Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden

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Gustav VI Adolf
King of Sweden
Reign	29 October 1950 – 15 September 1973
Born	11 November 1882(1882-11-11)
Birthplace	Stockholm, Sweden
Died	15 September 1973 (aged 90)
Place of death	Helsingborg, Sweden
Predecessor	Gustav V
Successor	Carl XVI Gustaf
Consort	Princess Margaret of Connaught Lady Louise Mountbatten
Issue	Gustav Adolf Sigvard Ingrid Bertil Carl Johan
Royal House	Bernadotte
Royal motto	"The duty before all" or "The duty before everything else" Swedish: Plikten framför allt
Father	Gustav V
Mother	Victoria of Baden

Gustav VI Adolf (Oskar Fredrik Wilhelm Olaf Gustaf Adolf) (11 November 1882 – 15 September 1973) was King of Sweden from 1950 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Gustaf V and his wife Victoria of Baden.

He was born in Stockholm and at birth created Duke of Skåne. On 29 October 1950, he succeeded his father on the throne. His personal motto was Plikten framför allt, "The duty before everything else".

He married, firstly, Princess Margaret of Connaught on 15 June 1905. Princess Margaret was the daughter of HRH Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Great Britain.

He married, secondly, Lady Louise Mountbatten, formerly HSH Princess Louise of Battenberg. She was the sister of Lord Mountbatten and aunt of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It was Lady Louise who became Queen of Sweden. Both Queen Louise and her step-children were great grandchildren of Queen Victoria of Great Britain.

[edit] Reign

In 1950, Prince Gustav Adolf became king at age 67 upon the death of his father, King Gustav V.

During Gustav's reign, work was underway on a new constitution — eventually taking effect in 1975 after Gustav's death — to replace the 1809 constitution and produce reforms consistent with the times. Among the reforms sought by some Swedes was the replacement of the monarchy or at least some moderation of the old constitution's provision that "The King alone shall govern the realm."

Gustav Adolf's personal qualities made him popular among the Swedish people and, in turn, this popularity led to strong public opinion in favor of the retention of the monarchy. Gustav Adolf's expertise and interest in a wide range of fields (architecture and botany being but two) made him respected, as did his informal and modest nature and his purposeful avoidance of pomp. The monarchy was, however, made subordinate to a democratic state. Many of the powers of the Swedish monarchy died with King Gustaf Adolf in 1973. Additional powers of the monarch were removed when Sweden's constitutional reform became complete in 1975.

Gustav VI Adolf was a devoted archaeologist, and was admitted to the British Academy for his work in botany in 1958. Gustav participated in archaeological expeditions in China, Greece, and Italy, and founded the Swedish Institute at Rome.

Gustav died in 1973 at age 90 after a deterioration in his health that culminated in pneumonia in Helsingborg hospital. He was succeeded on the throne by his 27-year-old grandson Carl XVI Gustaf, son of the late Prince Gustav Adolf. In a break with tradition, he was not buried in Riddarholmskyrkan in Stockholm, but in the royal burial grounds in Haga.

[edit] Children

Then Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf with his first wife Margaret of Connaught and children in 1912.

Crown Prince Gustav Adolf and Crown Princess Margaretha of Sweden had five children:

• Prince Gustav Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (1906-1947)
• Prince Sigvard, Duke of Uppland, later Count Sigvard Bernadotte af Wisborg (1907-2002)
• Princess Ingrid, later Queen Consort of Denmark (1910-2000).
• Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland (1912-1997)
• Prince Carl Johan, Duke of Dalarna, later Count Carl Johan Bernadotte af Wisborg (1916-)

Crown Princess Margaretha of Sweden died suddenly on 1 May 1920 of an infection following surgery. At the time, she was eight months pregnant and expecting her sixth child.

Prince Gustav Adolf later married Lady Louise Mountbatten, on November 3, 1923. This second marriage produced only one stillborn daughter on 30 May 1925.

King Gustav VI Adolf with his second wife Lady Louise Mountbatten; Queen Louise, in the 1950s.

King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden was the grandfather of both his direct successor King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

[edit] Interests

The king's reputation as a "professional amateur professor" was widely known; nationally and internationally, and among his relatives. He had an enormous private library consisting of 80,000 volumes - the most impressing in all of this was that he actually had read the main part of the books. He had an interest in specialist literature on Chinese art and East Asian history. Throughout his life, King Gustav was particularly interested in the history of civilization, and he participated in several archaeological expeditions. His other great area of interest was botany, concentrating in flowers and gardening. He was considered an expert on the Rhododendron flower. At Sofiero (the king's summer residence) he created one of the very finest Rhododendron collections.

He enjoyed tennis and golf, and fly fishing for char.

[edit] Ancestors

[edit] See also

Styles of King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden Reference style His Majesty Spoken style Your Majesty Alternative style Sir