Hereditary prince's marriage to English princess brings back memories of another Swedish romance

Ebba Munck

July 22, 1905

The Chicago Daily Tribune reports that the recent marriage between Hereditary Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and Princess Margaret of Connaught was a love match, a "rare exception" among royal marriages. But there is no real proof of this "as was furnished by the marriage of another Swedish prince in England seventeen years ago and under different circumstances."

This match was truly a love match, "entirely of Cupid's making, no ceremonious fuss was made over it," and no European sovereigns were in attendance.

Prince Oscar Carl August of Sweden, Duke of Gotland, who was the second son of King Oscar II and Queen Sophie, was 25 years old when he fell in love with his mother's "prettiest and favorite maid of honor, Ebba de Munck." The young woman was a scion of one of Sweden's most distinguished families and "could claim to have more blue blood in her veins than the descendant of the man whom Bonaparte placed on the throne."

Prince Oscar tried to convince his father of Ebba's noble blood, but even Ebba's family tree did not soften the king's opposition to marriage. He insisted that his son should "wed within the charmed circle of royalty and be content with the pick of some half a dozen princesses."

Miss Munck "refused to listen to the prince's suit and absolutely forbade him to make any sacrifice for her sake." She resigned from her court position, returned to her father's home, and entered a hospital to begin training as a nurse. But Prince Oscar would not give up. He would rather renounce his title, his rank, his prerogatives to marry Ebba. In despair, he turned to his mother, Queen Sophie, who was "greatly attached to her favorite maid of honor," and she also loved her son. Oscar succeeded in convincing his mother that he would never be happy with any other woman.

Prince Oscar

The mother in Sophie "triumphed over the queen." She sought out Ebba, now a hospital nurse, and "pleaded her son's
cause -- with success."

Prince Oscar now had his mother's blessing, but convincing his father, the king, was entirely another matter. It was a difficult task, even for Queen Sophie, but when she was about to undergo a serious operation, where she might die, Sophie prevailed upon her husband when she "induced him to yield to what she urged might be her last request she would ever make of him."

Queen Sophie recovered from her operation, and she traveled to Bournemouth, England, to attend Oscar and Ebba's wedding. She gave away the bride. No other relatives of Prince Oscar attended the wedding.

Because Oscar had married a Swedish commoner, he lost his title and his right of succession. King Oscar granted him the title Prince Bernadotte, and more recently, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg created Oscar as Count of Wisborg.

Today, Prince and Princess Bernadotte live happily in a "rose-covered house" on the southeast coast of England, although they occasionally visit Sweden. They consider England to be their home. Their sons attend English schools and they "live the life of English country gentlefolk.

It is said that the Norwegians "would be glad to have" Oscar as their king, but he has "no desire to assume the responsibilities of a crowned head." The Princess "has lost much of the beauty that first won his admiration, but she has gained the crown, which only rests on the brows of happy wives and mothers, and his devotion to her is as fervid as ever."

Prince and Princess Bernadotte did not attend the wedding of his nephew, Hereditary Prince Gustaf Adolf to Princess Margaret of Connaught. His younger brother, Prince Eugen, was present for the ceremony, "but as soon as the grand function was over," the prince hurried to the rose-covered cottage. He remains a bachelor, and it has been said that he declared he will remain a bachelor "unless fate brings his way another woman like she who was Miss Ebba de Munck."