wore a "dress she designed herself" at the Nobel Prize banquet.
The princess had taken a dressmaking course at the "fashionable Marthaskolan sewing school."
The princess trained at the Central Institute of Gymnastics between 1956-1958. She quickly found a job as a teacher at Brom's school, where she worked for one year. During her brief teaching career, she was addressed as Instructor, and not as a Princess. Her pupils' parents "found her a good teacher, easily accessible for discussion of every day problems."
The princess also enjoyed fencing, but contrary to what several non-Swedish writers have written, Birgitta was not a member of the 1964 Swedish Olympic team. Nor was she asked to be on the team. Two Swedish women competed in foil. In 1964, she had been married for three years and living in Munich with her husband and two young children.
However, Birgitta did win a fencing title. On December 29, 1959, she "beat 12 other club members" to become the "female champion of the Stockholm Fencing Club. According to the UPI article, this was "her first try" for the championship. On December 11, 1960, she won a "national championship in fencing." This detail was included in the Associated Press report about her engagement to Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern.
There were also "rumors that various European princes hope to interrupt her (teaching) career." The 20-year-old Princess admitted she has "no marriage plans."
One month later, the Swedish court denied press reports of a romance between Birgitta and Swedish hockey player Sven "Tumba" Johansson. The Lord High Chamberlain Baron Carl-Reinhold von Essen told the press that the report was "preposterous." Tumba's fiancee, Britta Strahle, also responded, stating the rumors were "Monumental trash."
[Sven, who legally changed his surname to Tumba in 1965, and his wife, Mona, were lifelong friends of the late Princess Birgitta. They shared a passion for golf. He did not marry Britta Strahle.]
In May 1957, the Washington Post published a feature article on European princesses, including Birgitta and her three sisters. The paper repeated the rumors about Birgitta and Johansson. He responded: "You must ask the Princess. You can just say we are good friends."
Birgitta was fond of several authors, including William Faulkner, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Erskine Caldwell.
Another profile of the Haga princesses was published in the Christian Science Monitor in March 1958. Birgitta was described as "practical, outgoing, and loves sports." The following month, Birgitta and her younger sister, Désirée, were among 12 unmarried princesses who were invited by King Baudouin of the Belgians to a "great state ball," where the king's subjects hoped "he would lose his heart and win a queen."
King Gustav VI Adolf was keen to introduce his unmarried granddaughters to other European royals. On March 12, 1960, he hosted a ball for Princesses Margaretha, Birgitta, and Désirée. The guest list of 250 people "caused talk of matching making in Stockholm."
The names on the list included Crown Prince Constantine of the Hellenes, 19, Crown Prince Harald of Norway, 23, former King Simeon of Bulgaria, 22, and 24-year-old, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. Six German princes -- Prince Friedrich Josias of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Birgitta's uncle), Prince Ludwig of Baden, Prince Maximilian of Bavaria, Prince Karl of Hesse, Prince Kraft of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Count Hans Veit of Toerring-Jettenbach were also on the list.
Eight other eligible princesses joined the three Swedish princesses: Sophie and Irene of Greece, Margrethe of Denmark, Beatrix and Irene of the Netherlands, Princess Astrid of Norway, Princess Alexandra of Kent, and Princess Beatrix of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.
Although the press did not know it at the time of the ball, Princess Birgitta had already met her future husband. In the fall of 1959, She moved to Munich to study German (her mother's first language). She met HSH Prince Johann "Hansi" Georg of Hohenzollern at a cocktail party.
In November 1960, Princess Birgitta and Princess Désiree spent ten days in the United States. They were accompanied by the Court Chamberlain, Count Lewenhaupt. The whirlwind visit included Philadelphia, Wilmington, Delaware, Chicago, and New York City.
The trip was sponsored by the American-Scandinavian Foundation, which was celebrating its 50th anniversary.
The princesses arrived in New York City on the evening of November 7, one day before the Presidential election between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. During their first day in New York, they had a morning walk in Central Park, watched the Rockettes perform at Radio City Music Hall, and went to the top of the Empire State Building to view the "lights of the city."
They also visited a polling place in New York City, where the Commissioner of the Department of Commerce and Public Events demonstrated "the workings of a sample voting machines." Both princesses agreed that the voting machine was "wonderful." The princesses, as members of the Swedish Royal Family, "do not vote at home."
During her first day in New York, Princess Birgitta, 23, wore a "beaver coat over a blue woolen ensemble."
In the evening, Birgitta and Désirée were guests at a private dinner at the Swedish Consul General's home where they watched the election returns.
They were the guests of honor at the "Tribute to Sweden Ball," held in the Grand Ballroom in the Plaza Hotel. The ball benefited the newly opened International Cultural Center in Jerusalem.
