Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden

Gustaf VI Adolf - Oscar Fredrik Wilhelm Olaf Gustaf Adolf - (11 November 1882 – 15 September 1973) was King of Sweden from October 29, 1950 until his death. His official title was King of Sweden, of the Goths and of the Wends. He was the eldest son of King Gustaf V and his wife Victoria of Baden. Through his mother Victoria, Gustaf VI Adolf was a descendant of Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden of the deposed House of Holstein-Gottorp and the House of Vasa as well as the Bernadotte kings of Sweden. He was the grandfather of Queen Margarethe II of Denmark and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

Family

He was born at the Royal Palace 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, "Duty before all".

He married, firstly, Princess Margaret of Connaught on 15 June 1905 in St. George's Chapel, at Windsor Castle. Princess Margaret was the daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of the United Kingdom.

He married, secondly, Lady Louise Mountbatten, formerly Princess Louise of Battenberg, on 3 November 1923 at St. James's Palace. 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 stepchildren were great grandchildren of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Reign

In 1950, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf became king at age 67 upon the death of his father, King Gustaf V. He was at the time the world's oldest Crown Prince.

During Gustaf VI Adolf's reign, work was underway on a new Instrument of Government — eventually taking effect in 1975 after the king'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."

Gustaf VI Adolf's personal qualities made him popular among the Swedish people and, in turn, this popularity led to strong public opinion in favour of the retention of the monarchy. Gustaf VI 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. Additional powers of the monarch were removed when Sweden's constitutional reform became complete in 1975.

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

He was the 1126th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain in 1910 and the 915th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1954.

The King died in 1973 close to 91 years old at Helsingborg Hospital after a deterioration in his health that culminated in pneumonia. He was succeeded on the throne by his 27-year-old grandson Carl XVI Gustaf, son of the late Prince Gustaf Adolf. In a break with tradition, he was not buried in Riddarholmskyrkan in Stockholm, but in the Royal Burial Grounds in Haga alongside his two deceased wives.

King Gustaf VI Adolf and Crown Princess Margaretha of Sweden had together five children:

Issue

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

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

Arms

Upon his creation as Duke of Skåne, Gustaf VI was granted a coat of arms with the arms of Skåne in base. These arms can be seen on his stall-plates both as Knight of the Swedish order of the Seraphim in the Riddarsholmskyrkan in Sweden, but also the Frederiksborg Chapel in Copenhagen, Denmark as an Knight of the Danish Order of the Elephant. Upon his accession to the throne in 1950, he assumed the Arms of Dominion of Sweden.

Interests

The King's reputation as a "professional amateur professor" was widely known; nationally and internationally, and among his relatives.

Gustaf VI Adolf had an enormous private library consisting of 80 000 volumes and - nearly more impressively – 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 Gustaf VI Adolf 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.

Like his son, Bertil, Gustaf VI Adolf maintained wide, lifelong interests in sports. He enjoyed tennis and golf, and fly fishing for charity.

Ancestors

External links

• Royal House of Sweden and Royal House of Norway
• Royal House of Great-Britain and Ireland
• Princely House of Battenberg