After more than 19 years together, Gustav, the Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg will marry his longtime partner, Carina Axelsson. The couple has been together for more than 19 years.
The Danish Royal Palace has confirmed to Billed-Bladet that the couple will wed on June 4.
It will be a small and "intimate ceremony" at Schloss Berleburg, according to the magazine.
It was the will of Prince Gustav's grandfather, Gustav Albrecht, 5th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1907-1944) wrote a will that left the estate to his eldest male grandson (the yet to be born eldest son of his heir, Richard.) This decision was done primarily for tax purposes.
Gustav Albrecht also included another clause that the heir's wife had to be Aryan, noble, and Protestant.
He served in the German Army during the second world war and disappeared during a mission in Orsha, in Belarus, in June 1944. Richard, then only 9 years old., succeeded as head of the family. He did not inherit Schloss Berleburg as it remained in trust for his male heir. Richard, however, never used the title Fürst (Prince) of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg.
It is presumed that Gustav Albrecht died during the mission, but his body was never found.
In 1968, Prince Richard married Princess Benedikte of Denmark, the second of three daughters of King Frederik IX of Denmark and Princess Ingrid of Sweden. Shortly after the birth of his only son, Gustav, on January 12, 1969, Prince Richard and his family began the process to have his father declared dead. The approval was made on November 29, 1969.
Prince Richard died on March 13, 2017, and Gustav succeeded as the 7th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg.
Carina Axelsson, 53, was born in California to a Swedish father and a Mexican mother. She was raised Roman Catholic.
http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2008/07/princess-in-all-but-name.html
http://www.carinaaxelsson.com/
Prince Gustav filed suit to overturn the racist clause in his father's will, but the German courts have not issued a final ruling.
Another court case, which was filed in 2017, after his father's death, was settled in his favor in 2020. Prince Ludwig-Ferdinand of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, the younger brother of the late Prince Gustav Albrecht, claimed that he was the heir to Schloss Berleburg and other family properties. After Gustav won the first round, his great-uncle appealed the case, but in 2020, the court held the original decision in Gustav's favor.
What an odious clause. I wish them many more happy years together.
ReplyDeleteFINALLY!!! I only wished they had the biggest wedding ever! Perhaps Carina saved a few of her eggs so that she and Gustav can have legitimate heirs? Maybe?!
ReplyDelete