In Chicago, the princesses attended an "old-fashioned tea dance on November 12 in the Sheraton-Blackstone Hotel's Crystal Ballroom. An aide to Mayor Richard Daley told the Chicago Tribune: "We expect some help from the State Department Office of Protocol and the Swedish Embassy in Washington to determine how young men may meet and dance with the princesses."
During their time in Chicago, Birgitta, and Désirée met "plenty of young people". They had lunch at the University of Chicago and attended Northwestern's homecoming game with Michigan State University. They attended Immanuel Lutheran Church, the oldest Swedish Lutheran Church in Chicago, and "were entertained by Chicagoans of Swedish descent at North Park College, a Lutheran school before flying back to New York City.
The two princesses sat in the second pew as the collection plate was being passed. Their lady-in-waiting, Dagmar Nyblaeus, realized they did not have American cash with them. She sat in the pew behind the two princesses and handed them a few dollars, which they put on the plate. Birgitta and Désirée present the pastor, C.J. Curtis with a book on the Church of Sweden.
The princesses, however, did not indulge in shopping on Michigan Avenue. According to the Swedish Royal Family "live on a budget." The Chicago Tribune reported that the Swedish royals live "frugally on funds provided by the state. The princesses were raised to "be conscious of a need for economic living."
As princesses did not have succession rights, Birgitta and her sisters were never expected to be full-time working royals. In the early 1960s, many assumed that it would be more difficult for the Haga princesses to marry other royals.
In New York, the princesses went "museum hopping, from the Guggenheim to the Metropolitan Museum. They also held their first press conference, which Désirée described afterward, as "difficult and so many people."
The two princesses acknowledged they liked "everything" about their time in the United States. In Chicago, they were introduced to former President Harry S. Truman. They found him to be "a very charming man," but their conversation with him was "about nothing special."
The two princesses admitted they "shopped a little." Not for clothes, Birgitta admitted, but for record albums. "Rock 'n' roll, cha-cha-cha and everything," she said.
Of course, they were asked about American men. Diplomatically, the sisters acknowledged liking American men. Birgitta added: "Everyone is so different, so you can't say why."
One reporter asked if the princesses enjoyed the Guggenheim.
"It's very modern, but I like it," Birgitta responded. Her younger sister thought the museum was "amusing."
The two princesses had separate engagements during their final day in New York. Birgitta spent the morning visiting physical education classes at Hunter College before rejoining Désirée for an "afternoon visit to the Swedish Home for the Aged on Staten Island."
The princess flew back to Stockholm on November 17. Count Lewenhaupt told the press that the princesses had been "very touched" during the reception they received.
Birgitta harbored a secret during her visit to the USA. In September she said yes to Hansi's marriage proposal.
The meeting at the cocktail party with Hansi developed into a romance and a marriage proposal from Hansi. In Munich, the couple spent a lot of time together. "The two had much fun together at Munich's Fasching (Carnival)They attended the Carnival, but nobody thought that anything serious would develop," a Hohenzollern spokesman told the Associated Press.
Hansi was invited to an elk hunt in Sweden. This was "the first time he was introduced to the Swedish royal family," said the Hohenzollern spokesman.
A family friend added: "The prince is working on his doctor's thesis and is to take his degree soon. He specializes in archaeology. That is actually his chief hobby. The others are hunting and driving."
He proposed in September 1960, but the official announcement had to wait until after Princess Birgitta's official visit to the United States.
In the 2015 Aftonbladet interview, Birgitta spoke about meeting Johan George for the first time. "My future husband was supposed to pick me and my friend up with a car. I sat in the back. I fell in love at once."
On December 15, 1960, the Swedish court announced Birgitta's engagement with Hansi. She was the first of the Haga prri Birgitta was the first of the four sisters to become engaged.
Prince Johann Georg was the sixth of seven children of Prince Friedrich of Hohenzollern and Princess Margarete of Saxony, the daughter of the last King of Saxony, King Friedrich August.
At the time of the engagement, Johann Georg was a student of arts and archaeology at the University of Munich where he was completing his doctoral thesis in art history.
Religion played a role in where their civil and religious ceremonies took place. King Gustav VI Adolf wanted his granddaughter to be married in the Lutheran church, which was vetoed by Roman Catholic officials. The compromise would allow for a civil ceremony in Stockholm and a religious wedding in Sigmaringen.
Princess Birgitta and Prince Johann Georg's civil marriage on May 25, 1961, was held in the Royal Palace's Hall of State. The mayor of Stockholm officiated at the ceremony. The couple's religious wedding - a Roman Catholic ceremony- occurred in Munich on May 30th. Religious weddings are not legal in Germany, thus, the need for a civil wedding.
More than 750 guests attended the civil marriage. According to the Times correspondent in Stockholm, the Princess, "an instructor of gymnastics and champion fencer", looked "radiant in a dress of ivory-colored duchesse and a veil of tulle." Her bouquet included a sprig of myrtle from the tree that her grandmother, Princess Margaret of Connaught brought to Sweden following her marriage in 1905 to the future King Gustav VI. Her wedding gown was made by the Marthaskolan school.
Wedding rings were not exchanged during the civil ceremony.
The only two British guests were Sir Alexander and Lady Patricia Ramsay, the younger sister of the bride's grandmother, Princess Margaret of Connaught, who died in 1920.
The two groomsmen were Birgitta's 15-year-old brother, then Crown Prince Carl Gustaf, and their first cousin, Count Michael Bernadotte af Wisborg, son of former Prince Sigvard of Sweden. Her bridesmaids were her sister, Princess Christina, and her first cousin, Princess Benedikte of Denmark.
After the ceremony, the newlyweds drove through central Stockholm "in brilliant sunshine and were greeted by large and enthusiastic crowds."
King Gustav VI and Queen Louise hosted a luncheon in the palace for 270 guests. One of the wedding presents received by Princess Birgitta and Prince Johann Georg was a complete kitchen for their new home. The gift was from the Djurgarden Sports Club to "Member 2001" -- Princess Birgitta. The equipment for the couple's new home in Munich will be one of the "most modern available."
The day after their civil marriage, Prince Johann Georg returned to Germany. He nearly forgot to kiss his bride as he headed up the stairs to the plane. He was "halfway up the steps to the cabin door," when he realized he had not said goodbye to Birgitta, who was standing on the tarmac. Prince Johann Georg "dashed back and gave Princess Birgitta a hug and a kiss."
As the couple were not "yet married in the eyes of the Catholic Church," they spent the previous night in separate rooms at the palace.
The night before the couple's wedding, a dinner and dance was held at Schloss Sigmaringen, the family seat for the Hohenzollern princely family.
King Gustaf VI Adolf did not attend his granddaughter's religious wedding in Sigmaringen. The official reason given by the court was based on protocol as the king had yet to make a state visit to Germany. Sources "close to the Swedish court," said the "possible objections from the Catholic Church," might have been the reason for the king's decision.
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A procession of 130 guests walked on a red carpet from the castle to St. Johann church, "with cheering spectators." Prince Johann Georg walked to the church with his mother, Princess Margarete. The bride was escorted by her uncle, Prince Bertil of Sweden, and her father-in-law, Prince Friedrich. She was dressed in the same gown she wore for the civil ceremony, with one difference. The veil was held in place by the "Hohenzollern bridal crown of diamonds in a clover-shaped silver setting."
Prince Karl Friedrich, the present Prince of Hohenzollern, was nine years old when he carried Princess Birgitta's train. "It was the first big wedding that I was able to experience. We boys were dressed in Hohenzollern colors. The girls wore the Swedish colors of blue and yellow," Karl Friedrich told the Schwäbische Zeitung.
The Prince is the eldest son of the late Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern, elder brother of Prince Johann Georg.
Father Benedikt Reetz, the priest who conducted the service, warned the couple "that though the Stockholm wedding allows them to separate, today's wedding bonds which only God can break."
After the wedding, the bride and groom rode in an open coach through Sigmaringen to the castle for the reception.
After their honeymoon, the couple moved into a bungalow home in the Grünewald area in Munich. They spent part of their honeymoon at a villa in France, where a freelance photographer snapped the couple sunbathing. The photograph was sold to a British newspaper, the Daily Express. A Labour MP, Woodrow Wyatt complained that the photo, taken five weeks after the wedding, was "vulgar, in bad taste, served no public good and constituted an unwarrantable intrusion into the privacy of those concerned," reported The Times on September 29, 1961.
The photo, "obviously taken with a long-distance lens," showed Princess Birgitta, "scantily attired, lying face down on the balcony of a private villa." Her husband was "tripped to the waist." The photo caption stated Johann Georg was applying suntan lotion to his wife's back.
The Daily Express' editor, Edward Pickering, said the photograph was not taken by a staff photographer He said he had "difficulty in establishing the circumstances in which it was taken." He recognized the "borderline of taste in such matters could be narrow." He did not believe the photo to be vulgar or in bad taste.
Britain's Press Council sided with MP Wyatt and stated that the "publication of the picture was in bad taste and an intrusion into privacy."
Birgitta's marriage provided a "relatively normal life. "To pick up a phone and just call a dentist, have money in hand, and go shopping ... I hadn't done anything. Everything was totally new," she said during a 2022 Swedish documentary, Sessan - A Royal Saga.
On November 25, 1961, the Swedish palace announced the princess was expecting her first child. She gave birth to Prince Carl Christian Friedrich Johannes Meinrad Maria Hubertus Edmund in Munich on April 5, 1962. Two more children would follow: Princess Désirée Margarethe Victoria Louise Sibylla Katharina on November 27, 1963, and Prince Hubertus Gustav Adolf Veit Georg Meinrad Maria Alexander on June 10, 1966. All three children were born in Munich.
Princess Birgitta agreed to raise their children Roman Catholic although she remained Lutheran. She had applied to convert to Roman Catholicism but her petition was rejected. Church officials were not convinced she was sincere in her wish to convert.
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By the late 1980s, Princess Birgitta and Prince Johann Georg, now a respected art historian, drifted apart. Although they never divorced, the couple went their separate ways. By the early 1980s, Princess Birgitta had acquired a home in Santa Ponsa in Mallorca, where Prince Johann Georg, it was understood, recognized Birgitta's need for independence. She often returned to Sweden for official events, including the baptism of her godson and nephew, Prince Carl Philip.
She felt free in Santa Ponsa. In a 2000 German interview, the Princess said "Without the children, I would have been divorced long ago." She added: "My husband has let me down a lot but I am now enjoying my peace in Mallorca," adding:" Hansi abandoned me and the children."
Birgitta described her home in Santa Ponsa as paradise.
The estranged couple continued to attend official events in Sweden together. Prince Johann Georg died on March 2, 2016 in Munich. From 1992 to 1998 he served as Director General of the Bavarian State Picture Collection and was also a director of the Hypo-Kunsthalle of the Hypo Cultural Foundation.
Princess Birgitta suffered from heart disease, according to her longtime friend, Alexandra Charles. She first met Birgitta in the 1970s through Marianne von Arbin Flach. Marianne and Birgitta were third cousins, as both were great-great-granddaughters of King Oskar II. Charles spoke to Aftonbladet: "Princess Birgitta was an incredibly strong, positive, and purposeful woman who knew what she wanted. She was strong, brave, and positive. She also had a twinkle in her eye and a great sense of humor."
She said she spoke to Birgitta a week before she died. "Everything was usual," she said. They discussed plans for Alexandra and her husband to return to Mallorca soon. They had last seen Birgitta in September when they visited for one week.
"We were also planning for the 30th anniversary of the Princess Birgitta's Cup golf competition which is supposed to take place next year.
"But a few days ago she fell and broke her arm. She was in the hospital for a few days but really should have gone home. Her heart couldn't take it so she fell asleep early this morning."
One of Birgitta's two sons was able to visit with her at the hospital before she died, according to Alexandra Charles. That "feels good," she acknowledged, "but it's all very sad and tragic."
Another friend, theater director Vicky von der Lancken remembered the lunches they shared on the golf course. "It is so sad that Birgitta has passed away, how sad I am. We hung out a lot when I was down in Mallorca where I had an apartment for many years. We had so much fun but she never managed to get me to play golf even though she tried.
"She was a positive, quick, and funny person who was brilliantly quick in her response. She really had a twinkle in her eye. She was glorious and I really liked her. We talked about life she thought my job was exciting and wondered what I was up to. She thought it was fun to hear."
The princess loved her life in Santa Ponsa. Her home was located at the Santa Ponsa Golf Club. Luis Nigorra, the manager of the club, has known Birgitta for 20 years. He described her as a "happy 87-year-old princess."
She had a rich life," he said. She loved her children, her friends, and golf and she was very fond of her grandchildren. And she was in good health until the end. She played golf just a few days before her passing. You can't ask for more."
Nigorra added: "She recently slowed down from playing 18 holes of golf to 14 holes, and preferred not to start too early in the morning like her German friends."
On December 7, Birgitta's three children, Carl Christian, Désirée, and Hubertus attended a memorial service at the Iglesia de Santa Eulalia in Mallorca. Birgitta's closest friends were also present. The children carried a large wreath of white and yellow roses, similar to the roses in her bridal bouquet.
The memorial service was described as "emotional."
The King described his sister as "a colorful and sincere person who will be greatly missed by me and my family."
Princess Birgitta died in a Palma de Mallorca Hospital on December 4, 2024 She was 87 years old.
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HRH Princess Birgitta Ingeborg Alice of Sweden was a double descendant of Queen Victoria.
Victoria - Arthur - Margaret - Gustaf Adolf - Birgitta
Victoria - Leopold - Carl Eduard - Sibylla - Birgitta
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